Today's eclectic global round-up of positive news nuggets.
Ooops!
The word 'School’ has been misspelt as ‘Shcool' on a Massachusetts road, reported UPI. Officials in the town of Holden said the word, a warning about the reduced speed limit outside Mountview Middle School, was painted a fortnight ago and contractors have been unable to correct it because of recent weather conditions. “We expect it to be corrected shortly and we are eternally grateful for everyone’s input on this matter,” the town said in a Facebook post.
Did You Know?
An interesting calculation from Sustainability by Numbers: 'The internal combustion engine is shockingly inefficient. For every dollar of petrol you put in, you get just 20 cents worth of driving motion. The other 80 cents is wasted along the way, most of it as heat from the engine. Electric cars are much better at converting energy into motion. For every dollar of electricity you put in, you get 89 cents out.'
Dean Paints Davies
He was one of Hollywood’s greatest stars, but James Dean also had considerable talent as an artist, a previously unseen painting reveals. His portrait of jazz musician Miles Davis playing his trumpet is a tour de force which, with the most vibrant of reds, oranges and yellows, captures the electrifying atmosphere of his concerts. It is signed and dated 1954. The following year, Dean was to give his own masterful performances in East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause and Giant, shortly before his tragic death in a car accident, aged just 24. The painting is a major attraction in a forthcoming auction by Julien’s Auctions, a specialist in Hollywood memorabilia in Beverly Hills, California.
Critical Corridors
In Borneo, wildlife corridors are helping to save the critically endangered Bornean orangutan and pygmy elephants, reports the Guardian. Palm oil plantations have fragmented local rainforest, but conservationists are working to connect protected areas. 'The major threat for these species in this landscape is not deforestation or poaching, but fragmentation.'
Memorial Statue
Queen Elizabeth II and her beloved corgis are being immortalised in their first official memorial statue. Made using 800 kilos of clay and standing at 7ft tall, the sculpture captures the late Queen in her youthful splendour, wearing regal state robes with a corgi at her heels.
For British sculptor Hywel Brân Pratley, the commission marks one of his first public sculptures in Britain and is understood to be the first dedicated memorial of the late monarch. It will be placed in Rutland, England's smallest county.
Aussie Coal Demise
Australia’s big banks have turned their backs on the country’s largest coal miner, refusing to refinance a billion-dollar debt in a major rebuff that will force Whitehaven Coal to source loans offshore, potentially speeding up the demise of the sector, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Couldn't have happened to nicer people.
"There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." Vincent van Gogh
On this Day
2 August 1992: At the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, considered by many to be the greatest female athlete ever, won the heptathlon, becoming the first person to win the event in consecutive Games.
Growing food in our oceans is part of the burgeoning Blue Economy, expected to be a $400 billion industry by 2030. Benefits...
Record Sales: For the first time since 1987, music lovers in the US are buying more vinyl albums than CDs. Old school...