Bite-sized chunks of positive news nuggets to help perk up the day.
What's in a Name?
Following Argentina's win at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, newborn children named Lionel and Lionela increased rapidly in star player Lionel Messi's home province of Sante Fe, local newspaper La Capital reported, citing the region's civil registry. Before October, the names Lionel and Lionela registered at about six per month, but there were 32 new registrations in October and November just weeks before the start of the Qatar World Cup. After Argentina's epic win over France, there were reportedly 49 new submissions for the names in December, including 22 from Messi's hometown of Rosario in the province. Messi's three sons, with his wife Antonela, are called Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro.
Bee Bricks
The city of Brighton, on England's south coast, has introduced a new planning law worth buzzing about - the law requires new buildings to include special bricks that have little nests for solitary bees. The council’s policy specifies that all new buildings must have bee bricks and bird nesting boxes that are suitable for swifts, a bird species that is experiencing a decline in population. The idea behind the law is to increase opportunities for biodiversity and to support the pollinators on which natural ecosystems rely. The special bee bricks are the same size as conventional bricks but integrate a series of narrow openings that resemble spaces where solitary bees are known to nest.
Bird Houses for Your Roof: A clever idea that provides a safe place for birds to stay and raise their chicks. Read on...
NYC Green Shift
New York has announced that it will replace more than 900 city-owned fossil-fuel powered vehicles with electric models and install 315 additional EV charging ports after receiving a $10 million U.S. Transportation Department grant. The announcement is the latest by a U.S. government agency to speed the shift away from gas-powered vehicles to EVs.
146 New Species
Proving that our beautiful planet still has unexplored places with never-before-recorded plants and animals, 146 new species were added in 2022 to the scientific database of biodiversity. The new species reported by researchers at the California Academy of Sciences include fish, rays, lizards, spiders, scorpions, and plants. The new branches added to our tree of life include 44 lizards, 30 ants, 14 sea slugs, 14 flowering plants, 13 sea stars, seven fishes, four sharks, four beetles, three moths, three worms, two scorpions, two spiders, two lichens, one toad, one clam, one aphid, and one sea biscuit.
Four Bird Species Reign Supreme: According to a new study, there are at least 50 billion total wild birds - or six birds for every human on the planet - but four species have populations of over one billion. More...
UK Hits Record
Zero-carbon sources of energy, a category that includes renewables like wind and solar as well as nuclear, achieved 87.6 percent of the nation’s demand on 4 January, beating the previous record on 30 December of 87.2 percent.
Monster Turbine
A prototype of the world's most powerful wind turbine, Vestas V236, has started spinning in Denmark. The wind turbine stands at 919 feet (280m) and its blades are a whopping 379 feet (115.5m) long. This single turbine is capable of delivering enough energy to power 20,000 European households.
“As yet, the wind is an untamed, and unharnessed force; and quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made, will be the taming, and harnessing of the wind.”
Abraham Lincoln
On this Day
10 January 1984: The United States and the Vatican established diplomatic relations after a 117 year break.
Ella is designed to make things super easy, with electric-assist motors, a Hands-Free mode, and plenty of "smart" features. Read on...
If you haven't had time to get yourself a new calendar yet, you may like to get your paws on a free one from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Read on...
Sistine Chapel of the Ancients: One of the world’s largest collections of prehistoric rock art has been discovered in the Amazonian rainforest. Read on...
Mood Booster
Brilliant, mesmerising video tracking the revenues of the world's highest grossing films from 1976 to 2022.