An eclectic global bundle of positive news nuggets to brighten the day.
Movie Memorabilia
From Star Wars droid C-3PO's head to Honey Ryder's bathrobe as worn by Ursula Andress in Dr. No, a trove of costumes and props are headed to a movie auction next month. More than 1,800 items are being sold by entertainment memorabilia auctioneer Propstore at its annual live auction, which this year runs from 9 to 12 November. Leading the sale, which Propstore estimates will fetch more than $14.6m in total, is the light-up head actor Anthony Daniels wore to play C-3PO in Star Wars: A New Hope, with an estimate of up to $1.2m. Honey Rider's bathrobe is expected to go for up to $170,000.
Fairy Circles
Round discs of barren dirt called "fairy circles" have been stymying scientists and inspiring imaginations for a long time. What causes these mysterious formations? They're not the only natural phenomenon that can produce round, repeated bare spots in a landscape, but the strongly ordered pattern between fairy circles is unusual even among similar phenomena. Fairy circles were previously spotted only in the arid lands of Africa’s Namib Desert and the outback of Western Australia. But a new study has used artificial intelligence to identify vegetation patterns resembling fairy circles in hundreds of new locations across 15 countries on three continents. This could help scientists understand fairy circles and their formation on a global scale. Or, they could remain a mystery, which is just as fun.
Digital Passports
Digital passports are here! But only if you’re a Finn flying from Helsinki to Britain. In a world-leading pilot scheme by the Finnish Border Guard, travellers on some Finnair flights can now slide quickly through border control by registering a digital version of their passport in advance. Other destinations will be sure to follow the innovation-loving Nordic nation. Just last week, Singapore’s Changi Airport announced that it’ll go passport-free in 2024. It’s another plum travel freedom for Singaporeans, who already enjoy visa-free and visa-on-demand access to more destinations than citizens of any other country or city-state. That’s why it tops a 2023 list of the world’s “most powerful” passports.
Teenage Girls Nigeria
Following a successful pilot that increased the number of teenage girls attending school in seven Nigerian states from 900,000 to over 1.6 million, the World Bank has approved $700m to roll the program out over 18 more states, reaching an estimated 8.6 million girls, as well as teachers, administrators, families, and communities.
Long Battle Won
Relatives of a Viennese cabaret artist murdered by the Nazis in 1941 have won a 20-year battle for the restitution of part of his prized art collection. Fritz Grünbaum, who died at Dachau, owned dozens of works by Egon Schiele, along with many more by other artists, all of which his wife was forced to hand over after his arrest in 1938; she died in a camp in 1942. Labelled "degenerate", the Schieles were sold to fund the Nazi Party; and seven of them wound up in public museums and private collections in the US. Following a lengthy legal process, these were finally returned to Grünbaum's heirs last week, at a ceremony in New York. The works will now be sold, to fund performing arts scholarships in Grünbaum's name.
Floating Solar
Europe’s largest floating solar farm is being built on a former quarry (pictured) in northwestern France, near Dijon. The floating solar islands will be spread out over 127 hectares (314 acres) and will supply enough clean energy for 37,000 households and avoid CO2 emissions of around 18,000 tonnes annually. Provisional commissioning is scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.
Antigravity Disproved
Gravity's effect on antimatter has been a point of disagreement between physicists for a century or so. New research at CERN may now have settled the debate by finding that antimatter is affected by gravity in the same way as matter, ruling out the existence of repulsive 'antigravity.'
“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” Umberto Eco
On this Day
4 October 1883: The Orient Express departs on its first official journey from Paris to Constantinople (now Istanbul).
A new language has been discovered on ancient tablets in the former capital of the Hittite Empire. Surprise...
Forgetfulness isn't inevitable, says Professor James Goodwin. Here are 6 ways to boost your mid-life brain. Top tips...
Mood Booster
Scientists filming with a drone off the coast of New Zealand captured stunning footage of a blue whale lunging for krill.
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