Ensuring the week gets off to a bright start with today's global round up of positive news stories.
Cruise Control
Tom Cruise, the Hollywood sign, a little movie magic… what better way to herald the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics? According to TMZ, the Mission Impossible star will perform a series of stunts combining all of the above during this year’s closing ceremony in Paris to ring in the games’s LA era. Apparently some of the stunts have already been recorded but - according to some reports - part of the sequence of stunts will be performed live by the globe trotting movie star.
Ukraine Book Stores
A war zone might not seem like the optimal place to start a new business, but bookstores are doing exactly that in Ukraine, reports NPR. Despite Russia continuing its deadly assault on the country, Ukraine's bookselling industry is surprisingly doing better than ever. In the more than two years since the war began, Ukraine's largest bookstore chains have opened up dozens of new locations, with plans to open more by the end of 2024.
Clever Idea
A wildlife trust in southern England, has “enlisted” a crew of dogs to help rewild a nature reserve. Dog walkers can pick up dog backpacks containing seeds from staff members, with holes in each pack helping deposit the seed as the dog explores the environment," reports The Guardian. As dogs are able to cover more ground than humans and can better reach harder to access areas, the wildflower seeds are spread more widely across the landscape and germination is likely to be more effective.
Spain's First Marine Park
A “pristine” ocean habitat off the coast of Spain is to become the country’s first all-marine national park - a win for campaigners who lobbied hard for such a status. Home to one of the world’s largest communities of beaked whales, Mar de las Calmas - ‘the sea of calm’ - is located off the coast of El Hierro, a Canary island. The park will encompass underwater volcanoes and coral gardens, home to turtles, tuna, rays, dolphins and whales. “The Mar de las Calmas is a unique place, perhaps the greatest in tropical and sub-tropical diversity,” said a government minister.
Beach Plastic
There has been an 80 percent reduction in the number of single-use carrier bags washing up on UK beaches since shops started charging for them. That’s according to figures from the Marine Conservation Society, which has conducted beach litter surveys annually for 30 years.
Conservation Success
The Florida grasshopper sparrow population has made a remarkable rebound, with 1,000 birds bred under controlled conditions released in less than a decade. This program "diverted the extinction" of the species, Adrienne Fitzwilliam, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said to The Guardian. In one habitat where 11 breeding pairs once lived, there are now 40, showing that released birds "successfully survive, breed and raise young in the wild, which is a huge success."
Solid State
Samsung recently made a splash in the EV industry by showcasing its recent advancements in battery technology, especially related to solid-state batteries. At the SNE Battery Day 2024 expo in Seoul, South Korea, the company revealed that its pilot solid-state battery production line is now fully operational. The battery’s initial batches have already been delivered to EV manufacturers for testing. “We supplied samples to customers from the end of last year to the beginning of this year and are receiving positive feedback,” Samsung says. Notably, these batteries could power electric vehicles with a 600-mile range, charge in 9 minutes, and have a lifespan of 20 years.
“To go out there and prove what I can do has taught me a lot about who I am. We can push ourselves further. We always have more to give.” Simone Biles
On This Day
5 August 1936: American athlete Jesse Owens wins the 200m in a world record time of 20.7 seconds, his third gold medal of the Berlin Olympics. The current men's record of 19.30 seconds was set by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in 2008.
Today's Articles
Nova Explosion: Astronomers say a "once-in-a-lifetime" view of an astronomical explosion is expected any minute now.
New Type of Wood: New carbon-capturing wood discovered in tulip trees. It could help our efforts to do the same.
Dad Jokes: Poor old dads. No prefix is more maligned. Cringeworthy or hilariously funny - depending on your point of view. Here are some of the best of the worst.
Mood Boosting Video
Inspector Clouseau: Hilarious sketch from the 1975 The Return of the Pink Panther.