An eclectic bundle of good news nuggets from around the globe.
School Sports Day
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the third-fastest woman of all time, has added another title to her vast haul of medals, winning her son’s sports day race in Jamaica. The multiple Olympic and world championship gold medallist lined up against other mothers at the school and unsurprisingly won by a distance - winning by about 50 metres. One person wrote on Twitter: “Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce showed up and floored everyone in the parent’s race at her boy’s school. She is surely having fun!”
Youngest Author
A boy from the United Arab Emirates has become the world’s youngest person to publish a book at the tender age of 4 years and 218 days. Guinness World Records honoured Saeed Rashed Al Mheiri when he published his book, The Elephant Saeed and the Bear. The record was verified when the book sold 1,000 copies, GWR said. He told UPI that his tome, which is about kindness and friendship, was inspired by his sister, Al Dhabi, who holds the title for youngest person to publish a bilingual book (female).
Word Count
Keanu Reeves doesn’t usually get cast in roles that require a bunch of long monologues. No, Reeves is an action man well renowned for his incredible stunts. But even with his shorter-than-usual word count in the final instalment of the popular action movie series ‘John Wick,’ Reeves still made an incredible sum of money for his performance. One viewer actually sat down to calculate the number of words Reeves spoke in the fourth chapter of the series, which has been (pardon the pun) killing it at the box office. The actor was reportedly paid a whopping $15 million for his role in the movie - and to those who love a good factoid, that means Keanu Reeves was paid precisely $39,473 per word. But the movie did take $138m in its opening weekend.
WasteShark
If you see this shark heading toward you with an open mouth, don’t worry - it’s designed to catch plastic and other waste. The electric-powered robotic shark can prowl through the water for up to 6 hours in autonomous mode or 8 hours with remote control. According to Reuters, the plastic-eating shark is devouring waste in the River Thames, removing the equivalent of over 22,700 plastic bottles daily. As the brains behind the WasteShark, Richard Hardiman dreams of having millions of these electric plastic-eating robots deployed not only to clean the water of waste but also to collect data on the quality of the water.
Over The Moon
Scientists are over the moon about tiny glass beads found in lunar soil samples. In a study published in Nature Geoscience, researchers say these beads on the moon's surface potentially hold billions of tons of water, which once extracted could be used by astronauts during lunar missions. "This is one of the most exciting discoveries we've made," Mahesh Anand, a professor of planetary science and exploration at the Open University, told The Guardian. "With this finding, the potential for exploring the moon in a sustainable manner is higher than it's ever been."
Desert Trees
Iraq has announced a plan to plant five million palms and trees to combat high temperatures and water scarcity and to create windbreaks against dust storms, reports Phys.org. Saudi Arabia has already commenced its plan to plant 10 billion trees on its territory by 2031 as well as 40 billion additional trees in collaboration with other countries.
"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you'll start believing in it."
Jesse Owens
On this Day
4 April 1958: The peace symbol, designed by Gerald Holtom, made its first public appearance, displayed on signage during a protest staged by the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
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Mood Booster
Surprising friendship: Dog hitches a ride on a dolphin.