A tasty smorgasbord of bite-sized chunks of positive news to perk up the day.
Un-Retirement
Lindsey Vonn is getting back on the slopes. The three-time Olympic medalist is rejoining the U.S. Ski Team, five years after announcing her retirement from the sport. This news comes seven months after she received a right knee replacement, a surgery that has allowed her to ski again without pain, she told The New York Times. “I had a smile so wide it was coming through the back of my helmet,” Vonn, 40, said of the surprising realization that she could return to racing. She called her un-retirement “amazing and definitely not planned.”
Exponential
In June, The Economist published a feature called “The exponential growth of solar power will change the world,” noting that the planet’s installed solar capacity doubles about every three years. Five months later, the Global Solar Council now says that installed capacity has actually doubled over the past two years. Even solar’s exponentials have exponentials. This is great news for phasing out coal and gas, as the plummeting prices of solar and wind are economic realities that could power them through the coming political headwinds.
Frozen In Time
In a stunning discovery, researchers have unearthed a remarkably preserved saber-toothed kitten, frozen in time for 35,000 years. Despite its tender age - a mere three weeks old when it died - this tiny feline offers an unprecedented glimpse into the appearance and evolution of these legendary creatures. A recent study highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the appearance of saber-toothed cats. The exceptional preservation of this newly discovered kitten, with its intact fur and overall condition, offers a rare opportunity to study an extinct mammal with no modern equivalent. Preserved in permafrost for millennia, the kitten confirms the species’ presence in the Late Pleistocene epoch and “radically expands the understanding of the distribution of the genus.”
Unity of Diversity
A Nigerian doctor turned his passion for art into a record-breaking feat by creating the world’s largest drawing by an individual, says Guinness World Records. Fola David-Tolaram’s gigantic piece of art, created on the pitch at Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos, is a love letter to his home country, depicting its diverse culture. It measures a massive 1,004.7 sq.m (10814.5 sq.ft), which is the size of 3.8 tennis courts. “The Nigerian country is a multi-cultural nation. I wanted to create something that speaks to that and give people an avenue to celebrate their cultures." The drawing is entitled The Unity of Diversity.
Danish Whisky
Denmark likely isn’t the first country you associate with world class whisky. But the talented craftspeople at Stauning are working hard to fix that. It’s been a long, labor-intensive process that began nearly 20 years ago on a remote tract of farmland about a 3.5-hour drive west of downtown Copenhagen. Today that journey from grain to glass is taking a big leap forward with the launch of Sherry Cask Finish Rye, the brand’s first bottling meant exclusively for American shelves. One sip of the new release will leave you wondering what took so long for it to arrive, says Forbes.
Memorial Statue
The late John Lewis has been memorialized with a statue in his home state of Alabama. This sculpture, titled Steadfast Stride Toward Justice, captures Lewis in 1965 when he was just 25 and led hundreds of people in a march to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, an event now known as “Bloody Sunday.” It’s located in Montgomery, in the Equal Justice Initiative’s Freedom Plaza. “I just think the entire state of Alabama owes John Lewis so much because he pulled us all out of the darkness of Jim Crow and racial segregation,” said the initiative’s executive director, Bryan Stevenson, told the Associated Press.
“All of us can, in some way, be a beacon of light.” Alek Wek
On This Day
19 November 1863: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the brief but renowned Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Pennsylvania during the American Civil War.
Today's Articles
Beloved Camaro: Son gifts his father the car four decades after he had to give it up for diaper money.
Freak of Nature: Citizen scientists have found something travelling through space at one million mph.
Mood Boosting Video
Out of Africa: Denys Finch (Robert Redford) takes Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) flying over Kenya's Great Rift Valley in his Gipsy Moth.