Mid-week eclectic round up of positive news stories.
First to Triple Digits
Mikaela Shiffrin claimed a historic 100th Alpine skiing World Cup win on Sunday with victory in the slalom in the Italian resort of Sestriere. The American, who returned to action in January after two months out with injury, finished 0.61 seconds ahead of second-placed Croatian Zrinka Ljutic. The win means the 29-year-old is the first skier, male or female, to reach triple digits in World Cup race victories. An emotional Shiffrin said after her win on Sunday: "Today a lot of things had to go right for me, and wrong for others. In the end, I did something right." Adding: "I don't know that it's possible to dream about a milestone like this. It's too big, it's too long, it takes too much."
Early Beatlemania
Photos shot by a young Paul McCartney that intimately document the Beatles’ rise to stardom in the ’60s are going on sale. Thirty-six images will soon go on display at the Gagosian gallery’s Beverly Hills location, each sporting a price tag of at least $12,000. McCartney rediscovered the photos in his personal archives in 2020. All of the shots were taken between December 1963 and February 1964, according to Gagosian. The gallery’s show opens in April and “offers an indelible snapshot of Beatlemania as it was becoming a global phenomenon.” Paul McCartney will be on view at Gagosian Beverly Hills from April 25 to June 21.
High Speed Canada
Canada is set to begin work on a high-speed inter-city rail network - the largest infrastructure project in the country's history. Spanning 621 miles, the fully electric new rail network will serve 18 million people - nearly half of Canada's population - across the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. It's expected to serve 13 times more passengers annually than the current service. The 185-mph Alto rail service will get passengers from Toronto and Montreal in 3 hours. Canada is expected to invest nearly $3 billion USD over the next six years to bring the project to fruition.
Beach Holiday on Mars
"We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand – a proper, vacation-style beach."
Geoscientist Benjamin Cardenas says data from China's Zhurong rover suggests almost half of Mars was covered by an ocean about 3.5 billion years ago. The findings of the new study, which the Penn State University researcher co-authored with an international team, add to evidence that the red planet was once habitable.
SS United States
On its maiden voyage in 1952, the SS United States shattered the transatlantic speed record, powering across the water from New York to France at an average of 41 mph. Its final trip looks quite a bit different. Pulled by tugboats, the ocean liner left Philadelphia Feb. 19 on a two-week trek down the Atlantic to Mobile, Alabama, where it will be readied for its second life as the world’s largest artificial reef. At 990 feet long, the vessel is the largest passenger ship ever built in the U.S. It transported four American presidents (Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton), stars like Grace Kelly and Duke Ellington, and even the “Mona Lisa” before being retired in 1969.
Solar Cell Breakthrough
A new method makes perovskite panels fully recyclable. Researchers from Sweden's Linkoping University and America's Cornell University have developed a water-based sustainable method to fully recycle perovskite solar cells using water instead of toxic solvents. The recycled cells retain their original efficiency, addressing both environmental and technological concerns.
Good Use of Land
Medicine Hat, Alberta has more days of sunlight than any other city in Canada, making it the prime candidate for North America’s future largest urban solar park. Once fully built out, the Saamis project would not only be able to meet the peak load demand for both industrial and commercial buildings in the city but also supply demand for its 65,000 residents. Even better: The project will be built on a 1,600-acre plot of land that had been contaminated by a solid waste byproduct of nitrogen production, so the land had very “limited development potential” - now, instead of sitting there useless, it will help bring clean energy to the community (which has environmental and health benefits of its own).
“It takes courage to believe that the best is yet to come.” Robin Roberts
On This Day
26 February 1919: The U.S. Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in northwestern Arizona.
Today's Articles
Funny Tomb Stones: We all occasionally reflect upon our own mortality and it's not always easy - to quote Monty Python - to 'look on the bright side of life'.
Mood Boosting Video
Enormous Facial Disk: The secret to the great grey owl's hunting success.