Global round up of positive news stories to brighten the day.
Author Astonished
An aspiring author who went viral after selling two books at an event has described seeing her novel climb up Amazon’s bestseller charts as “amazing” and “unbelievable”. Vicky Ball, a 48-year-old, showcased her two novels, one titled Powerless and the other Abandoned, at an authors’ event last week in Chelmsford, a town just east of England's capital city. “Sold 2 books 😁😁,” she wrote on X afterwards, which she described as positive because: “I’ve done some events where I haven’t sold any.” Ball’s X post has now had more than 24m views and 745,000 likes. Her novel Powerless, a thriller with “lots of twists”, shot up the Amazon bestsellers charts in subsequent days, reaching No. 3. Her advice to other aspiring authors? ‘Just write!’
Apex in NYC
Visitors to the American Museum of Natural History in New York can now feast their eyes on a rare new display: the fossil of a 150-million-year-old, fully grown Stegosaurus named Apex. The exhibit will remain on view for four years. As an herbivore, Apex was certainly no apex predator during its heyday, but the fossilized specimen occupies another kingly position to be deserving of its name: It’s the world’s most expensive dinosaur skeleton sold to date, garnering a record-breaking price of $44.6 million during a Sotheby’s auction in July. Apex was originally discovered by Jason Cooper on his 45th birthday on his own land.
Coming Up
It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again - and not just because of the holidays. This weekend will be the peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower, which is often “the strongest meteor shower of the year,” per the American Meteor Society. The Geminid meteor shower appears in the night sky every year around mid-December. Though the phenomenon is active from November 19 to December 24, it will peak the night between December 13 and 14 - technically in the early morning of the 14, says NASA. "An event to be outside for around midnight” on Friday night. Why not wrap up and look up?
It's Nearly Winter
With the official start of winter less than two weeks away, nature is changing before our eyes, as you can see in this stunning scene of geometric shapes swathing an alpine lake in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. “Across the country, America’s public lands and waters are transforming into winter wonderlands,” the U.S. Department of the Interior captioned the photo. “We hope you find time to explore!”
Cellphone Connectivity
SpaceX has launched 20 of its Starlink satellites up into Earth's orbit, enabling direct-to-cellphone connectivity for subscribers anywhere on the planet. However, you'll currently get only text service through the end of 2024; voice and data will become available sometime next year, as will support for IoT devices (such as smart home gadgets). The big deal with this new venture is that unlike previous attempts at providing satellite-to-phone service, you don't need a special handset or even a specific app to get access anywhere in the world.
Retro-tastic
France may not have a functioning government but the French keep buying EVs, anyway – more than 15 percent of all new cars sold last month were EVs with the new, retro-tastic Renault 5 hot hatch taking the top sales spot. The blend of retro styling with modern tech inside has made the new 5 hugely appealing, especially at the price - starting at just under £23,000 ($30,000), and topping out at £29,000 ($37,700) if you add all the customisable features inside and out.
UK Renewables Milestone
Renewable electricity production will surpass power generated from fossil fuels for a full year for the first time, according to think tank Ember. Wind, solar and hydropower will contribute 37 percent of UK electricity this year compared to 35 percent from fossil fuels - mainly natural gas - with nuclear and biofuels making up the rest. Just three years ago, fossil fuels generated 46 percent of electricity, with only 27 percent for renewables.
"Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It's about accepting all of yourself." Tyra Banks
On This Day
12 December 1977: The music drama Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta, had its world premiere; the film was a huge hit, as was the accompanying disco sound track by the Bee Gees.
Today's Articles
Mood Boosting Video
Trailer: Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan in biopic.