What better way to start the day than with a global round up of good news nuggets?
Truly a Lady of Wonders
The Spanish galleon Maravillas was one of the richest treasure ships ever lost at sea when it sank in the northern Bahamas over three centuries ago. Since then it has been salvaged into oblivion - at least that’s what experts thought. Now, after four years of underwater archaeology, Allen Exploration has mapped a sprawling trail of scattered treasure running for over 3 miles. Since 2019, licensed by the Bahamian government, AllenX has discovered a sprawling scatter of artifacts running southeast from where the Maravillas originally hit a reef and sank. “Many experts believe the story of the Maravillas is over, that past salvage picked the old ship dry,” says Carl Allen, founder of AllenX. “Now we’ve proven the wreck is not all vanished.” The Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas is truly a Lady of Wonders.
Multi-Billion Dollar Shipwreck to be Raised From The Depths: Dubbed the “Holy Grail of shipwrecks”, the San José galleon laden with treasure that was sunk by the British more than 300 years ago, is to be brought up from the Colombian coast. More...
Salmon Return
In the Bay Area of California, home of San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara County, and Silicon Valley a famous Pacific resident is heading home for the holidays - up newly-cleaned creeks to spawn. After a decade of cleaning up the river habitats, these wild river ecosystems are once again supporting healthy salmon runs. Some, reports KTVU, as large as 30 pounds, as long as 35 inches, are running up the Guadalupe River Watershed by the hundreds.
Nowhere to Hide
An amazing new Climate TRACE tool was launched at COP28 by Al Gore's team. It allows anyone in the world with an internet connection to access a top-down, independent, and multi-source dataset of all the planet's sources of carbon emissions. TRACE = Tracking Real-time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions. So, there is nowhere to hide anymore.
Hilarious Blunder
Motorists have been warned against "belching" after a council in Wales spelt Welsh street signs wrong. In English, the bilingual sign on the high street of Caerleon, in Newport, warns motorists of a "cycle route crossing", but those reading it in Welsh are instead alerted to the existence of a "belching path crossing". The hilarious blunder has been caused by just one incorrect letter, which alters the meaning from "cycling" (beicio) to"belching" (belcio).
Remarkable Progress
Rajasthan, India, home to 80 million people, just kicked off what might be the largest basic income scheme in the world, providing 125 days guaranteed work for all and a minimum social security pension of ₹1,000 ($12) per month. This comes off the back of five years of incredible social progress. Between 2016 and 2021 supervised births in a medical facility increased from 84 percent to 95 percent, resulting in the neonatal mortality rate decreasing by one third, and infant mortality declining by 25 percent. Plus, immunisation for children aged 12-23 months is up from 55 percent to 80 percent.
How's Your Broadband?
Japanese engineers have smashed records, unleashing a staggering 22.9 petabits per second through a single optical fiber - which is over 20 times the entire global internet traffic per second. That's double their previous world record, reports IE. While most of the world navigates the internet at a pace of a few hundred megabits per second (if they're lucky!), the speed achieved by Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology leaves even the speediest consumer connections in the dust. At least for now.
Capital City Park
After a decade of political wrangling, the good news is that Norway's capital, Olso, now has a new national park. Located on the doorstep of the city, Østmarka National Park will include existing recreational areas and protect around 71 square kilometres (27.5 sq. miles) of nature, reports Life in Norway. This victory for wildlife and nature conservation marks a significant achievement in preserving southeastern Norway's important lowlands. Environmental groups have praised the establishment of a National Park so close to a major city like Oslo. The country now has 48 national parks. In total, the protected areas comprise more than 17 percent of mainland Norway.
“Welcome winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless.” Terri Guillemets
On This Day
7 December 1787: Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
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