Celebrating the end of the week with a smorgasbord of good news nuggets.
Coronation Celebrations
As the UK revs up for the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla, a life-sized bust of the King has been made from more than 17 litres of melted Celebrations chocolates. The bust - which weighs over 23kg and took four weeks to create - was designed by an expert team of chocolatiers and model makers who carefully planned how to make the profile view of Charles look as close as possible to the image of him which will soon grace stamps, coins and bank notes. The uniform Charles is expected to wear at the coronation is the same on the sculpture, with the epaulettes - a type of ornamental shoulder piece - embellished with Twix, Milky Way, Galaxy and Bounty Celebrations chocolates. Most definitely a case of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.
River Restoration
The Kissimmee River in Florida was straightened in the 1960s, causing a sharp decline in wildlife and ecological problems. But in the 1990s, a $1 billion restoration project was initiated to restore the river's natural state. Today, nearly half of the river has been restored, wetlands have been reestablished and rehydrated, and wildlife has returned, including rare and threatened species. Already the biological impact of the project has become clear. As the wetlands have come back, so have the birds.
Movie Magic
Gower Street Analytics has revised its global box office forecast, increasing it from $29 billion to $32 billion - a 23 percent improvement from last year. Hooray, cinema! The update comes as the industry gathers in Las Vegas on the eve of CinemaCon and as The Super Mario Bros Movie is poised to be the first $1 billion global grosser of 2023.
Record Breaker
Wearing a sun hat, sunglasses, and heavy backpack, John Jepkema leaned against the Bright Angel Trailhead, looking like another of the 5.9 million people who visit the Grand Canyon each year. But, after a five-day overnight trek, Jepkema, age 91, became the oldest person to cross the Arizona national park rim-to-rim on foot. He trained for four months, walking five to eight miles at least five days a week with a backpack, and completed the entire length of the canyon by foot, with only two hiking poles for aid. After completing the record, Jepkema, who started backpacking at age 79, donned a bright orange-colored T-shirt that read: “The Man, The Myth, The Legend.”
Microbe Captures CO2
A microbe has been found inside volcanic hot springs that captures carbon dioxide, leaving researchers hopeful it could be harnessed to remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. Scientists say the microbe, a cyanobacteria, has naturally evolved to absorb CO2 and sinks in water, The Guardian reports. The microbe was discovered near the Italian island of Vulcano. Dr. Braden Tierney of Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School said the organism grows "astonishingly quickly," and researchers are able to take advantage of "3.6 billion years of microbial evolution. The nice thing about microbes is that they are self-assembling machines." There "really isn't a one-size-fits-all solution" to using carbon capture to fight climate change, Tierney said, but there will be "circumstances where you really want a fast-growing aquatic microbe that sinks." One possibility could be creating large ponds filled with the microbe.
“The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” Lucille Ball
On this Day
28 April 2003: Apple launched the iTunes Store, which gave users the ability to purchase and download music from the Internet directly to their iTunes library; in 2010 the store sold its 10 billionth song.
A company has produced what it says are the world's first whole fillets of cultivated fish … grouper, to be precise. Tuck in...
RollAway will rent you one of their luxurious electric RVs for your off-grid expedition into the wilderness. Hop aboard...
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Mood Booster
Dog Dancing World Championship 2022. Who knew?
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