Tuesday's bundle of positive news snippets.
If you're not a Star Wars fan you may be unaware that today is known as Star Wars day, as it works perfectly as a pun on 'may the force be with you'. The good news is that we're not going to trouble you with any of the cringe-worthy jokes that often accompany this special date in the inter-galactic calendar. But...
Public service announcement to all gamers: don’t move to Yemen - it has an average broadband speed of 0.58Mbps (over 106 times slower than the net aboard the ISS), but which country has the fastest? Answer: Liechtenstein with 230 Mbps. Followed by Jersey (218) and Andorra (213).
Good news from Singapore as the country goes 'all in' on floating solar farms and vertical panels to increase its clean-energy supplies and cut carbon emissions, a model that could work in other densely populated cities. The clean-energy push is part of Singapore's Green Plan, that also includes measures such as planting more trees, adding electric vehicle charge points, and ceasing new registrations of diesel cars from 2025. Talking of solar power...
Isn't it time to reconsider how solar panels could be laid out? Instead of vast flat fields of photovoltaic sheets, how about a solar mountain? This particular structure is designed to mimic the sand dune landscape of the Nevada desert and is in the running to provide the power for everyone and everything at the legendary Burning Man festival in 2022. Wouldn't it be good news if it kick-started more innovative designs?!
A small neighbourhood museum in America recently posted an image of 1965 school desk inscribed with "Benny + Linda". The author of the inscription showed up in the comments of the post and gave a very happy update: 'Yes, I carved that sitting in the auditorium of Central High School in my freshman year before leaving for LaSalle. Linda and I are still together after having three wonderful girls and 50 years of marriage. Told my friends on fourth grade I was going to marry her! Smartest thing I ever did.'
Can hazelnuts transform farming? Mono-cultures of corn and soybeans carpet 75 percent of the U.S. Midwest, leading to soil erosion, water pollution, and massive greenhouse gas emissions. However, the good news is that a new wave of farmers is breaking the monocrop monotony by growing these annuals between long rows of perennial shrubs like American hazelnuts, which keep soils intact while harboring beneficial bugs and sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere.
What did you do during lockdown? In Scandinavia, someone built a real life version of Donald Duck's car. Al Taliaferro introduced Donald Duck's car, a 1934 Belchfire Runabout, in the Donald Duck newspaper comic in July 1938. Donald is said to have constructed it himself from spare parts of various sources. Now, a real life version of the car has been spotted in a parking lot in Finland. The license plate is 313-AKU. In Finnish "Aku" is Donald. And 313 is Donald's original plate number.
Dive in Deeper
Killer whale cluster...
Norwegian guide has never seen such an 'Orcasm' as an estimated 300 killer whales are seen in the same spot feeding on a giant school of herring.