Synopsis of last week's most important good news highlights.
Conservation: Galápagos Islands struck the world's biggest 'debt for nature' deal which will provide the islands with around $17 million a year for conservation, in perpetuity.
Financing Fossil: The Institute for Energy Economics released a report noting that major financial institutions around the world are accelerating their move away from coal. It took almost six years for the first 100 to adopt coal exclusion policies, but since then the number has doubled in just over three years. It's not just a Western phenomenon anymore either - 41 Asian companies now have coal exclusion policies.
DNA Update: For decades, scientists have benchmarked everyone’s DNA against a template that relied mostly on the genetic material of just one man. But scientists have just announced an updated template, using data collected from 47 people in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. The new DNA map - dubbed the pangenome - better reflects human diversity, and could lead to new drugs and treatments that work for a wider range of people.
Fusion Power: Fusion power is seen by many as the 'holy grail' solution to our energy needs. It's safer than fission, controllable, generates zero-emissions and is virtually limitless. Helion has just signed the world's first fusion power supply deal, promising to deliver Microsoft at least 50 megawatts of clean fusion power by 2028.
OMG Moment: Astronomers detected the largest ever cosmic explosion. Happily, it's 8 billion light years away but it has astonished scientists. "We've never seen anything like this before and certainly not on this scale."
Plastic Pollution: New river Interceptor vessels now successfully preventing thousands of tons of waste entering our oceans.
Pot Holes: Residents in an English town, fed up with waiting for pot holes to be repaired, painted rude phalluses on them, and discovered that the authorities sprung into action very quickly to repair the road.
Healing Wounds: Scientists have discovered that wavy wounds healed almost five times faster than the straight ones. It is now hoped that the findings could lead to new methods of making surgical incisions which heal faster with less scarring, thus lowering the probability of complications such as infections.
Today's Articles
Staying With Royalty: Here’s a handful of royal residences that any commoner can stay in, even if just for a few nights.
Climate Accountability: The US Supreme Court has struck another blow against Big Oil in the fight to make the polluters pay.
Brilliant Free App: What's that bird? How ofter have you thought or said that, either because you saw or heard it? Well, the answer can easily be at your fingertips.
Saturn Wins Moon Race: In the race for the title of the planet with the most moons, Saturn has overtaken Jupiter for the final time.
Lockdown Lingo: Remember when we all had to be fully conversant with lots of new terminology and phraseology?