Monday's global collection of concise, upbeat news stories.
Flower Power
What you’re looking at is a literal carpet of flowers in Brussels - an annual art installation in the Belgian city’s historic square, the Grand-Place. Usually, the carpet is primarily composed of begonias, but this year’s artist decided to break with tradition, using fresh dahlias for more than 80 percent of the work.
London's Baby Beavers
Proving that rewilding is not just for rural areas, beavers have given birth in London for the first time in four centuries thanks to a reintroduction programme. In what is being called “a huge advancement in urban rewilding”, the birth of two kits in the capital follows the successful return of beavers to London by the Ealing Beaver Project.
Mammoth Mammoth Tusk
A fossil hunter in Mississippi recently unearthed an intact mammoth ivory 7 feet long. Believing it was the tusk of a mastodon, a far more common proboscidean in the area, Eddie Templeton was nevertheless ecstatic to find one that wasn’t fragmented. But it was only after scientists arrived from the Mississippi Museum of Natural History and were able to examine it that the real former owner of the tusk became clear. It was the ivory of a Colombian mammoth - the largest mammoth in North America, and rarely documented this far south.
Ancient Mosaic
Construction workers in Greece have discovered an ancient mosaic depicting a pair of satyrs: mythical hybrid man-animal spirits of nature. Laid into a white pebbled floor, the designs once decorated a home dating to the mid-fourth century B.C.E. The mosaic floor was found on the island of Euboea, which was settled by ancient Greeks. Researchers concluded that the floor dates to the late classical period, an era of wealth and artistic progress, based on its similarity to floors inside the “House of the Mosaics,” a nearby building that also dates to the fourth century B.C.E. The culture ministry says the newly discovered mosaic is in “an excellent state of conservation.”
First-Time Mom
They're newborn baby giant pandas, and their mother just made history: Ying Ying, a 19-year-old panda, is now the oldest giant panda on record to have successfully given birth for the first time, according to the Hong Kong animal park where she delivered her twins. For pandas, 19 is the equivalent of age 57 in human years. Though the twins are fragile immediately after birth, they look just like baby giant pandas should - helpless, pink and the size of a human palm. They won't be on exhibit for a few more months while they strengthen up and get attached to their mom.
Electric Superhighway
A vast ‘electric superhighway’ is set to distribute renewable energy around the UK. The Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2) project - connecting Peterhead in northeast Scotland with Drax on the east coast of England - will be the UK’s biggest subsea energy transfer project. It’s part of a wider move to modernise the grid for the shift away from fossil fuels. Although the two 315-mile cables will be able to transfer electricity in both directions, the majority is expected to flow from wind farms in Scotland to England. Scotland is already a net-exporter of electricity thanks to its vast offshore wind farms. The new connection is expected to be operational by 2029.
"Celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had." Earvin "Magic" Johnson
On This Day
19 August 1839: Louis Daguerre's daguerreotype photographic process with complete working instructions is published "free to the world" in Paris as a gift to the world from the French government. In 1838, he used his new process to snap this photo of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. The streets in the photo appear deserted: this is because the exposure time for the photo was so long that the cars and trams could not be captured. Thus only the man having his shoes shined and the shoeshiner (bottom left corner) were motionless enough to be caught. This is the first known photograph of a person.
Today's Articles
Billions in Savings: White House has completed “negotiations” with ‘Big Pharma’ that will finally lower prices for millions of seniors on Medicare.
The Called Shot: Babe Ruth's famous shirt is almost certain to become the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever.
Word Warriors: University's list of delightfully descriptive words that should be resurrected in 2024.
Mood Boosting Video
Animal Crackers Clips: An hilarious compilation of animals with a sense of humour.
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