Today's eclectic bundle of uplifting news nuggets from around the globe.
Causing a Commotion
It's not the big ring that's attracting the most attention. Although the big planet-forming ring around the star PDS 70 is clearly imaged and is rather spectacular. And it's not the planet on the right, just inside the big disk, that’s being talked about the most - even though the planet PDS 70c is a newly formed and, interestingly, is similar in size and mass to Jupiter. It's actually the faint, fuzzy patch around planet PDS 70c that's causing the commotion. That fuzzy patch is thought to be a dusty disk that is now forming into moons - and that has never been seen before!
New Language?
Here's an interesting way to learn a new language. You just talk, and get instant feedback from an advanced AI language tutor. Try Speak.
Mickey Mouse Parliament
A train carrying members of the European Parliament stopped at Disneyland this week after taking a wrong turn. Special trains are chartered every month to take EU officials between Brussels and Strasbourg, a practice frequently "scoffed at as a travelling circus in which Goofy would be proud to participate", said Politico. Departing from Charles de Gaulle Airport, a signalling error directed the train to the home of Disneyland Paris. "We couldn’t get out, sadly," an EU official on board said. The incident, said Politico, will do little to "deter those who deride the institution as a Mickey Mouse Parliament". Donald Duck was unavailable for comment.
Major Turnaround
Since the island was declared rat-free in 2006, there are now more seabirds nesting on the English island of Lundy than at any time since the 1930s, conservationists have revealed. The island in the Bristol Channel, a globally famed location for Britain’s seabirds, is now home to 25,000 Manx shearwaters - 95 percent of England’s breeding population - as well as 1,335 puffins and more than 150 pairs of storm petrels, a species that only arrived on the island in 2014. This summer, the total number of seabirds on Lundy stood at 40,000. This is a massive turnaround after just 7,351 remained in 2000. Puffins were close to extinction, with just 13 counted on the windswept 450-hectare island in 2001. “If we can restore over 30,000 birds to one small island in the Bristol Channel, just imagine how much could be achieved if everyone came together to restore nature right across the UK,” said the RSPB.
Producer Responsibility
Colorado, Maine, Oregon and California have all passed producer responsibility laws requiring manufacturers to collect, recycle and manage their packaging, similar to programs that now cover paint, carpets, batteries and mattresses. More than a dozen other US states are now considering similar programs, says PackWorld.
Don't Dilly-Dally
Scientists have found that there are benefits in being a fast walker. Data from almost 400,000 Britons followed for more than a decade show people who consider themselves to be “brisk walkers” are more than a quarter less likely to die of cancer than their saunter-prone peers, reports The Telegraph. The risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was also around 60 percent lower in hasty striders whereas the risk of dying from any other cause was about 70 percent lower than the dilly-dalliers.
Avoiding Bumpy Rides
If you've ever experienced severe turbulence on a commercial flight, you'll know how frightening it can be. Thankfully, technology may be on the way that should smooth all that out, courtesy of Turbulence Solutions, an Austrian aerospace engineering firm. Their new system uses wing sensors to rapidly detect changes in air pressure, feeding back this data to a plane’s avionics to instantly counteract any impending jolts. These tiny adjustments slash in-flight bumpiness by over 80 percent. The technology may also allow jets to glide smoothly through headwinds instead of detouring around them at greater cost.
"We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced." Malala Yousafzai
On this Day
19 October 1986: Australia's Allan Border scores the 1,000,000th run in all test cricket in a match against India in Bombay.
The only surviving stage where Shakespeare once performed found in Norfolk, England. Bard's boards...
Leica's elegant, compact device enables you to store images digitally and / or print them. Clever gizmo...
Power of Siestas: Napping during the day slows down brain shrinkage and adds up to 7 years to your life. Brain health...
Mood Booster
Life on Our Planet: Netflix Trailer. From executive producer Steven Spielberg. Available from 25 October.
Comments