Celebrating the start of the weekend with a global round up of uplifting news stories.
New Traffic Pattern
Bicycles now outnumber cars during peak commute hours in London. A November count - on a wet and windy day, no less - revealed that people on bikes represented 40 percent of non-pedestrian rush hour traffic, though pedestrians still make up the bulk of commuters. The city has increasingly penalized driving in central London through congestion charges and additional fees for older, more polluting vehicles, reports Forbes. The government says that the creation of “low emission zones” has contributed to a 50 percent drop in toxic nitrogen dioxide. The recent report also highlighted that the shift to cycling commutes is a long-term trend. Data from 12 sites across the city show that since 1999, automobile traffic has fallen by 64 percent and the bicyclist count has quadrupled.
Scrolling Distances
“Phone addicts” are scrolling through the equivalent of a whopping three miles of content every year, reports The Times. Researchers who surveyed 2,000 people, found that that the average person scrolled the equivalent of 519 inches: 43ft 3in, or 13.2 metres, every day. No wonder experts suggest switching to a more basic handset to remedy the issue.
The Return of Dumbphones: These devices are similar to some of the first handsets that people bought back in the late 1990s and they're enjoying a major comeback. More...
No Nuclear Germany
The German government is phasing out nuclear power despite the energy crisis. The country is pulling the plug on its last three reactors today, betting it will succeed in its green transition without nuclear power.
Puffling Patrol
The Icelandic island of Heimaey hosts a million puffins annually for their breeding cycle. On their first flights leaving the burrow, some young birds - known as pufflings - get confused by the lights of town and head inland instead of out to sea. When pufflings land on streets, their wings are too weak to get them aloft from the flat ground, leaving them vulnerable to cars, predators and starvation. Generations of citizens have made it their mission to find any pufflings that get lost on the island and help them get airborne. For members of the Puffling Patrol, this can mean late nights and being out in bad weather in service of helping these iconic birds. "I feel proud I helped it get to the ocean. And maybe someday I'll rescue its pufflings," said Sunna Tórshamar Georgsdóttir, a member of the Puffling Patrol.
Life Saving
Ghana has become the first nation to approve a malaria vaccine that experts believe could save thousands of lives annually, mostly children’s. Trials suggest that the University of Oxford-developed vaccine offers up to 80 percent protection from malaria, which kills a child every minute in Africa. Oxford hopes to produce 200m doses of its vaccines annually once more approvals have been granted. Gareth Jenkins, of the charity Malaria No More, said that infant malaria deaths could end “in our lifetimes” thanks to the vaccines.
Leap in EV Sales
Electric vehicles have reached a 25 percent market share in China, the world's largest car market, which makes up 34 percent of global car sales. Of the almost 27 million vehicles sold in 2022, seven million were EVs, and EV sales are growing at a staggering pace. EV market share in 2022 grew 93 percent over 2021 and Bloomberg forecasts it is likely to reach 35 percent this year, a milestone originally predicted to be reached in 2025. Thus the petrol and diesel car market will contract by millions much earlier than anyone anticipated.
California Trucks
The Environmental Protection Agency is granting California the legal authority to require that half of all heavy-duty truck sales in the state be fully electric by 2035, an ambitious standard that will go beyond federal requirements. And, where California leads, others tend to follow.
Old and Young
The tenants come from diverse generations and cultures - and commit to socializing with each other. Older people often face isolation, through no fault of their own, but due to society's obsession with youth. In Sweden, a housing development challenges this isolation: an apartment block with shared facilities, expect young and old live together and agree to socialize for at least two hours a week. By having common facilities it is much cheaper than each person living on their own replicating the expensive provision of individual services. May such ideas spread across the world...
"I learned the way a monkey learns - by watching its parents."
King Charles III
On this Day
15 April 1955: American fast-food pioneer Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois - launching an enterprise that would eventually become the world's largest fast-food chain.
There's now a future where everyone with Parkinson’s can expect improved care and treatments - and the newly diagnosed may never advance to full-blown symptoms. New chapter...
From the Archives
7 Things You Probably Don't Know About Orchids: These flowering beauties are nothing short of amazing. Remarkable...
Century Old Prediction: English cartoonist and caricaturist W. K. Haselden did a strip on "pocket telephones" in 1919. Prescient...
Musical Mood Booster
Dave Brubeck Quartet playing Take Five, live in Belgium in 1964.