Eclectic mid-week bundle of uplifting news nuggets to brighten the day.
Coral Recovery
“The most astonishing and heartening coral rebirth the world has ever seen." In 2015/16, the strongest El Niño on record moved across the coral reefs of the Pacific Line Islands, killing half of them. Six years on the reefs are thriving, with more than 43 million colonies per square km. Nature will recover if we let it, says NatGeo.
Raise a Glass to...
... Dale Haney, the White House groundskeeper and perhaps the truest nonpartisan employee in Washington. Haney has just celebrated 50 years at the White House. He's definitely got a plum gig - imagine spending all that time tending to roses, trimming cherry trees and walking generations of precious presidential pups, from George W. Bush's sassy Scottie dogs to President Joe Biden's rambunctious German shepherds. The Bidens surprised Haney for his anniversary at the White House by planting an elm tree, which can live between 175 to 200 years, in his honor. Fifty years, 10 presidents and one commemorative elm tree later, Haney's hardly done - after all, Biden's newest dog, Commander, still needs bathroom breaks.
US Air Quality
US air quality is improving. Since 1990, fine particulate matter pollution has declined by 41 percent and concentrations of O3, a precursor to smog, have declined by 22 percent, reports the Natural Resouces Defense Council. The result? 370,000 avoided premature deaths, 189,000 fewer hospital admissions for cardiac and respiratory illnesses, 147 million fewer acute respiratory symptoms, and 8.3 million fewer lost school days... every year!
Right to Choose
India's Supreme Court has delivered a landmark decision, giving the country's 73 million single women the right to choose. It's a human rights victory on a monumental scale - the first time a legal question about abortion in India has been approached from a women's perspective, and setting an example that could echo far beyond the sub-continent.
Divestments
One hundred universities in the UK have now pledged to divest from fossil fuels, according to the Guardian. Analysis by the newspaper suggests that 65 percent of the country’s universities are at least partially divesting from fossil fuels, putting £17.6bn out of reach for fossil fuel companies. Coventry University became the 100th to make such a pledge, following a nine month campaign by students.
Nurse to Godmother
When Austyn Evans was finally able to bring her baby Conrad home from the hospital after six months in the neonatal intensive care unit, she was thrilled, but there was one thing she was going to miss: her son's nurse, Carly Miller. After six months in the NICU, Conrad was released, but since her family formed such a tight bond with Miller, thinking about "having to never see Carly again was heart-wrenching," Evans said. She decided to ask Miller to be Conrad's godmother, presenting her with flowers and a note. Immediately, Miller said yes and started to cry. "It is hands down the coolest thing that I've had happen," she told Today.
Quote of the Day
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Helen Keller
On this Day
2 November 2000: The first resident crew - including one American and two Russians - arrived at the International Space Station.
The medicinal qualities of honey are well known, but it's now been shown that manuka honey could help relieve cystic fibrosis. Read on...
Depending on where you live, you will be able to observe a total lunar eclipse next week. Read on...
How long does it take to get a dose of nature high enough to make you feel healthy and have a strong sense of well-being? Read on...
Mood Booster
Picathartes: These ancient birds have been around for 44 million years.