Global round up of positive news nuggets to help brighten the day.
Micro Art
Usually, pencils are a tool to create art. However, Daya transforms these utensils into masterpieces themselves. The Sri Lankan artist carefully carves the graphite tips of wooden pencils into amazingly detailed sculptures that deserve a close-up look. Each piece is smaller than a human fingertip, yet Daya utilizes no special tools to bring his art to life. Instead, he relies on a craft knife, a microscope, and a magnifying glass to meticulously chip away at the graphite until he renders the desired subject. Using this dedicated method, he has made everything from planes and motorcycles to people, objects, and architecture. You can follow Daya on Instagram and Facebook to keep up to date with his latest work.
Hats Off to Nikki Love
A woman from Nottingham, England, has completed a 2,500 mile run across Australia, facing challenges including extreme weather and a dingo, to raise money for an ADHD charity. Nikki Love, 56, covered the distance over 77 days, from Perth to Sydney, to raise money for the ADHD Foundation’s Umbrella Project. Adjudication is taking place to determine whether Ms Love has set the Guinness World Record, and she said it would be “an amazing feeling” if she became a new world record holder.
School Meals
Believed to be the largest of its kind in Africa, Kenya is launching a new free school meals program. Under the new scheme, 250,000 children living in the country's capital Nairobi will receive a hot meal every day. Ten new kitchens will help provide the daily lunches as part of the programme and will employ 3,500 people. "We believe that no child should go to school on a hungry stomach," said Joan from the Food4Education team.
Footie Fans
Ticket sales for the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand have set a new record.
Close to 1.4 million tickets have been purchased for the 64 matches running until 20 August, surpassing the record total for the tournament eight years ago in Canada.
Captions
For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, having closed captions isn’t a helpful bonus to a video-viewing experience, it’s a necessity. So, two students at Stanford decided to bring that caption technology off our screens and into augmented reality. Connected to the world of assistive technology themselves, Tom Pritsky and Madhav Lavakare, founded TranscribeGlass, and the device itself is an AR wearable that attaches to a pair of glasses. It pairs with a transcription software to project real-time captions in front of your eyes. Tah-dah!
Blind Elephant Loves Listening to Piano: Enjoy this delightful video of a blind 80 year old elephant enjoying some gentle Debussy. Watch...
Toyota Breakthrough
Toyota claims battery breakthrough in potential boost for electric cars. The Japanese firm believes it can make a solid-state battery with a range of 745 miles that charges in 10 minutes. Toyota says its technological breakthrough will allow it to halve the weight, size and cost of batteries, in what could herald a major advance for electric vehicles. Toyota expects to start installing these new batteries in 2027.
Reinvention Award
Britain's RIBA Stirling Prize for flamboyant new architecture faces a humble challenger – the Reinvention Award for the transformation of second-hand buildings. The Royal Institute of British Architects has created the new prize to encourage architects to pour their creativity into refurbishing existing buildings, rather than demolishing them in favour of new-build. If developers replace an existing building with a new one, vast amounts of CO2 are created to make the bricks, cement and steel for the replacement. If instead they can reshape the interior of the existing building while keeping the shell intact, emissions are greatly reduced.
"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot." Robin Williams
On this Day
26 July 1775: The U.S. Postal Service was established by the Second Continental Congress, and Benjamin Franklin was named the first postmaster general.
New research shows that a planet-friendly diet greatly cuts the risk of illness and early death. It's a win win...
A Penguin's Story: This is one of the most heart-warming true tales you're ever likely to read. Love...
Mood Booster
Refreshing Dance Mix: Have You Ever Seen The Rain?