Collection of positive news stories to ensure the weekend gets off to a sunny start.
'Comet of The Century'
A comet that visits our solar system every 80,000 years will have its closest approach to Earth tonight, in what some astronomers are describing as potentially the “comet of the century”. Assuming clear skies, the Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-Atlas) will be visible in the west just after sunset. Others have downplayed its likely visual impact but you never know... Why miss the only chance you will ever have of seeing this particular cosmic spectacle? Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies.
Cigars Add to The Haze
Claude Monet’s Charing Cross Bridge, once owned by Winston Churchill, captures the smoggy yellow haze over London’s River Thames with the shadowy Houses of Parliament in the backdrop. However, it turns out that some of that haze was not Monet’s handiwork - it came, in part, from the lingering smoke of Churchill’s cigars. The painting was recently cleaned for a new exhibition - Monet and London: Views of the Thames - at the Courtauld Gallery in London. It had been covered in a layer of grime, which was likely caused by both cigar and fireplace smoke. Rebecca Hellen, a National Trust conservator, has restored the artwork to “how it would have been left by Monet.” The Courtauld says that the a gift of Monet painting (from the American literary agent Emery Reves in 1949) brightened demoralised Churchill's postwar years.
Ten never-before-seen paintings by the former British Prime Minister, who was an avid artist, are now on display in California (and online). Take a look...
Connectome
Scientists have revealed the first-ever complete map of an adult fruit fly’s brain, captured in stunning detail. The brain diagram, called a connectome, could revolutionize researchers’ understanding of the human brain, which has (perhaps surprisingly) many parallels with a fruit fly’s. The fly's brain has nearly 140,000 neurons, 8,453 different types of neurons and more than 54.5 million synapses. Unraveled end-to-end, the fruit fly brain’s neural wiring would stretch out to more than 490 feet.
Warmer Waters
The British Royal Navy returned six rare turtles to warmer waters after they washed up on the U.K. coastline. The juvenile loggerheads had been "blown thousands of miles off course" from the Caribbean by "strong winds and Atlantic currents," said the Daily Express. Hypothermic and unable to swim due to Britain's cold waters, the turtles - named Jason, Gordon, Perran, Hayle, Holly and Tonni - were rescued and nursed back to health before being released near the Azores.
Vertical Solar
Vertical solar panels are proving to be a new solution for northern regions, yielding 20 percent more energy than traditional panels. The mini, square-shaped solar panels have two key features that distinguish them from those typically seen on buildings: they are bifacial, meaning they have two active sides, and they are installed vertically. Vertical PV panels also benefit from the albedo effect, where snow falling between the rows reflects sunlight onto the panels, boosting energy yield. All of this explains why Norway’s national football stadium has the world’s largest vertical solar roof.
How Tall?
We now have a completion date for what will be the world's tallest skyscraper – and it's coming sooner than you might think. The amazing structure is expected to be finished by 2028 and will rise to a mind-boggling height of 1,007 m (3,303 ft) in Saudi Arabia. Originally known as the Kingdom Tower and the Mile-High Tower (the latter dropped once it was discovered the ground couldn't support a mile-high structure), the skyscraper was then renamed the Jeddah Tower but has now received yet another new name, the Jeddah Economic Company Tower - or JEC Tower.
"Success is to bring into existence, in adult terms, your childhood dreams." Harlan Ellison
On This Day
12 October 1901: President Theodore Roosevelt officially changed the name of the president's residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. from Executive Mansion to the White House.
Today's Articles
Mood Boosting Video
Super-Cute: Cygnets catch a ride on mother swan.