What better way to start the week than with a global round-up of good news nuggets?
Strange But True
A woman entered a Drive-Thru lane riding her horse to order coffee. The bizarre scene unfolded at a MacDonald's in Yarrabilba, which is just south of Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland - which will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone familiar with that part of the world. Anyway, filming the whole thing for her social media, the woman set off through the drive-thru, noting that it said ‘no pedestrians’ but not ‘no horses’, so she assumed it would be all good. Approaching the window, she ordered a small chai latte with soy milk, before letting the staff member pet her horse. Though her actions broke the company’s rules, staff served her anyway, and she rode off with her coffee.
"I Might Not Be Back"
In New Zealand, a young boy has become the world’s youngest recipient of the Mountbatten Award after saving his younger brother from a treacherous stretch of coastal water. The hero was Kalya Gamage, 14, who must have paralyzed his mother with fear when he saw his 12 year old brother Kithmi being pulled out to sea by 3m (9ft) waves and said to her "Ok Mum, I’m going out. I might not be back." The younger brother was out around 60m (180ft) treading water in a “notoriously dangerous” patch of coastal ocean where the Royal Life Saving Society says “no one survives.” But, they both did! "Undoubtedly, Kalya's brave response saved his brother's life," said the RLSS.
'Pretty Exciting'
Since August 2022, $278 billion in clean energy project investments and 170,600 clean energy jobs have been created in the United States. 'We’ve been talking about bringing manufacturing jobs back to America for my entire life. We’re finally doing it, right? That’s pretty exciting,' Jesse Jenkins, a professor at Princeton, told the Washington Post.
Ancient Glassware
Archaeologists have recovered thousands of pieces of glassware - many of them “perfectly preserved” - from a 2,000-year-old shipwreck in the waters between Italy and France. Based on the kinds of glassware found, the researchers think the ship was traveling from a port in the Middle East, likely Syria or Lebanon, and that it was probably heading toward the French Provençal coast. Ultimately, the shipwreck should help researchers “reconstruct a page in the history of Mediterranean trade.”
Fossil Pantheon
A rare and large Pteranodon skeleton (with a 20ft wingspan) has just sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York for US$3,932,000, adding further weight to the influence of the Jurassic Park franchise and moving into the top five most valuable fossils of all-time: behind only Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops and Gorgosaurus. Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park awakened the world to the real life monsters of Earth's past and it has been anointing auction block superstars for a quarter century, with yet another now joining the multi-million-dollar fossil club.
California Beavers
For a long time, beavers were considered a nuisance in California. Now, recognizing the environmental benefits of the animals, the state is changing its tune. It just implemented a new policy to both protect and preserve beavers - and their nature-loving habits, which can be especially helpful in the face of climate change. Beavers can help restore biodiversity, improve groundwater supplies, and safeguard against wildfires.
Fast Chargers Law
The EU has passed a new law to add more fast-charging stations and alternative fuel stations throughout the bloc. As part of the new regulations, the EU will require fast-charging stations, for both cars and heavy-duty vehicles, to be installed every 60 km (about 40 miles) along highways by the end of 2025. The new law on alternative fuels infrastructure is meant to greatly reduce the carbon footprint of transportation in Europe and contributes to the Fit for 55 goal to reduce emissions in the EU by 55 percent or more by 2030. That's good news as fossil-fuel vehicles account for about 25 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.” Georges Pompidou
On this Day
31 July 1971: Apollo 15 astronauts James Irwin and David Scott first used the four-wheeled battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicle to extensively explore the Moon's surface.
For everyone desperate for more UFO info than given last week at the Congressional hearing, NASA has some good news. UAPs...
A new type of container ship has just set sail from South Korea to Denmark. It’s the first ever to run on green methanol. Positive progress...
Giant Leap For Womankind: Meet the woman who wrote the software that put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Margaret Hamilton...
Mood Booster
Lots of classic Hollywood dance scenes cleverly synced to I'm So Excited.