Today's tasty bite-sized chunks of upbeat news to brighten the day.
Heroic Rescue
Having experienced homelessness and unemployment for years, Ron Nessman was leaving a job interview at an Applebee’s restaurant in California when he spotted a baby in a stroller rolling into the path of several cars. Nessman sprinted into the street, stopped the stroller, saved the child from harm - and landed his first job in years to cap off a good news story that has interrupted a US news cycle dominated by ghastly headlines and Trump's antics. “I didn’t even have time to think about it,” Nessman told the local news station when reflecting on his actions, which many have hailed as heroic. “You just react.”
Smile Please!
People in Japan who have forgotten how to “smile convincingly” after wearing face masks during the pandemic. However, the good news is that they are able to turn "to professionals for help”, said The Times. Advice from a “smile trainer” to their students includes performing “exercises such as biting on a straw and elevating their cheek muscles to expose their upper teeth”, the paper reported.
UK Record
For the first time ever, British wind farms generated more electricity than gas in the first quarter of 2023. Almost a third of Britain’s electricity, 32.4 percent came from wind farms compared with 31.7 percent from gas-fired power plants.
Let's Play!
Hasbro, the maker of board games like Scrabble is retooling some classic games so aging doesn’t get in the way of good ol' fun. In partnership with Ageless Innovation, Hasbro has unveiled new versions of Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and The Game of Life. Each has been reimagined to make the play experience more appealing and easier for seniors. These tweaks include bigger tiles and letters, and generation-specific trivia and gameplay. The new versions of the games will hit the market over the coming months. (And no, they're not replacing the original versions.) Experts hope more game makers will see the positive reception to these games and make similar options so people of all ages can continue to crush their loved ones with seven-letter word plays.
Water Replenishment
In drought-prone regions, recycling is an integral part of water security. Orange County, California, recently announced that 100 percent of the reclaimable water from its sanitation district is now being recycled and used to recharge its groundwater basin. This has never been done anywhere else, ever. The county’s Ground Water Replenishment System, operational and expanding since 2008, is the largest indirect potable water reuse facility in the world. It uses a three-step process - incorporating microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light. Water is pumped to recharge basins, where it percolates into a groundwater basin that provides drinking water to 2.5 million people. The water coming from their recycling facility is “cleaner than the water in the ground,” says Mike Markus of Orange County Water District.
Trekkies Rejoice
For decades, many Star Trek fans have imagined what it would be like to work from the bridge of the starship Enterprise, the long-running franchise’s high-tech space-exploring vessel. Through various iterations and seasons of the series, created by Gene Roddenberry in the ’60s, the bridge has remained a constant, serving as the backdrop for many important moments in the show’s 800-plus episodes. Now, die-hard Trekkies and casual watchers alike can virtually roam around the starship’s bridge to their heart’s content, thanks to a sophisticated and highly detailed new web portal that brings the space to life.
US Junk Mail
Is there anything more frustrating than opening your mailbox and finding an avalanche of junk mail? Thankfully, we’re finally getting answers on how to deal with the 100 billion pieces of junk mail that Americans receive each year. Here are 3 options:
For just $4, DMAchoice.org will manage and filter your mail for you.
The free service CatalogChoice.org lets you unsubscribe from one catalog at a time.
To stop credit card or insurance offers, call 1-888-567-8688 or visit optoutprescreen.com.
"The only person with whom you have to compare yourself is you in the past." Sigmund Freud
On this Day
12 May 1926: Aboard the semirigid airship Norge, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, American scientist Lincoln Ellsworth, and Italian engineer Umberto Nobile made the first undisputed flight over the North Pole.
With the new US and EU policies, the share of electric cars in 2030 is now set to be more than double what the IEA expected just two years ago. Explosive growth...
One Good Deed Deserves Another: Woman walking miles to work because she couldn't afford a car, finds $14,000 beside the road and chooses to hand it in to police - and makes $60,000. Kindness...
Mood Booster
Dueling Banjos: Steve Martin and Kermit the Frog.