Good News Only Friday

8 hours ago

Wrapping up the week with a smorgasbord of tasty news nuggets.

Phone Home ET

It was last seen standing at the entrance to a spaceship with a potted plant of chrysanthemums, its chest glowing bright red as it stared down at the tearful young boy on the ground below. Now, the original body model of ET, the Extra-Terrestial, is expected to fetch up to $1m when it is sold at Sotheby’s auction house at in April. The 3ft tall model was one of three used in the 1982 film, directed by Steven Spielberg, which won four Oscars. It comes directly from the collection of the film’s Oscar-winning special effects artist, the late Carlo Rambaldi, who also worked on King Kong and Alien. “This model embodies the artistry of an era before CGI took hold, a nostalgic and iconic piece of Hollywood history as captivating as the stories themselves,” says Sotheby's.

Half-timbered houses in the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon — Half-timbered houses in the city centre

Replica Stratford

Shakespeare is renowned the world over. His writing has been translated into 100 languages, his plays are performed everywhere from Lithuania to Taiwan and there are festivals dedicated to his legacy in places like Serbia, Armenia and North Macedonia. But, did you know that there’s a Chinese city going one step further to show its love for the Bard? The city of Fuzhou is setting out to create a replica of Stratford to pay homage to Shakespeare, featuring copies of his birthplace and the River Avon. It’s part of a larger town-building project in Fuzhou called Sanweng, which translates to ‘Three Masters’. The new neighbourhood will honour Shakespeare alongside two other literary legends: Spain’s Miguel de Cervantes (the man behind Don Quixote) and China’s own Tang Xianzu. As it happens, all three men passed away in 1616.

A rare hand-written copy: Shakespeare Love Poem Found in Oxford

Long Covid

Doctors in London have found a way to restore a sense of smell and taste in patients with long Covid by using a surgery that expands the nasal passageways, reports The Guardian.

Lunar Eclipse and Aurora in Alaska — Credit: Dan Zafra | Capture the Atlas

Professional landscape and travel photographer Dan Zafra, known for his website Capture the Atlas, traveled from his home in Nevada to the wilds of Alaska last week to capture the total lunar eclipse against a beautiful backdrop of the Northern lights. When he realized that there was going to be an opportunity to see the aurora the same night as the total lunar eclipse, also known as the Blood Moon, Zafra went for it. His boldness paid off as he was treated to clear skies and beautiful, vibrant green Northern lights. And now we can enjoy the "once in a lifetime" moment too.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore splashing down — Credit: SpaceX/NASA

Greeted by Dolphins

You will have heard that NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally returned to Earth after being stranded on board the International Space Station for nine months. The pair became stuck in June after Boeing's plagued Starliner spacecraft was deemed unfit to return them last summer due to a litany of technical problems. You may not know that, after splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico, Williams and Wilmore were greeted by a curious pod of dolphins - a soothing experience after being thrown in the middle of a politically charged circus.

Citroen 2CV in pale red — Citroen 2CV | Heritage Images/National Motor Museum

Reincarnation?

The Citroen 2CV is set to return as a retro-inspired electric vehicle, its French makers have suggested. Thierry Koskas, chief executive of Citroen, said his company would release a range of historically inspired cars in coming years, drawing on “one of the richest histories in the world” among automotive brands. Autocar magazine reported in January that Citroen was working on a “successor” to the 2CV design, some thirty years after production ended. Previously, the French carmaker had denied rumours that it was looking at bringing back the classic motor. Strong sales of its sister brand’s Renault 5 all-electric hatchback prompted a rethink at the firm’s Paris head office, Autocar said. The French are proving to be enthusiastic buyers of EVs, with the new retro-tastic Renault 5 hot hatch taking the top sales spot.

“I believe that it is a mandatory Law of the Universe that on Fridays, you have to do something a little fun.” Hanna Rhoades