Smorgasbord of tasty bite-sized chunks of good news to help perk up the day.
Heat For Brain Health
If you’ve ever sat enjoyably melting in a sauna or steam room, or laid in the steaming hot bath, you might want to pat yourself on the back for doing the next best thing to vigorous exercise. Heat therapy is good for your health. We know that it improves blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, inflammation, and blood pressure. In fact, a 2018 review of 40 studies on sauna bathing all reported positive effects, with only one adverse outcome (on male sperm production, which was restored as soon as sauna bathing stopped and which in late middle age is really only a concern for the most priapic of billionaires). Now leading researchers are looking into whether it could help both prevent and treat Alzheimer’s. OGN will keep you posted...
6 Ways to Boost Your Midlife Brain: Forgetfulness isn't inevitable, says Professor James Goodwin. Top tips...
Piece of Movie History
The windmill that was the fictional home of Caractacus Potts (played by Dick Van Dyke) and his family in the much loved 1960s musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is up for sale. Cobstone Windmill in Buckinghamshire, central England, will be clear in the memories of movie fans, but they will have to dig deep to purchase the Grade II-listed windmill, which is being sold along with a main house, double garage and swimming pool – for a guide price of £9 million ($11.5m).
800 Letters Later
Two pen pals have met for the first time, 68 years after they began exchanging letters, said The Times. Patsy Gregory and Carol-Ann Krause, both 80, began writing to each other in 1955 while members of the girl guides living on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Although they have exchanged at least 800 letters, they did not meet until Gregory, from Lancashire, travelled to Conway, South Carolina, to meet her co-correspondent.
Emperor's Panda
When Emperor Wen of Han died in 157 B.C.E., he was buried in an enormous mausoleum alongside dozens of animals, including golden snub-nosed monkeys, Indian wild buffalo and red-crowned cranes. The sheer number of rare species represented in the tomb, located in China’s Shaanxi Province, impressed the archaeologists who excavated it. But it was another find that has captured the public’s attention: the complete skeleton of a giant panda, which is the first of its kind discovered at an ancient Chinese burial site. The remains likely belong to a Qinling panda rather than a Sichuan panda.
Unique Find
For the first time ever, a trove of Iron Age gold coins has been discovered in Wales. Metal detectorists found the 15 rare artifacts in a field on the island of Anglesey, which sits off of Wales’ northwest coast, according to a statement from the Museum of Wales. Now, authorities have designated the discovery as a “treasure.” The coins, known as staters, date to between 60 and 20 B.C.E. One side depicts the god Apollo, while the other features a horse surrounded by symbols. Their style is influenced by the Macedonian gold coins of Phillip II, say the researchers.
"Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond." Hunter S Thompson
On this Day
22 August 1851: The first America's Cup was won by the American yacht America in a race around the Isle of Wight, off England's south coast.
Onions and garlic are unsung nutritional heroes that deserve more recognition and a prominent place in our diets. Benefits...
Mood Booster
Is the amazing lyre bird the world's best mimic? Sir David Attenborough talks us through its repertoire...