Eclectic global round up of positive news stories.
Female Army
More than 10,000 rural women in the Indian state of Assam are part of the "hargila army" which works to protect one of the world's rarest storks - the greater adjutant, known locally as hargila. The group's founder, Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, began work to save the endangered stork by first honoring the owners of nesting trees as guardians. To get women out of their homes, she organized "baby showers" during the storks' breeding season and "happy hatching" ceremonies. Today, there are more than 1,000 hargila birds in Assam, the once-maligned bird has become a cultural symbol, and women earn an independent income, weaving fabrics from which they make bags and cushion covers. Barman has been named World Female Ranger, received the Whitley award and the Nari Shakti Puraskar, and recently was given the UN Environment Program's Champions of the Earth award.
Tonight's Alignment
Tonight is a bit of a treat for those who enjoy gazing at the night sky. Look to the west shortly after sunset and you will clearly be able to see the crescent moon shining above Jupiter and Venus, in what's known as an alignment.
That's a Lot
A sealed original iPhone model from 2007 has sold at auction for the most ever for the device to date. After receiving 27 bids, the lot sold for $63,356.40, over 105 times the device's original $599 retail price. According to Business Insider, the iPhone's original owner was given the device as a gift from her friends in 2007, but never used it since iPhones at the time could only be used on AT&T's network. She simply left the phone unopened for the following 15 years.
5,000 Year Old Tavern
It doesn’t get much older than Sumeria, but even the modern concept of going out to eat was already established 1,000 years before the Great Pyramids were built. In the ancient Near Eastern city-state of Lagash, in modern day Iraq, the foundations of a tavern were recently found by archaeologists that included an open-air sitting area, and a kitchen complete with a clay oven, clay chiller, and ancient crockery. One of the oldest areas in Ancient Mesopotamia, Lagash was already inhabited in the fifth millennium BCE.
Dancing Lemur
The first ever ‘dancing lemur’ to be bred in Europe was born at a UK zoo in a “landmark moment for the species”. The precious baby Coquerel’s sifaka was born at Chester Zoo, weighing just 4oz (119g) following a 130-day pregnancy. Proud parents Beatrice and Elliot, both aged ten, successfully bred after being transferred from a US zoo as part of a program to protect this critically endangered species.
Once in a Lifetime
It was good news for two British teenagers when they were awarded exclusive access to a space launch in Florida after winning a Scouts competition and impressing astronaut Major Tim Peake. Simon Shemetilo, 16, and Craig Alexander, 14, were present at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, last weekend as the Inmarsat I-6 F2 satellite launched successfully into orbit. They were awarded the once-in-a-lifetime prize for their ideas to improve life on Earth with novel satellite technology, and were chosen out of hundreds of UK entries by Major Peake, who is Scouts’ Ambassador.
Bald Eagle Nest Cam
Fancy a change of scenery? Tune into this live nest cam located in Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. It is about 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine tree. The nest is the current home for Jackie and Shadow, a local bald eagle pair.
"It’s not the years of your life that count. It’s the life in your years."
Abraham Lincoln
On this Day
23 February 1963: Luciano Pavarotti makes his debut at the Vienna State Opera in La Traviata.
Data centres contain servers, which produce heat as they process information. It's now being put to good use. Read on...
Mood Booster
Meet Disco, the remarkable talking budgie.