Eclectic bundle of good news snippets.
The North Atlantic right whale is highly endangered, but this year’s calving season offers a more optimistic outlook for the future of the species. According to environmentalists, this has been the most successful breeding season for the whale since 2013 with 18 new calves recorded off the East Coast of the US this spring. There are currently only 350 to 400 North Atlantic right whales alive in the wild, so 18 new calves is an incredibly encouraging number.
The Olympic Games in Japan will go ahead in July, but without foreign spectators. Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo committee, stated that “The Tokyo 2020 Games will be completely different from the past, but the essence remains the same,” and that “Athletes will put everything on the line and inspire people with their outstanding performances.”
Baby born with covid antibodies: Here’s a dose of promising news...
The owner of B&Q and Screwfix has reported a surge in revenues and profits for 2020 as locked-down consumers got stuck into home improvement, fuelling a nationwide DIY boom.
Kingfisher, which operates about 1,380 B&Q and Screwfix stores in the UK and Ireland, reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £756m for the year, up a remarkable 634% from £103m the previous year.
Behind you! Manta rays have recently been spotted in droves around Satellite Beach, Florida. Maybe they have their spring break there? Either way, it has resulted in this rather miraculous snap of a surfer being photo-bombed by one of these winged creatures.
The world’s largest furniture brand will soon buy used goods from customers as part of a drive to become more sustainable. Ikea’s ‘buy back’ scheme will launch in the UK when retail reopens at the end of the current UK lockdown. The ‘buy back’ scheme offers customers up to 50 percent of the original value and Ikea will then resell the used items. It already does this in Stockholm, where it opened its first secondhand furniture shop in 2020.
London double-decker bus is home: Want a lakeside home of your own for twenty grand? This couple did it.
Texas art teacher shows love for her students by wearing a dress made of artwork by every single one of them. Her daughter posted on Instagram: My mom is the cutest art teacher ever!! She made a dress and had every one of her students draw one thing on the dress for her to wear. This was her at her student’s art show tonight. I'M SOBBING!
Polystyrene waste is everywhere, and it's not biodegradable. Scientists just found a way to break it down! The U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and their partners from Clemson University have discovered a green, low-energy process to break down polystyrene that makes it suitable for further processing into new value-added products. Sounds like a game changer.
Dinosaur asteroid dust: After decades of heated debate, scientists settled on two leading theories about what caused the extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The first possibility is the impact of an asteroid which created the 180km wide Chicxulub impact crater in the modern day Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Second, a series of eruptions in a volcanic area known as Deccan Traps in India. But now the argument is settled thanks to scientists finding the asteroid dust.
The race to decarbonise the UK’s home heating hotted up this week as the makers of the world’s first microwave boiler announced a timeline for UK trials. Heat Wayv, the company behind the innovation, said it expected to pilot the systems in UK homes in 2022 and says the system will provide a straightforward, zero-emissions replacement for traditional gas boilers at the same cost.
Fabulous mood-booster: Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth dancing to Jackie Wilson's 'Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher'.