Ensuring the weekend gets off to a positive start with a global round up of good news nuggets.
Volte Face
Elections have consequences. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the abrupt about face taking place in Australia after voters removed Scott Morrison. Now the Australian Capitol Territory, where the national government is located, has announced that the sale of new cars and light trucks with internal combustion engines within the ACT will be prohibited beginning in 2035. If that seems like a less than bold move, bear in mind that while ScoMo was in power, the official government position was that electric cars were the spawn of the devil created to rob Aussies of their God given right to consume as much environmentally damaging fossil fuel as the liked.
Single-use Plastics
India has now banned 19 types of single-use plastics to help combat pollution - thereby stopping millions of tons of waste. The ban includes straws, cutlery, packaging films, plastic sticks for balloons, candy and ice cream, cigarette packets, and more.
Sustainable Glamor
This year, the UK version of popular reality television show Love Island is sponsored by second-hand giant eBay in an effort to encourage viewers to embrace sustainable glamor. It’s a significant deviation from the fast fashion brands Love Island has partnered with to date. With 3 million viewers, hopefully this will help swing the dial in favour of recycling. Welcome to socially conscious trash TV!
Get a Vasectomy
Google searches for "get a vasectomy" reached an all-time high across the U.S. Historically, the responsibility of contraception has fallen primarily on those with the capacity to become pregnant. In an encouraging change, more sperm-carrying individuals (even if it's their partner doing the Googling!) appear to be sharing the responsibility of managing contraception and taking care of their own reproductive health.
Random Fun Fact
Alaskan frogs freeze almost completely at the start of winter, with two-thirds of their body water turning into ice. To all intents and purposes, they seem dead; their heart stops beating, and their blood flow stops. They remain that way for around 7 months. However, once winter starts to thaw, so do they, and hop back to life.
World's Longest
The world's longest single-tower suspension bridge has just finished load testing, during which trucks carrying up to 1,280 tonnes (1,411 tons) of cargo drove back and forth continuously over the Luzhijiang Bridge in the province of Yunnan. The 800-meter-long (2,625 feet) bridge is being built to improve the connection between China and Southeast Asia. It will drastically cut the travel time (and therefore pollution) between the cities of Yuxi and Chuxiong from 90 minutes to only two minutes.
Faster Boiling Water
MIT scientists say they have achieved “a more efficient and quicker boiling process”. They did this by adding a series of microscale cavities, (or dents) to a surface, which controls the way bubbles form. This effectively pinned the bubbles to the locations of the dents and prevented them from spreading out into a heat-resisting film, which is what they would normally do. As to how easily this can be scaled up (and potentially make a huge difference to industries across the world) the co-author of the study, MIT Professor of Engineering Evelyn Wang, said it took place in small-scale laboratory conditions that might not be very easily be scaled for practical application. So you might say the idea is… simmering. But will surely be incorporated in kettles very soon.
Quote of the Day
"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
Arthur Ashe
On this Day
23 July 1903: Ford Motor Company sold its first automobile, a Ford Model A; five years later it introduced the hugely influential Model T.
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Mood Booster
Robot spy monkey enjoys a spa with snow monkeys in Japan.