Some tasty bite-sized chunks of good news to perk up the day.
C-3PO 2Go
The actor who played C-3PO in Star Wars said "it feels like it is time" to sell the costumes, props and scripts he kept from the iconic films. Anthony Daniels, 77, is parting company with items from his personal collection via auctioneer Propstore from Thursday, says the BBC. The famous gold helmet he wore for his character in the first film from 1977 is estimated to sell for up to £1m. Daniels said he was excited for his collection to "find a good home". Adding: "Will I feel sad to part with them? No. I will enjoy the fact people will cherish and display them."
Affordable Tesla
Reuters reports that Tesla plans to build a €25,000 ($27,000) car at its factory near Berlin. It could be even cheaper from its factories in China and Mexico. How receptive would buyers be to a cheap Tesla? “They’re going to sell them all day long. And woe to those who are trying to compete with them,” said Sandy Munro, an automotive industry expert. “It will be a people’s car that everyone can afford. Like a Volkswagen,” he said, referring to the old Volkswagen Beetle. It's anticipated that the Model 2 could be available in 18 months.
Restoring Damp Glory
The Great Fen scheme in Cambridgeshire will attract rare wildlife and play a vital role in restoring the UK equivalent of the rainforest - and it has just taken a great step forward. It's one of the largest and most ambitious restoration schemes ever launched in Europe with £30m to buy large sections of farmland to create a 9,000-acre site around two existing nature reserves. The land will then be transformed by allowing water to return to previously drained fields, restoring it to its former damp glory, and preserving the peat within. Ecosystems like peatlands are capable of absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide known as “carbon sinks,” making them ideal for helping to tackle climate change. Recreating these old habitats should then entice a host of animals and birds into the Great Fen.
A Yellowstone For Europe: A project is underway to create Europe’s largest forested national park that aims to protect 200,000 hectares (772 square miles) of wilderness in Romania. More...
First US DAC Goes Live
For the first time in the United States, a commercial plant is capturing carbon dioxide directly from the sky and locking away the planet-warming gas. Heirloom unveiled its “direct air capture” facility in Tracy, California, which uses limestone to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Through a novel process, the captured carbon is then injected into concrete, where it ostensibly stays trapped forever. It can absorb a maximum of 1,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. The DAC facility “is the closest thing on Earth that we have to a time machine, because it can turn back the clock on climate change,” says Shashank Samala, Heirloom’s CEO.
Dog Saves Cat
A missing pet cat was found safe and well at the bottom of a 100ft-deep mineshaft in Cornwall, south west England, thanks to its owner’s dog. Michele Rose had spent six days looking for Mowgli, and says she had “almost given up hope” when she noticed her dog, Daisy, “going berserk”, running in and out of some woods near their home. Rose followed the dog into the woods, and it then led her to the mineshaft that Mowgli had fallen into. Happily, firefighters were able to winch Mowgli out the next day.
Indigenous Knowledge
John Watson, a Nyikina Mangala elder from Western Australia, knew that the bark from a mudjala mangrove tree can offer pain relief. That's why when part of his finger was bitten off by a crocodile during a hunting trip, he chewed on some bark and applied it to his wound. Researchers from Griffith University in Brisbane heard about this, and partnered with Watson's community to learn more about the bark. Since then, they have found the bark's compounds have anti-inflammatory and pain relief properties that are "stronger than morphine," Watson told Australia's ABC News. The goal is to use these properties to create a gel for athletes to use by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, with the Nyikina Mangala community having intellectual property rights and ownership.
EU Landmark Deal
EU lawmakers and member states have struck a deal on a landmark law to protect nature. The nature restoration law, a hotly contested pillar of the European green deal, will force EU countries to restore at least 20 percent of the bloc’s land and seas by the end of the decade. It also contains binding targets to restore at least 30 percent of degraded habitats by then, rising to 60 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050.
"You say 'amateur' as if it was a dirty word. 'Amateur' comes from the Latin word 'amare', which means to love. To do things for the love of it." Quote from TV series Mozart in the Jungle.
On This Day
14 November 2002: Chosen to succeed Richard Gephardt as leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi of California became the first woman to be named leader of either party in either house of Congress.
A man who believes kindness is his superpower, honoured with a statue at Tower Bridge, London. Sebbie Hall...
Mood Booster
Kitten takes some ducklings out roaming.