Ensuring the weekend gets off to a positive start with a global round up of good news nuggets.
ET Water
Water vapor molecules have been discovered for the first time in a rocky planet-forming zone of a star system 370 light-years away from us, called PDS 70. Interestingly, James Webb Space Telescope detected the molecular signature in the region where Earth-like planets are most likely to form. The remarkable finding of extraterrestrial water in this particular location could offer valuable clues about the formation of Earth and the origins of its vast water reservoirs. “This discovery is extremely exciting, as it probes the region where rocky planets similar to Earth typically form,” said Thomas Henning, a co-author of this new study, in an official NASA release.
New Theory: How Earth Got its Oceans. The mystery of how water came to be on Earth has long exercised scientists. A new theory seems to be uniquely plausible...
Four-Eyed Elk?
Photographer Douglas Beck managed to capture this mesmerising image of a pair of elks. The animals, pictured standing one in front of the other, appear in the shot as a single four-eyed creature. Mr Beck, from Washington state, in the northwestern US, said: “I’m just a guy with a camera who loves capturing God’s creatures and creation.”
Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2023: It's that time of year again! Here are some of the hilarious shortlisted entries for this year's awards. Take a look...
Earth's Sunniest Spot
The Altiplano, a dry plateau near the Andes mountains in Chile's Atacama Desert, has been unveiled as the sunniest location on Earth, comparable in sunlight intensity to Venus, according to a recent study. Surprisingly, it receives more sunlight than places closer to the equator or at higher elevations.
Price Reduction
The global price of polysilicon (the stuff they make solar panels from) has dropped by 78 percent over the past year, reports Bloomberg.
Power of Mamas
In southwestern Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, a group of women in red shirts known collectively as the Power of Mama travel by motorbike to scout for undetected fires and encourage farmers to reject slash-and-burn agriculture. So far, fifty women have been trained in basic fire-fighting methods and armed with smartphones. Dr. Karmele Llano Sanchez founded the program after noticing that while farmers didn’t heed her pleas to stop burning their fields, they did listen to their wives. Women in other villages are now waiting for groups to be set up in their areas.“The fact that these women have been hidden behind kitchen doors for so long doesn’t mean they don’t have the power to do this job,” says Llano. “They are outstanding.”
Fuel Efficiency
Drivers are taking Google Maps’ advice for how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their trips, according to the company. In late 2021, Google debuted a feature in Google Maps that allows users to see the most fuel-efficient routes. The feature has since helped prevent around 1.2 million metric tons of planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions, Google estimates in its latest environmental report released yesterday. That’s almost like taking 250,000 gas-guzzling cars off the road for a year, the company says.
“The cool thing about being famous is traveling. I have always wanted to travel across seas, like to Canada and stuff.” Britney Spears
On this Day
29 July 1836: The Arc de Triomphe, one of the largest triumphal arches in the world, was officially inaugurated in Paris.
What is a blue Moon, what does the term mean and how often does a blue Moon actually occur? Answers...
Right now, tens of thousands of beluga whales are congregating in the ice-free waters of Canada’s Churchill River and Hudson Bay. Watch live...
Mood Booster
Adele: Someone Like You. Filmed at the London Palladium.