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Good News Only Saturday

Updated: Nov 14, 2023

Celebrating the start of the weekend with a global round up of positive news nuggets.


Nebula known as the 'cosmic hand'
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./R. Romani et al. (Chandra); NASA/MSFC (IXPE); Infared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/DECaPS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt)
Cosmic Hand

As spooky season wraps, NASA has a final Halloween treat. Using two X-ray telescopes, astronomers have visualized the ‘bones’ in one of space's most haunting phenomena, the pulsar wind nebula MSH 15-52, also known as the ‘cosmic hand' or 'hand of God'. “The data gives us the first map of the magnetic field in the ‘hand’,” said study lead Roger Romani, from Stanford University. “The charged particles producing the X-rays travel along the magnetic field, determining the basic shape of the nebula, like the bones do in a person’s hand.”


FDA Approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of sound waves to break down tumors - a technique called histotripsy - in humans for liver treatment. The technique was developed at the University of Michigan and provides a non-invasive alternative to surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer.


Pontiff at COP

Pope Francis said he will attend the United Nations COP28 Climate Change Conference. The meeting in Dubai is the first time a pope will attend the UN climate summit since they started in 1995. At the conference, it is expected that the pope will express the sentiment of his recent Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum (Praise God), in which he implored policymakers and those who deny the existence of climate change to stop dismissing human causes or ridiculing science. Instead, the pope encouraged action. “Our future is at stake, the future of our children and our grandchildren. A bit of responsibility is needed,” Pope Francis said, as reported by Reuters.


A cat and dog lying together
Feline Faces

Cats have 276 facial expressions, according to a new study. The repertoire, including blinks and half blinks, nose licks, nose wrinkles, whisker retractions, lip licks and various ear positions, is "far larger" than many experts had anticipated and "may have evolved as a result of them living alongside humans", said The Times. Meanwhile, dogs are said to be capable of just 27 facial movements.

 
 

Rolling On

The Rolling Stones have become the first act to reach the top 10 in the United States with new albums in every decade since the 1960s. The veteran band's latest studio album, Hackney Diamonds, has entered the Billboard chart at number three. They also extended their record as the act with the most US top 10 albums of all time, with 38 in total; ahead of second-placed Barbra Streisand on 34.


Hulk on a Bike

Dutch cyclist Jeffrey Hoogland has smashed the men's 1km time trial world record. The rider, described as "hulk on a bike", beat the 2013 benchmark of 56.303 seconds with a time of 55.433.


Sustainable Touring

Two musicians have taken sustainable touring to the next level - walking 870 miles (1,400 km) with their instruments strapped to their backs. Filkins Drift have walked around Wales, performing almost 50 gigs. After hiking through two named storms, Chris Roberts and Seth Bye finished their 60 day tour in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, last week. They said the music industry has to change its "mindset" on sustainability. The subject of how musicians tour hit the headlines in the summer when Beyoncé arrived for a gig in Cardiff by private jet, while Coldplay's Chris Martin - well known for being as green as possible on tour - took the train to the city a few weeks later.

 

"What can be better than to get out a book on Saturday afternoon and thrust all mundane considerations away till next week." C. S. Lewis

 
On This Day

4 November 2001: The first film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's best-selling Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, premiered in London.

 





 
Mood Booster

Trailer: Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes. Disney's fourth instalment will be in cinemas next May.



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