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Just Good News Tuesday

Updated: Mar 23, 2023

Bite sized chunks of positive news from around the cosmos.


Circular sand dunes on Mars
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Polka Dots on Mars

Turns out Mars may have a sense of fashion, and it's into a classic pattern: polka dots. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, a longtime resident of the planet, captured this fascinating image of sand dunes with notably round shapes. "Sand dunes of many shapes and sizes are common on Mars. In this example, the dunes are almost perfectly circular, which is unusual," says planetary geologist Alfred McEwen.

 
 

Sign of the Times

The Hollywood sign, originally constructed as an advertisement for a local real estate development, turns 100 this year, and like any star, it’s been primping and preening in advance of its big day. It’s received multiple highly publicized makeovers, and its PR team (yes, it has a PR team) has been readying for major coverage, with centennial events planned and a fundraiser launched to build more amenities for tourists.


Smartflower

Smartflower is trying to infuse beauty into the solar industry with its functional solar sculptures, which track the sun like sunflowers and are sprouting up all over the world. Massive and mechanical, the company’s futuristic flora is meant to “make a solar statement” and provide striking alternatives to traditional rooftop solar panels. Each flower uses “smart tracking” - the solar panel petals slowly track the sun throughout the day and move to maximize solar energy absorption. This allows the system to collect up to 40 percent more energy than traditional stationary solar panels, according to Smartflower.


Bye Bye Boris

Tory support for Boris Johnson is draining away (yet again) as party grandees likened his response to a cross-party parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled MPs over “Partygate” to the lies of former US president Donald Trump. This is hardly surprising as a video of a Downing Street party re-emerges from the dark days of lockdown. What party?


US All-Time High

Carbon-free sources supplied over 40 percent of the US’s total energy output in 2022, a new report reveals. This is an all-time high. The figure combines renewable generation - such as solar, wind and hydro - and nuclear power. Nuclear and hydropower remained at similar levels to previous years, so the majority of this increase comes from wind and solar. The data is from the Sustainable Energy in America 2023 Factbook, which pulls from various sources on US energy. The report also shows that electric vehicle sales surged by 50 percent in 2022 with nearly 982,000 new cars sold.


Seed planting drone
Credit: Flash Forest Inc.
Lightning Speed

A devastating 2003 forest fire in British Columbia inspired teens Cameron and Bryce Jones to plant one billion trees in Canada and across the world by 2028. Flash Forest uses drones to shoot “seed pods” to rapidly plant post-wildfire where it may be too dangerous to send humans or where entire burned forests struggle to regenerate naturally. After completing the largest drone reforestation project in Canadian history in spring 2021 (the drones deploy five pods per second, covering a lot of ground in a matter of minutes), it will be doing large-scale planting operations across Canada, rapidly scaling by partnering with governments, private landowners, corporations and others. The Canadian government has announced a $1.3 million contribution as part of its 2 Billion Trees commitment - the first time it has included drone reforestation as part of the federal climate change solution.

 

“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.”

Morgan Freeman

 
On this Day

7 March 2010: American director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director, for The Hurt Locker.

 





 
Mood Booster

Funny emperor penguin chicks take to the ice and try not to slip up as they ice skate.



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