Ensuring the day gets off to an upbeat start, with a global collection of positive news stories.
Snow Sculpture Event
The next Winter Olympics are still a year away, but spectators in Breckenridge, Colorado, were recently able to follow along with another epic cold weather competition to tide them over. Twelve teams from around the globe converged for the 2025 International Snow Sculpture Championships. Using only hand tools, the teams spent up to 96 hours across five days molding 25-ton blocks of snow (provided by the Breckenridge Ski Resort) into works of art. When time was up and the artists had to drop their chicken wire, vegetable peelers, and other devices, the judging panel considered the entrants and declared Team Germany had won the top spot with their sculpture “APEX - zero-gravity series,” a geometric depiction of the creation of order.
Rare and Stinky
The air was thick with both anticipation and a pungent smell as visitors flocked to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last weekend for a chance to see a rare flower bloom. The Amorphophallus gigas - a cousin to Amorphophallus titanum, commonly known as a corpse flower - is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The specimen in Brooklyn, nicknamed “Smelliot” by garden staff, arrived in 2018 as a seedling from Malaysia and now it's almost six feet tall - and is one of only ten known plants of its species housed at a botanic garden worldwide. And beyond its standout smell, such a bloom is special, because it’s rare: With years between these events, and weeks of anticipation as the plant’s tall spadix grows, the blossoming period only lasts about three days.
Strange But True
A mysterious asteroid feared to be on a collision course with Earth has been identified as a Tesla. The US-based Minor Planet Center recognised the asteroid and gave it the official designation 2018 CN41, only to retract the announcement hours later. The "cherry-red Tesla Roadster" was launched into orbit in 2018 "as part of a publicity campaign".
Board Game Tokens
Archaeologists digging in the ancient Roman city of Hadrianopolis, located in modern-day Turkey, have unearthed two bone tokens dating to the fifth century C.E. that they suspect belong to a strategic board game enjoyed by Roman soldiers. “These bone objects are lentil-shaped and disk-shaped,” says Ersin Çelikbas, an archaeologist at Karabük University. “One stone has a four-armed symbol, while the other has an eight-armed symbol.” The markings on the tokens, which are roughly the size of a half-dollar coin, likely indicated the strategic purpose or worth of each piece during a game, according to a statement from Karabük University. Some 1,600 years ago, perhaps soldiers on the easternmost edge of the empire shuffled the slim bone tokens across a board, attempting to outwit their opponents.
Paris to Milan
Milan and Paris are both pillars of European culture, architecture, food and nightlife, so making connections between them easier can only be a good thing. And if you’re planning on exploring both, we’ve got some good news. Trenitalia France has just announced the revival of its Paris-Milan (via Turin) service from 1 April 2025. Tickets start at €35. There’s more information about tickets and timetables here.
Color Walks
A new way to boost your mental well-being while getting your steps in has entered the chat. “Color walks” involve picking a color and looking for items in that hue while you stroll. While the concept was originally created by writer William S. Burroughs over five decades ago, it’s trending on social media. More than just a way to entertain yourself, color walks may help soothe anxiety and boost your mental health even more than regular walking. They meld the physical aspect of the exercise with mindfulness, a practice associated with stress reduction and increased memory capacity, since searching for a specific color gives you a way to focus and feel grounded.
"To be seen in this life, truly observed without judgment, is what it feels like to be loved." Cicely Tyson
On This Day
30 January 1847: Previously known as Yerba Buena (the name of a plant, meaning “good herb”), San Francisco was given its current name.
Today's Articles
Room of its Own: The Mona Lisa to have its own room - all part of a major new renovation at the world's most visited museum.
Mood Boosting Video
Higher Power: The world's most extreme place for a baptism.