Bite sized chunks of good news to get the day off to a sunny start.
Traditional Skills
Prince Charles has been given the green light to build a new school for farming in Scotland that will aim to draw in people who have no connection to agriculture to learn traditional skills including one of his private passions: hedgelaying. Planners have granted approval for an education centre at Home Farm at Dumfries House, the East Ayshire Palladian mansion operated by the Prince’s Foundation, one of Charles’ charities, after he stepped in to help save it in 2007. About 1,800 teenagers, school leavers and adult learners are expected to pass through the education centre each year. The move cements the heir to the throne’s continuing interest in rural affairs that observers expect him to continue to champion when he becomes king.
Cascatelli
Did you hear that humanity has invented the first new pasta shape in over a century? Even though there are already at least 350 shapes of pasta, apparently the world needed one more. It’s called Cascatelli, which means little waterfall in Italian - designed for maximum sauceability, forkability and tooth sinkability. Don’t say we don’t bring you the big stories here!
Moon Art
British artist Sacha Jafri has prepared the first ever painting to be placed on the lunar surface when it blasts off with NASA later this year. The painting, called We Rise Together With the Light of the Moon, is engraved into a specially-designed aluminium-gold plate to survive the massive temperature swings on the Moon. However, it's not actually going to be the first artwork placed on the Moon, as NASA astronauts have already placed an aluminium sculpture up there commemorating all those - both American and Soviet - lost in the course of manned-space exploration.
Women's Rights
Four women in South Africa have successfully overturned a set of apartheid-era marriage laws, giving around 400,000 elderly black women equal access to matrimonial property. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Indian Ocean, Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to grant women co-ownership of land, in a landmark amendment that positively affected 350,000 girls and women overnight.
Harvesting Sun Twice
Successful trials found growing crops beneath panels - known as agrivoltaics - reduced water loss and resulted in larger plants. Solar panels are not a new way of providing cheap power across much of the African continent, where there is rarely a shortage of sunshine. But growing crops underneath the panels is, and the process has had such promising trials in Kenya that it will be deployed this week in open-field farms.
Hats Off to Clive
BBC News presenter Clive Myrie has been praised by many for reporting the news on the ground in Kyiv over the past week, and now says that he’s committed to stopping the spread of misinformation by staying. Myrie, 57, said there was “so much crap” out there and referenced the danger of propaganda. “None of us are forced to come here,” the presenter said, speaking from an underground shelter in Kyiv. “It’s part of our job. We all feel that we want to tell the story of this war and tell it accurately and fairly." And hats off too to all the other brave reporters from all reputable news organisations that are endeavouring to provide us with accurate, truthful news. We salute you.
Rodent Free
Three different sites - an Alaskan archipelago dubbed the ‘Rat Islands’, Lehua Island in Hawaii and Redonda Isle in the Caribbean, have all been declared rodent free after decades of conservation efforts. In all three locations, the pace of ecosystem recovery and increase of native wildlife populations has shocked even the most cynical of conservationists, shining examples of how quickly nature can bounce back if given a chance. It's just a shame that there are still rodents in the Kremlin.
Quote of the Day
"The lord gave us two ends: One to sit on and the other to think with. Success depends on which one we use the most." Ann Landers
On this Day
3 March 1931: The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812, was officially adopted as the national anthem of the United States by act of Congress.
Dive in Deeper
A man in New Jersey donates part of his liver to save his former college roommate who he has not seen in over two decades. Read on...
Nature Mood Booster
Enjoy the sweet dance moves of these flamingos in Argentina’s Laguna Brava.