Today's eclectic bundle of upbeat news nuggets from around the world.
$100 Billion Woman
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers - granddaughter of the founder of L'Oréal, and the world's wealthiest woman - has become the first woman to amass a $100 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. "The milestone came as shares of L'Oréal SA, the beauty products empire founded by her grandfather, rose to a record high, with the stock set for its best year since 1998," per Bloomberg. She and her family own roughly one-third of the stock. She is now the world's 12th-richest person on Bloomberg's real-time index.
His Mother's Eyes
Conservationists at England's Chester Zoo are celebrating the birth of a critically endangered Coquerel's sifaka - more commonly known as a dancing lemur. The zoo is just one of three in Europe to care for the Coquerel's sifaka in a bid to prevent its extinction.
Breast Cancer Vaccine
A triple-negative breast cancer vaccine has shown good response in the first clinical trial of patients. The new drug targets the deadliest form of breast cancer and was administered to 16 women in three separate doses in a trial conducted at the Cleveland Clinic. The trial found that the drug elicits no side effects and triggered an immune response in 75 percent of patients. It could be available in five years, estimates ABC’s medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.
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The Quadrantids
Hoping to kick the new year off with a nice view of a meteor shower? Well, you're in luck. Each year, from about 1 to 5 January, the Quadrantid meteor shower arrives, and there will be some visible meteor activity every night during that window - though the night of January 3 and the early hours of January 4 will be your best bet. The meteors will be seemingly everywhere above your head. Just lean back, stay warm, let your eyes get used to the dark, and keep looking up.
Taking The Mickey
It was the animation that launched the House of Mouse. Steamboat Willie, a 1928 short film featuring early non-speaking versions of Mickey and Minnie, is widely seen as the moment that transformed Disney's fortunes and made cinema history. In good news for creatives and cartoonists, their images are now available to the public in the US, after Disney's copyright expired. Anyone can use those early versions without permission or cost. Disney has faced losing the copyright over its original cartoons several times in the past. The characters were first expected to go into the public domain in 1984, but Congress extended the term by 20 years. Before the next expiry date came up in 2004, another 20-year extension was passed. Disney's efforts to protect its characters have even led to the law being dubbed "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act". But the moment has finally come.
Predicting The Future
Wilbur Wright, who worked with his brother to create the first successful airplane, said this in a speech at Aero-Club de France in 1908: "I confess that, in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that men would not fly for 50 years. Two years later, we were making flights. This demonstration of my inability as a prophet gave me such a shock that I have ever since refrained from all prediction."
Natural Gas
Massachusetts has become the first U.S. state to approve the phase-out of natural gas as a source for residential heating - and it likely won’t be the last. According to CleanTechnica, at least 11 other states, including California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington - as well as Washington, D.C. - have ongoing regulatory cases that are exploring the future of natural gas.
“Well, we have a whole new year ahead of us. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, a little more loving, and have a little more empathy, and maybe, next year at this time we’d like each other a little more.” Judy Garland
On This Day
2 January 1839: First photo of the Moon, taken by French photographer Louis Daguerre. He was also known for developing the daguerreotype process of photography, which became the first commercially successful photographic process in the mid-19th century.
Random collection of thought-provoking, occasionally hilarious, epiphanies posted online from all corners of the digital world. OMG...
Concise observations by famous people on the importance, joy, and the state of happiness. Wise words...
Mood Booster
Awe Inspiring Beauty: From the icy north to the scorching south, our planet is simply gorgeous.