Mid week collection of bite sized chunks of good news.
One of Britain’s last surviving D-Day heroes returned home from France after completing his ‘final mission’ - and got straight back out collecting for the 68th consecutive year. 96-year-old Harry Billinge has completed what he described as his ‘last duty’ to pay tribute to his fallen friends who died during the landings in 1944. He traveled back across the Channel to support a tribute recording the names of all 22,442 service personnel who died under British command on D-Day. Harry had collected at least £50K ($67k) towards the construction of the memorial.
In an attempt to diffuse religious tensions in the country, the Bangladeshi parliament plans to amend the constitution so they can return to a secular framework, removing Islam as the state religion. Originally designed to be a secular nation, not tied to any one holy book, the Constitution of Bangladesh was meant to establish a state based on a melting pot of liberal culture with Bengali-distinct linguistic traditions. That goal was undermined, as is so often the case in fledgling states, through a military junta by Ziaur Rahman. Islam was then introduced as the state religion to dominate Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians using military dictatorships, established first in 1975. But the current government is ready to turn back the page.
A tiny English village is to become the center of a ”revolution” in the global energy industry and be connected to Morocco - with the world’s longest undersea cable. The scheme will see Alverdiscott in Devon, population 286, at the end of a line attaching it to North Africa. The Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project says it will import enough sun and wind-generated energy to the UK to supply seven million homes by 2030. That's approximately one third of all homes in England. The new electricity generation facility, entirely powered by solar and wind energy combined with a battery storage facility, would cover about 1,500 sq. km (579 sq. miles) in Morocco and then be connected to Britain via four HVDC (high voltage direct current) sub-sea cables, each 3,800km (2,361 miles) long.
A Wisconsin teacher with stage 4 cancer received a heartwarming surprise from her young students. Carol Mack is a 1st and 2nd grade teacher at Christ Lutheran School and, for 45 years, she's taught generations of students and continued to teach this school year while battling cancer. But now, the cancer has advanced, and instead of returning to her classroom, Carol needs hospice care. Before moving to the hospice, one of her fellow teachers and friends wanted Carol to be able to reunite with her students once again. Dozens of students showed up outside Aurora St. Luke's last week. Carol was there to greet her current and former students, including some of their parents whom she also taught, and hear the kids sing worship songs to her.
Thousands of rare forest honeybees that appear to be the last wild descendants of Britain’s native honeybee population have been discovered in the ancient woodlands of Blenheim Palace, near Oxford. The newly discovered subspecies, or ecotype, of honeybee is smaller, furrier and darker than the honeybees found in managed beehives, and is believed to be related to the indigenous wild honeybees that foraged the English countryside for centuries. Until now, it was presumed all these bees had been completely wiped out by disease and competition from imported species.
The Dutch company Lightyear has successfully conducted 20 durability test runs on the all-electric Lightyear One. The company's aim is to develop a car that can go months without a single charge, massively boosting the sustainability of the vehicle and the freedom of its owner. Lightyear CEO Lex Hoefsloot told Interesting Engineering: "already with our first model, in the Netherlands, during the summer you can drive for months without charging when you use the car for your daily commute." Months!
Wise Words: From a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson - "To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; This is to have succeeded."
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Electric Highway
Highway where trucks work like electric trains is a great concept that's likely to be coming to a road near you in the not too distant future.