Ensuring it's a sunny Saturday with a global round up of positive news stories.
Winning Shot
The overall winner of the international Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest has been announced, with the title going to Ryan Imperio for his sci-fi-esque shot, “Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse.” Taken in Odessa, Texas, during the 2023 annular eclipse, the image captures Baily’s beads, which are formed when sunlight peaks through valleys and craters on the moon’s surface and breaks up an eclipse’s recognizable ring pattern. They are only visible when the moon enters or exits an eclipse, making them particularly tricky to photograph. Check out the rest of the winning shots.
What's in Your Attic?
“Tucked away” in a home attic in Maine alongside a “collection of heirlooms and antiques” art appraisers found a lost Rembrandt portrait - painted on an oak board, and set in a gold Dutch frame. Nobody knows how it ended up in Maine. Depicting a teenage woman in 17th-century Dutch attire, it recently sold at auction for $1.4 million. Whilst it is yet to be properly authenticated, the auctioneers are convinced it's the real deal and reckon that the price paid was a bargain.
Act of Kindness
Francis Apraku, a custodian at a Virginia high school, does so much more than keep classrooms clean; he’s a beacon of kindness and care. To celebrate him, students raised $20,000 and surprised him with a Jeep Wrangler for his birthday, something he’s always wanted but couldn’t afford. “I didn’t believe this would happen in my life,” a delighted Apraku said.
Long Distance Control
After a bumpy few years, we have good news about NASA's Voyager 1 mission to share. NASA has successfully switched thrusters on the 46 year old spacecraft from an impressive 24,630,000,000 km (15.3 billion miles) away. Voyager 1 has traveled further than any human-made object, crossing the heliopause and heading into interstellar space. While doing this, it has continued to send back useful data to Earth, helping us learn about the space between stars outside of our own Solar System. All this while working with a tiny amount of computing power. "The button you press to open the door of your car, that has more compute power than the Voyager spacecrafts do," Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd explained to NPR. "It's remarkable that they keep flying, and that they've flown for 46-plus years."
World's Largest
Finland’s capital Helsinki is building the world’s largest heat pump to help warm as many as 30,000 homes in the winter. Powered only by renewable energy sources, the heat pump can operate in temperatures as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20C). This project is part of the city’s larger effort to become carbon-neutral by 2030.
Bye Bye UK Coal
The world’s first coal-fired power plant opened in London in 1882. Now, the United Kingdom is closing its last coal plant this month. The country now relies on a mix of gas, renewables, nuclear, and bioenergy for its electricity.
“September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours, but in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn.” Rowland E. Robinson
On This Day
14 September 1814: Francis Scott Key pens the poem Defence of Fort M'Henry, later known as The Star-Spangled Banner while witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship in Baltimore harbor.
Today's Articles
Nutrient Powerhouse: America's CDC declares this leafy green to be the healthiest of all vegetables.
World First: Denmark to pioneer CO2 tax on livestock farms - and already has widespread support from farmers and other stake holders.
Ingenious Solution: Dropping huge marble sculptures into the Mediterranean sea successfully stops illegal trawling.
Mood Boosting Video
First Time Ever: Bike flips on a moving train. Ready for a vicarious adrenalin rush?
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