Celebrating the end of the week with an eclectic bundle of uplifting news nuggets.
Once Again...
The Twitter ban on Trump has forced the former president to communicate in the more traditional medium of the press release. Trump, alas, has chosen to discard most of the conventions of the medium, which are usually outsourced to professionals. He hasn't even bothered to employ spell-checkers, instead firing off enraged missives while he’s still mad, without taking even a few seconds to have an intern read it over and make sure he hasn’t, say, committed a simple error that turns his attack into a comical self-own. Trump’s latest press release attempts to call the Biden administration incompetent, but instead describes it as “incompentent.”
Are You Old?
Following a recent OGN good news nugget about Jonathan, the 190 year old tortoise who had just officially claimed the title of the oldest living land animal, we are grateful to a reader for kindly sending us an email about how to find out if you're old too: Fall down.... If people laugh, you're young. If people panic, you're old!
New Mayflower
The dawn of this decade, 2020, marked the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s journey. Plymouth 400, a cultural nonprofit, has been working for more than a decade to commemorate the anniversary in ways that honor all aspects of this history. Events began in 2020, but one of the most innovative launches is still waiting in the wings - a newfangled nautical craft, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, or MAS. Built and tested over the past five years, MAS will chart a new path by retracing an old one. This year it will travel from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Mass. Throughout the journey, it will collect data that might provide insight into ocean and marine mammal health while gathering information about a sustainable energy source - the ocean’s waves - that could help power our world.
Game Changer?
Engineers from the University of Delaware have developed a method capable of capturing 99 percent of carbon dioxide from the air using an electrochemical system powered by hydrogen. The team's prototype is designed to scrub CO2 out of a vehicle's exhaust, but it could also be used for aircraft, spacecraft, and submarines. And aside from boosting the performance of carbon capture technology, the new method could also enable the commercial production of more sustainable fuel cells. The new system is outlined in the journal Nature Energy.
Rodrigo Nunes is a 37-year-old graffiti artist who lives in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. He creates incredible "transparent" art on solid walls. Like this one. The door is real, the rest is graffiti. You may be able to discern his 'handle' - he goes by the name of Vile.
London's Crossrail
The Elizabeth line must be “flawless” before it can officially launch this year, London’s transport chief told a press tour this week, amid speculation that the £18.9bn Crossrail project’s opening could be moved to the spring – before the Queen’s jubilee celebrations. The line runs from west to east London (100km / 60 miles) and twelve trains an hour are now running (for testing, with no passengers onboard yet), with an official deadline for opening at the end of June. It's been a long wait, but it will be very good news for Londoners and tourists when it finally opens.
Black Entrepreneurs
Black business ownership is surging in the US despite the coronavirus pandemic, research shows, with a rise in businesses owned by Black women. According to research from University of California Santa Cruz economist Robert W Fairlie, Black business ownership is now up by almost 30 percent on pre-pandemic levels. The Biden administration says a record number of people are starting their own businesses. Women of color are the fastest-growing group of female entrepreneurs.
Quote of the Day
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."
Maya Angelou
On this Day
11 February 1990: After serving 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released, and he subsequently began negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk that ended apartheid in South Africa. Mandela became president in May 1994.
Dive in Deeper
Including a world record for most kiwifruits sliced in one minute, with a samurai sword, while standing on an exercise ball. That's just one of the extraordinary 52.
The Ultimate Ski Run
Markus Eder’s astonishing non-stop ski run is probably the most hazard-riddled downhill skiing ever filmed. Remarkable!