Bite sized chunks of positive news from around the cosmos.

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.
Frosty Beauty of Winter on Mars: Late winter photos of Mars’s Northern Hemisphere. The frosty scenes are a foreign-yet-familiar display of beauty. Have a look...
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.

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.
A chandelier purchased at an antique store for just £250 ($300) has sold at auction for £2.9 million ($3.5 million). Read on...
Mountain lions are not thought of as animals that swim - let alone long distances. But one adventurous cat has just proven that that's not he case. Read on...
Mood Booster
Funny emperor penguin chicks take to the ice and try not to slip up as they ice skate.