Thursday's collection of uplifting good news nuggets.
Hats off to Mildred Wilson: The 81 year old recently completed her second Tough Mudder, an obstacle course race that "pushes your physical and mental limits". Mildred competed in her first Tough Mudder competition in May 2019 after her son asked her if she wanted to try to compete in the muddy event. This year she ran in honour of her late husband, who passed away last year. "The update you've all been waiting for: 81-year-old Mildred Wilson crushed her second Tough Mudder," the organization wrote on Instagram. Way to go Mildred!
Following the lead of the Dutch city of Utrecht, the UK city of Leicester has begun to replace their traditional bus stops with what they're calling Living Roof bus shelters - fondly nicknamed 'Bee Bus Stops.' Their green roofs will be solar-powered and topped with pollinator gardens to attract bees and other pollinating insects.
Edinburgh Airport is to build an 11 acre solar farm next to its runway. The array of solar panels will be the first of its kind in the UK and will provide a quarter of the airport's energy needs.
Number crunchers are going to love this: Rivaling Google’s Sycamore project, a 54 qubit processor that can complete calculations that would take today’s regular computers 10,000 years to complete, China's Zuchongzhi-1 uses a 2D programmable quantum computer that runs 66 qubits. The Zuchongzhi-1 was able to run a task that was 100 times more challenging than the one Google’s Sycamore executed. What’s more, its 72-hour task would take the next best computers approximately eight years to complete.
It's the stuff of science fiction. Imagine driving down the road, and your electric car automatically charges. You don't have to stop. You don't have to get out of the car. Well, this dream could soon be a reality. At least, it may soon be a reality in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Transportation, Purdue University, and German startup Magment GmbH have all joined forces to create a system that wirelessly charges electric vehicles as they drive. Ultimately, the idea is to develop the world's first wireless charging concrete road.
Rising back from its near-death experience, the Hubble Space Telescope is back to its old days of capturing scientific observations of the cosmos and sending us images to decipher. In fabulous news for astronomers, NASA has confirmed that Hubble has recovered from a computer anomaly and is back in business, in its 32nd year in space.
Maine will join California and make school meals free for all students, regardless of income. In Maine's updated budget, the state has announced plans to continue providing free meals for all students in 2022-23 and beyond.
Dive in Deeper
Hey, that's my bed!
Golden Retriever is somewhat dismayed to discover that a tiny little kitten has stolen his bed. It's time for a compromise.