Eclectic global round-up of positive news nuggets to brighten the day.
Dolly Day
More than 1,100 people wearing Dolly Parton costumes have gathered in an Irish town. The Dolly Day event in Listowel attempted to set a world record for the largest gathering of people wearing a full head-to-toe Dolly Parton costume. The event raised money for Kerry Hospice and Comfort for Chemo Kerry. Officials say that evidence from the gathering is being submitted to Guinness World Records and they expect to hear whether a record has been broken in 12 weeks.
US Board Diversity
A new study has found that the number of women and people of color sitting on America’s largest companies’ corporate boards increased by 38 percent in 2022. Fortune 500 companies had 44.7 percent of women and people of color in board seats in 2022, up 38 percent from 2020, according to the seventh edition of Missing Pieces, a report published by the management consulting firm Deloitte and the Alliance for Board Diversity.
Female Executives: London-listed companies are more profitable when women make up more than one in three executive roles. Furthermore, firms where at least one-third of the bosses are women have a profit margin more than 10 times greater than those without. More...
Minke Whales
After a lengthy absence, minke whales have been spotted off parts of the Welsh coast, with conservationists hailing the sightings as evidence of healthy seas. Researchers from the Sea Watch Foundation, a UK charity focused on whale, dolphin and porpoise preservation, made the first sighting 10 nautical miles off the coast of Cardigan Bay in west Wales. It’s the first time in over a decade that minke whales have been seen in the Cardigan Special Area of Conservation.
Whale Hunts End
In what could signal an end to the practice entirely, Iceland just suspended its annual whale hunt. One of the few countries that still hunt whales, a government report found that the annual hunt does not comply with the country’s animal welfare laws.
Lab-grown Chicken
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has given two companies approval to sell chicken grown from cells in a lab. Lab-grown, or cell-cultivated, meat is made by feeding a mix of nutrients to animal cells in stainless steel tanks. Companies hope the product can be an alternative to meat produced by killing animals, which has a large carbon footprint.
Beneficial White Spots
For a monarch butterfly, the more white spots you have, the better your chances at successfully migrating, new research suggests. Researchers from the University of Georgia studied nearly 400 wings of monarchs at different stages in their famed journey south from Canada and the northern United States to Mexico. Successful monarchs had 3 percent less black and 3 percent more white on their wings. Those white spots may actually help monarchs complete their long-distance migration by altering the air flow around their wings. Or, at least, that's the new claim.
"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them." Agatha Christie
On this Day
28 June 1838: Victoria was crowned queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Netflix's billboard for its movie Extraction 2 features a close-up of star Chris Hemsworth… sweating. Yes, really...
World's deepest canyon is home to Asia's tallest tree - making it the second tallest in the world. Tibet...Â
Mood Booster
Travel back in time to the roaring 20s for a beach vacation at seaside resorts around the world.
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