Mid week collection of positive news snippets to help get the day off to an upbeat start.
Party Pooper Putin
Vladimir Putin will not hold a year-end press conference for the first time in at least a decade. The marathon press-conferences are traditionally an occasion for the Russian president to burnish his image and celebrate his botoxed gorgeousness. But this year, the campy spectacle that normally gives Putin the chance to play the populist on national television has been cancelled. There will also be no new year reception party at the Kremlin, officials said. What, no friends? At all?
Putin Huylo: Mockery of an invader is helping to maintain morale - and an expression for which there is no polite translation has gained traction since the start of the Ukraine war.
Big Cats
Staying on the subject of dangerous predators, a bill to restrict the private ownership of big cats like lions and tigers in the US has passed by unanimous consent in the Senate. The Big Cat Public Safety Act would stop people from keeping the animals as pets and from them being exposed to public petting and photo opportunities. Efforts to curb private ownership have increased in the wake of the Netflix documentary series Tiger King. The bill now needs to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Fusion Breakthrough
US scientists just made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. Following decades of work in fusion energy, researchers just hit a major milestone. For the first time ever, scientists successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy than they put in. Nuclear fusion holds the promise of being a “near-limitless, safe, clean, source of carbon-free” energy. Research began in the 1950s, but so far, researchers haven’t been able to produce a positive energy gain from the process - until now. US Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm called the scientific advance “game-changing, world-improving, lives-saving history unfolding in real time”. Whilst this is a really significant breakthrough, there's still a way to go until it becomes commercially viable.
Toys for Tickets
Cities in Canada are allowing citizens to pay their parking fines with toys to help make sure children have a gift to open on Christmas morning. The Toys for Tickets campaign allows motorists to donate toys, in lieu of money, to pay for any parking ticket this holiday season. "We urge everyone with an eligible ticket to take this opportunity to donate a toy," Kingston's Supervisor of Enforcement Services Dan Hazell said. "Your donation will directly benefit a child in our community." The Toys for Tickets campaign was launched in 2005 and has received tremendous support from participating communities each year.
World's Most Popular Toys: The clever elves at TheToyZone have analyzed Google search volumes to track down the most popular toys around the world in 2022. Read on...
Geminids
If you missed them last night, tonight is also the peak moment to view the Geminid meteor shower. Stargazers will be able to see up to 150 meteors per hour.
Green Tariff
The EU has become the first big economy to legislate for a “green tariff” on imports, to be levied on goods that are produced with high carbon dioxide emissions. The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) means that countries which fail to green their industries will soon face a new threat: an effective carbon tax that will penalise those hoping to profit from high-carbon activities, and force them to clean up. The system will be applied at first to iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, electricity, hydrogen and some chemicals. The move, announced as part of the EU green deal, a big push to meet the EU’s stringent climate targets, could be the first step towards an equitable global effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with urgent scientific advice.
"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."
Babe Ruth
On this Day
14 December 1911: One of the greatest figures in the history of polar exploration was Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who left Norway for Antarctica in June 1910 and on this day in 1911 became the first person to reach the South Pole.
Denmark is to reverse the direction of an oil rig and pump down millions of tons of liquefied CO2 to keep it permanently out of our atmosphere. Read on...
As if a Canada goose named Arnold isn't endearing enough, his partner came looking for him when he was injured and taken to an animal hospital. Read on...
Ice cream store in South Dakota puts up hilarious signs on the big, illuminated board in its parking lot - and very few even mention ice creams. Read on...
Mood Booster
Fabulously uplifting video of African kids dancing to Jerusalema.
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