Upbeat News Thursday
- 3 minutes ago
- 4 min read
What better way to start the day than with a global collection of upbeat news nuggets?
Cooling Off
No one’s safe from getting buckets of ice water dumped on them during La Chiena, a centuries-old festival in Campagna, a town near Salerno, Italy. During the summer, the town diverts the Tenza River through an ancient artificial canal, sending its waters rushing directly through the historic centre. The tradition started as a way to clean and cool the streets in the 1700s and has since turned into a splashy summer celebration that takes place every weekend from mid-July to mid-August. Around midday, the town comes alive with La Passeggiata ('The Walk'), as a lively crowd of locals and visitors wades through the gently flowing waters, while others take in the spectacle. The festival shifts into high gear later in the afternoon with La Secchiata ('The Bucket Event'). Armed with buckets and water balloons, participants line the streets for a lively battle soundtracked by high-energy DJ sets. The celebration culminates at midnight with a Chiena di Mezzanotte. Flooding the town's historic streets one last time, this grand finale sets a spectacular backdrop for music, dancing, and midnight revelry.
Strange But True
“As far as Dusty Crum is aware, his Florida restaurant is the only pizza place in the world that accepts invasive Burmese pythons as currency,” said the CBC. The self-described “swampepreneur” is supporting the state’s attempts to eradicate the invasive snakes by offering a large pizza in exchange for each carcass. Python-hunting is already a lucrative business in Florida: the annual state-sponsored cull, the Florida Python Challenge, offers a $10,000 prize to the year’s top hunter.
Deliberately Upright
A metal detectorist has stumbled upon the sword standing hilt-up in the dirt during a survey in the Gdańsk Forest District, outside the Polish port city. The sword has since been excavated and dated to between 700BC and 900BC. “The upright position suggests the sword was deliberately deposited rather than accidentally lost,” said Archaeology News, with one theory suggesting the weapon was a ritual offering. The sword measures about 60 cm (24 inches) in length and belongs to the tang-hilted type. Weapons like this ranked among the most valuable possessions of their time in the late Bronze Age. According to Poland’s State Forests, a bronze sword of this kind could equal the value of an entire herd of cattle, making ownership a sign of wealth and high social standing.
Seeing The Light
For the first time, battery electric vehicles were the most popular powertrain in Germany in June, setting a new sales record as the birthplace of the automobile moves forward into the next stage of its evolution. EV sales have been spiking lately, adding to their continual rise since the inception of the modern EV industry. Growth has been especially significant this year as countries respond to a stupid oil war and realize that perhaps it’s finally time to get off this resource that we’ve always known we should get off it. Right now, the part of the world that’s seeing the largest rise in EV sales is Europe. And within Europe, its largest car market, Germany, is finally seeing the light.
Extraordinary Coincidence: An unrestored 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL ‘Gullwing’ - which many say is the greatest sports car ever - went to auction with a remarkable back-story.
Wellbeing Boost
Teenagers who took part in a trial which restricted their social media access have reported improvements in sleep, concentration and wellbeing. The trial, commissioned by the UK government, involved 309 households which were assigned to one of three interventions for a month: an outright social media ban, a 9pm to 7am social media curfew and 15-minute daily limit for social media. The trial found that all groups reported improvements in sleep, mood, concentration, study time and family interaction. The results chime with a separate study examining the impact of the Netherlands’ school smartphone ban. Some three-quarters of schools reported a boost in students’ concentration, while nearly two-thirds noted an improvement in the “social climate”.
Clean Cooking
African countries secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies which replace polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives. The new pledge builds on the $2.2 billion mobilized at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, bringing total commitments to more than $3.1 billion. The transition reduces harmful household air pollution and improves health outcomes for millions of African households.
“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure.” Julia Child
On This Day
23 July 1829: William Austin Burt patents America's first typewriter, the typographer. The wooden, box-shaped device used a dial and a lever mechanism instead of a keyboard to stamp inked letters onto paper. Unfortunately, the machine failed to achieve market success because it was too slow for practical office demands of the era.
Today's Articles
Mood Boosting Video
Crazy Battle: One small shark and a sky full of hungry eagles.