Today's eclectic bundle of positive news nuggets from around the globe.
Two Double Rainbows
An astonishing view of four rainbows has been snapped in the Langdales region of England's Lake District. The rare sighting was captured by Nigel Danson, a 52-year-old professional landscape photographer based nearby in north west England. The photographer shared the sighting on his Instagram account @nigel.danson. He told Newsweek: "It is actually two double rainbows. The second set of rainbows is caused by a reflection off Lake Windermere and is an extremely rare phenomenon."
Reindeer’s Night Vision
Rudolph does not need to use his famous red nose to guide his fellow reindeer as the animals have a special form of night vision that they use to forage for food, scientists have concluded. Reindeer are the only mammals whose eyes change colour depending on the season, from golden-orange in summer to a blue hue in the winter months. The study found that while the colour shift may help them see better in the peak of winter when snowfall is heavy, it also allows their eyes to transmit ultraviolet light, reports The Guardian. This is the reason why the deer are able to see clearly in the dark and scour for food items such as lichen.
Rudolf is The Odd One Out: Rudolf and his red nose is a late edition to Santa's sleigh pulling team (created in 1939 by department store copywriter Robert L. May) and is almost certainly the only male reindeer in the bunch. How so?
Thrift Shop Find
A woman who bought a glass vase for $3.99 at a local Goodwill charity shop in Virginia has just successfully sold the piece at auction for $107,000 after it turned out to be a rare and valuable piece of Italian glassware. “I had a sense that it might be a $1,000 or $2,000 piece, but I had no clue how good it actually was until I did a little bit more research,” the lady told the New York Times after noticing a small ‘M’ on its bottom which she suspected might stand for Murano, an Italian island near Venice famed for glasswork. As luck would have it,
it turned out to be a work by famous Italian architect Carlo Scarpa.
Snow Sculpting
Stillwater, Minnesota is hosting the third annual World Snow Sculpting Championship with artists from eight countries. The event, sanctioned by the Association Internationale de Sculpture sur Neige et Glace based in Finland, will feature world-class snow sculpting teams from Turkey, Finland, France, Wales, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, and the U.S. competing to create the most compelling snow sculptures. “We are thrilled to be hosting this event again in its third year, and to be bringing the beauty and excitement of snow sculpting to Stillwater,” said Robin Anthony, President of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce.
Decorative Owl
A family were surprised when they found a baby owl living in their Christmas tree. The bird had spent four days hidden in the tree in the family home before it was discovered by the White family of Lexington, Kentucky. A carpet cleaner, Bobby Hayes, safely released the owl in the family's back garden, noted Sky News.
Green Air Travel Tax
Denmark’s government has announced that it is introducing a green tax on air travel, to be phased in starting in 2025. The tax will be added to plane tickets, and the country is encouraging other European Union member states to follow its lead. The new tax will be approximately $7.35 per passenger for flights within Europe, $45 for medium-distance flights and $59 for long flights, reported Reuters. “I imagine that as the years go by we shall have common European regulation in this area. That would be the right way forward,” said the Minister for Climate.
"If I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one?" Abraham Lincoln
On This Day
20 December 1946: Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, a drama starring Jimmy Stewart, premiered and later became a holiday classic.
In what may put many of us to shame, new study shows that apes instantly recognize family and friends that they haven’t seen in over two decades. Remarkable...
Photographer cleverly injects household objects into real-life settings, creating playful images that fool the eye. Surreal...
Mood Booster
Rock'n'Roll: Fred and Rita dancing to Led Zep in cleverly synced mash-up.