Quick summary of last week's most important good news.
But, first, don't forget that the year’s most highly anticipated meteor shower is here: the Perseids, in all their dazzling, prolific glory. The spectacle - which NASA says is considered “the best meteor shower of the year” - peaks tonight. Look to the north east. The Perseids occur when Earth passes through the debris field of the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. In other news...
Lifetime Supply of Mac and Cheese: Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo’s historic double gold medal win at the Paris Olympics is being celebrated across the Philippines. And he's being showered with freebies, cash and even a new home.
Plane Sensible: Parents should't have to pay a fee to sit next to their children when flying, according to the White House, which is moving to ban airlines from charging families extra to be seated together.
New Type of Wood Discovered: An analysis of tulip trees has revealed a previously unknown type of wood. It could explain why the trees are so good at sequestering carbon and help our efforts to do the same.
Ukraine Book Stores: Despite Mad Vlad 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.
Nova Explosion: Astronomers say a "once-in-a-lifetime" view of an astronomical explosion is expected any time shortly.
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".
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. 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.
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.
Bronze Age Tech: Transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy globally would be cheaper (by $1.27 trillion) and simpler using firebricks, an ancient tech, according to a new Stanford study.
Peanut Allergy: Australia, the ‘allergy capital of the world,’ has launched a world-first free nationwide treatment program for children with peanut allergies. The goal is to safely build tolerance so that kids don’t need to worry about the possibility of a life-threatening reaction.
Preventing Dementia: There is more hope than “ever before” that nearly half of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed, experts say. Researchers have identified two new risks that can also be tackled to reduce the chances of developing the condition.
Heart Attack Detection: Technology that identifies people at risk of a heart attack in the next 10 years has been hailed as "game changing" by scientists. The artificial intelligence (AI) model detects inflammation in the heart that does not show up on CT scans.
Titanium Heart: In a global first, the Texas Heart Institute successfully implanted an artificial titanium heart that uses magnetic levitation - the same technology that powers bullet trains. The total artificial heart (TAH) uses a magnetically levitated rotor to pump 12 liters of blood a minute, the frictionless technology significantly extending the device's lifespan while the patient waits for a donated heart.
One of The Rarest
England's Chester Zoo has celebrated the birth of what it said was one of the rarest animals on earth. Onagers hail from the semi-desert regions of Iran and the birth "of the leggy youngster" could help safeguard the species from extinction.
Africa's Green Jobs: A new report by the development agency FSD Africa has found that greener economies could bring millions of jobs to some of the largest countries in Africa by 2030. The report predicts the creation of up to 3.3 million new green jobs across the continent, with the majority in renewable energy, particularly solar.
Destroying 'Forever Chemicals': New method for getting rid of ghastly PFAS simply requires ambient conditions and common materials in order to break down one class of forever chemicals in just eight hours.
China's Pivotal Moment: In what is being hailed as a “pivotal moment” and a “historic first”, the accumulated capacity of wind and solar projects in China has overtaken coal for the first time, and solar capacity alone is predicted to overtake coal within two years, says Rystad Energy.
That's it, you are up to date.
Today's Articles
Merit, Not Money: A little-known speech made by Winston Churchill in the run up to the 1924 Paris Olympics has been discovered in an archive.
New Discovery: Ants are even more amazing than we already thought after researchers find they perform life saving amputations.
Memorial Garden: A memorial garden to commemorate the life of Queen Elizabeth II will be created in Regent’s Park.
People And Planet: New report shows that replacing planet warming fossil fuels is not just about climate change, it's also about our health.