Celebrating the start of the weekend with some sunny news stories.
Pub of The Year
In England, pubs are more than just a spot to grab a pint or bite to eat - there’s an entire culture and history surrounding the watering holes. And the pub pictured here, the 17th century Tollemache Arms - affectionately known as The Tolly - in Northamptonshire, is the best in all of Britain, according to the 2024 Great British Pub Awards. Check out a map with the other winners to bookmark for your next trip.
Amaizing
If you’re going to go to a corn maze to spend an afternoon (and maybe an evening, depending on your corn-centric navigation skills) walking through waves of grain, you might as well go big. The Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois, is home to the world’s largest corn maze. And this year, the maize-centered experience 65 miles northwest of Chicago is taking on an even more agricultural aura with all 24 acres shaped into a John-Deere-themed puzzle. John Deere - yes, he was a real person and not a brand invention - developed the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837, and he and his creation are lovingly rendered in stalks of corn at large scale. “Nothing runs like a Deere,” reads the top of the maze, right next to the face of Deere himself.
Computer Science Wiz
17-year-old Dhanush Eashwar is one of the 2024 winners of Apple’s Swift Student Challenge, which tasks young creators with developing apps that solve real-world problems. His submission, Finger Dance, is geared toward facilitating better communication between the Deaf and hearing communities. The winning program was created specifically for the challenge and isn’t in app stores. But the high school senior is hard at work on an even more ambitious project he says will be available to download in the future: an app that translates ASL hand signs to English in real-time - “like a Google Translate for visual languages,” he explains.
Needle-Free
Providing an alternative for those who are afraid of needles, the FDA just authorized at-home use of a nasal spray vaccine for the flu. It’s been found to be just as effective as the shot. The first alternative to the annual flu shot, FluMist can be self-administered outside of a healthcare setting, giving people “greater convenience, flexibility, and accessibility.” It’s expected to be available next fall.
Dumping Laggards
Dutch bank ING will dump large clients it believes are not making sufficient progress on reducing their climate impact, in the latest sign of divergence between European and US banks over the risks of global warming. ING has put its clients on notice that it would either restrict or stop providing finance to companies that fail to address their carbon footprint.
Radiate Positivity
A Scottish woman has been leaving notes and trinkets of affirmation in random places around her hometown. Reading “I AM ENOUGH: Radiate Positivity” she hopes they serve to put smiles on the faces of those who find them and lift the spirit of the whole city of Glasgow. Education worker and admitted “Swifty,” Beth McNeill said she made around 70 of the bracelets for the Wembley leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, where fans regularly exchange them with each other. But dealing with depression and anxiety herself, McNeill felt there was a place for the bracelets beyond the concert venue, and began leaving them inside envelopes around Glasgow.
"The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you." BB King
On This Day
28 September 1066: William, Duke of Normandy, landed in southeastern England, thus beginning the Norman Conquest, which resulted in his becoming king.
Today's Articles
Satellite Snap: A double rainbow glory appears next to rare cloud swirls above Mexico's Guadalupe Island.
Mood Boosting Video
Bird Feeder: Gorgeous footage of animals and birds feeding on a feast of nuts in the snowy Norwegian countryside.