What better than a fix of uplifting news to get the day off to a bright start?
Brain Trigger
A new study by Swiss researchers at the University of Basel has found that stroking a dog can fire up specific parts of the human brain related to emotional attachment. It's an interesting discovery, though who needs any encouragement? The team behind the study believe the triggering of this part of the brain, and the subsequent emotional attachment, might fundamentally underpin the biology of human interactions with animals.
Conservation Success
Switzerland has reversed the decline of more than half of endangered frogs, toads and newts in one region. After conservationists dug hundreds of new ponds in the canton of Aargau, amphibian numbers significantly increased. The European tree frog population in particular "exploded", scientists say. Scientists hope this method could be used globally as pond building is simple and effective.
Euphonious
Pleasing to the ear.
Got Space?
You’ve got a few weeks to save up and purchase Shen, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton going to auction at Christie’s in Hong Kong on 30 November. The estimate for the massive skeleton, weighing over 3,000 pounds, ranges from $15 million to $25 million. Believed to have lived during the Cretaceous Period, the dinosaur was unearthed at the Hell Creek Formation in McCone County, Montana. However, you're going to need a lot of space to fit Shen the T. rex into, as it measures a whopping 43 feet long, 16 feet high, and 7 feet wide - and is poised as though mid-hunt, a stance meant to be a scientifically accurate representation of T. rex’s ferocity.
New Special Envoy
The US has appointed its first diplomat for plants and animals. Monica Medina - an attorney currently serving as the Department of State’s Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs - is taking on the brand-new role of special envoy for biodiversity and water resources. The new post is in line with President Joe Biden’s desire to protect biodiversity both in the US and abroad.
Quote of the Day
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
On this Day
13 October 1792: The cornerstone for the White House, the official office and home of every U.S. president and first lady since 1800 (when John and Abigail Adams moved in near the end of his term) was laid.
Cholesterol is one of the leading causes of heart disease, so help stabilise yours with these simple tweaks to your daily diet. Read on...
Every year, this Victorian home in a small town in West Virginia displays 3,000 carved pumpkins during Halloween season. Read on...
Mood Booster
This enlightening, graceful footage is a compilation of multiple runs by five cheetahs during three days of filming. With a great soundtrack!