Some tasty bite-sized chunks of positive news to perk up the day.
Skijoring in Colorado
Over the weekend, the 76th annual skijoring event in Leadville, Colorado, was in full steed ahead mode. Described as “water-skiing on snow,” the quirky sport involves galloping horses pulling skiers through various courses. Skijoring’s origins go back centuries, but it has not made a showing at the Winter Olympics since 1928. Maybe 2030? Snow provides endless opportunities for fun. For some, classic winter sports like skiing or snowboarding are great ways to experience an adrenaline rush in nature. For others, like those in Leadville, Colorado, it's simply not enough! Here are three more of The World's Weirdest Winter Sports.
Opening Today
To see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, a trip to Vatican City is in order. But a new exhibition is bringing the famous frescos to the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia - well, at least sketches of them. From today (the Italian artist’s 550th birthday) through May 28, the Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine exhibit will feature 25 rarely seen sketches Michelangelo created to map out the Sistine Chapel’s design. Although the Renaissance master made hundreds or perhaps even thousands of sketches during the planning process, fewer than 50 exist today, as he destroyed many of them, Smithsonian Magazine reports.
And The Winner Is...
Oscar viewership was surprisingly up this year with 19.69 million viewers compared to 18.07 million in 2024, reports Deadline.
Now on The Map
The English village railway station from where Harry Styles started his journey to pop superstardom has unveiled a mural to thank him for "putting it on the map". While Holmes Chapel only has a population of about 6,200, an estimated 10,000 Styles fans have visited the mid-Cheshire parish in the past two years. "We've had people from Colombia, Australia, Peru, the United States... a couple of girls from Japan were here yesterday," resident Howard Roylance, told the BBC. Fans usually arrive at the station from where Styles travelled to London in 2010 to appear on ITV's X Factor. Station supervisor Graham Blake, who sold him tickets, said: "He's put us on the map... No-one had ever heard of Holmes Chapel before. It's brilliant - all the businesses, we're all benefitting."
Green City Buses
The transition to cleaner vehicles is progressing in Europe, where 49 percent of new city buses across EU countries in 2024 were ‘zero-emission’ models instead of fossil fuel-powered vehicles - up from 36 percent in 2023 - according to a new analysis from the European Federation for Transport and Environment. It estimates that the rate of clean vehicle adoption for city buses will reach 100 percent by 2027.
Puppy Mountain
Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan snapped the picture during a January hike in his hometown of Yichang, Hubei province. But it wasn’t until he returned home and reviewed the photos that he spotted the uncanny resemblance. The mountain appears to rest on the ground in the shape of a dog’s head. "I was so excited and happy when I discovered it," Guo said. "The puppy’s posture is like it’s drinking water, or it’s looking at some fish. It also looks like it’s quietly protecting the Yangtze River."
Black Turbine Blades
Wind turbines in the UK to be painted black to cut the number of bird deaths. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a government pilot this week that will examine whether painting the structures would reduce bird collisions. Officials pointed to studies, including onshore research from Norway, which suggested that painting a turbine blade black was found to reduce bird collisions by 70 percent.
"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." Scout Finch, protagonist in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
On This Day
6 March 1924: the Egyptian government opened the mummy case of King Tutankhamen, ruler of Egypt in the 14th century BCE, whose burial chamber had been discovered in 1922 by renowned British archaeologist Howard Carter.
Today's Articles
Simple Health Tips: New York Times asked selection of experts: What is the one health tip you learned in your work that you swear by?
Mood Boosting Video
Plug Into Nature: Big Bear bald eagle live nest-cam in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California.