Good News Tuesday
- 1 minute ago
- 4 min read
Today's smorgasbord of positive news nuggets to put a spring in your step.
Tree Hug
Nature is one of our greatest sources of connection and inspiration, and trees represent an entire ecosystem of interweaving relationships. This is something that artist Christophe Guinet, better known as Monsieur Plant, explores in Tree Hug, an outdoor exhibit on the grounds of the Maison Chateaubriand in France. The mossy arm sculptures evoke a sense of warmth and tenderness for nature as they wrap themselves around the trunks of trees. With their fingers spread and reaching, they seem to suggest an openness to connection. This physical act of embracing trees serves as a visual reminder of humanity’s inherent love for the earth, plants, and environment.
Taking Control
Easter Island’s people have got themselves in the happy position of being able to take command of their sea. The Rapa Nui community has locked in funding, patrols and research for the 27,000 sq. mile (700,000 sq. km) Te Moana Tapu a Hotu Matu’a reserve, one of the largest marine protected areas anywhere run by an Indigenous-majority board. Partnerships with Island Conservation and the Blue Nature Alliance, plus Packard Foundation money, will turn paper protection into enforcement.
Easter Island Music School: World class pianist Mahani Teave returned home to Easter Island to teach children. An extraordinary story of love, compassion and the lure of home.
Turtle Castaway
A critically endangered turtle found washed up on a Welsh beach has been flown 5,000 miles home ahead of his planned return to the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The barely alive Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was discovered on a beach in north Wales in December 2023 but, happily, has been nursed back to health by staff from Anglesey Sea Zoo. The turtle has now been flown back to Texas in a bespoke, temperature-controlled crate, and has been undergoing checks at Houston Zoo. If all goes to plan, it is expected to be released today in the area around Padre Island National Seashore.
What's Her Secret?
Joanna Lumley is famed for her vigour and youthful energy - something that eludes many of us in our 50s, let alone at 80. So what’s her secret? Quite simply, ‘doing things’ and keeping moving. ‘I’m busy, busy, busy,’ she says. ‘I don’t have time for gyms... I tend to stay fit by doing things and eating well.’ Adding: 'I do stuff with vigour, such as housework, gardening and going up the stairs two at a time.’ She also believes that her vegetarian diet has helped her long-term health, saying this is the reason ‘I’m still firing on all cylinders.’ She adds: ‘I believe we should all eat much more vegetables and much less meat.’
Record Fuel Economy
Nissan has just completed a stunning world-record fuel-economy drive of 1,230 miles (1,980 km) on a single tank of fuel - demonstrating the abilities of its latest 'series hybrid' engine system. The Nissan Qashqai e-Power compact SUV drove across Colombia from the streets of Bogotá to the Caribbean coast under strict independent monitoring. The vehicle averaged an astonishing 102 mpg (Eur)/85 mpg (US). Under Nissan’s series hybrid system, the vehicle is driven by an electric motor using a battery topped up by a petrol engine. There’s no plugging-in and the petrol engine never drives the car. This means the e-Power car covered the equivalent of LA to Dallas on a single 14.5-gallon (55-liter) tank of fuel without plugging into a charger once. Guinness has awarded it the title of 'longest journey completed by a non-plug-in extended-range electric vehicle SUV.'
Cutting Out US Banks
Historically, a payment from Kenya to Nigeria had to be converted to US dollars, routed through a New York bank, and then get converted again - costing days, handling fees on both ends, and roughly $5 billion a year across the continent in avoidable FX charges. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System solves that by cutting the dollar out of the middle and moving money across the continent in seconds, in local currencies. Kenya pays in shillings, Nigeria receives naira, and the central banks settle without American banks getting their grubby little paws on any of it. Now, the system is expanding to serve 72 million people across six countries (Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic).
“You can do anything, but not everything.” David Allen
On This Day
18 August 1909: As a gift of friendship, Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President William Howard Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
Today's Articles
Record For Any New Car: Ferrari's first EV - Chassis 0 - sells for $40m at auction, and all proceeds are going to charity.
Mood Boosting Video
Marvel releases a 'special look' at Avengers: Doomsday.
