Here’s roundup of summer distractions and upbeat stories to keep you entertained this news ‘silly season’… Enjoy!
A portal to another world …
Image via Optimist Daily
A fantastic idea for international communication has appeared on the streets of Lithuanian capital Vilnius this year – a portal to another world.
OK, so maybe not another world, but this sci-fi inspired device does connect people walking the streets of Vilnius with passers-by in a different country. The installation has a live link to the city of Lublin in Poland, so people can smile, wave and even have a dance-off with those on the other side!
Orchid thought to be extinct in the UK is discovered on the rooftop of a London bank!
15 extremely rare orchid plants have been discovered growing on a London rooftop. The small-flowered tongue orchid, or serapias parviflora, normally found in the Mediterranean, have been found on the 11th floor garden of the Japanese Investment Bank Nomura in the City.
The orchids which haven’t been seen in the UK for over a decade share the Nomura roof with other rare wildlife including breeding black redstarts—one of the UK’s rarest breeding birds.
Read more: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/rare-orchids-discovered-city-of-london-rooftop-uk-england/
A cure for hiccups?
Put away your household remedies: scientists have designed a straw capable of curing hiccups in a flash, and it’s 92 per cent effective.
The device is called ‘HiccAway’ and works by way of a pressure valve at the base. When placed in a glass of water and used as a straw, the increased pressure makes it harder to sip, causing your phrenic nerve to contract your diaphragm. The vagus nerve is activated as you swallow the water—these are the two nerves which cause hiccups so ‘distracting’ them means the hiccups can’t continue.
Bee-friendly bus stops
New bus stops in Leicester City Centre are flying the flag for bio-diversity, with a grassy, ‘living roof’ design that is hoped to create a home for insects.
30 shelters will be built over the summer, all planted with wildflower and Sedum seeds which attract not just bees but butterflies and other pollinating insects. Other bus shelters are planned to incorporate solar panels, as part of the city’s push to become carbon-neutral by 2030.
Read more: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/bee-friendly-bus-stops-topped-5462984
Iconic moments of this century reimagined as ‘ancient’ cave art
Using the same techniques, style and colours as our ancestors more than 30,000 years ago, illustrator Emmy Smith and archaeologist Professor Paul Pettitt have reimagined some major moments from modern history as cave paintings in Buckinghamshire’s Hellfire Caves.
Immortalised moments include Barack Obama becoming the first Black President of America, Live Aid and Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’.
SEGA commissioned the cave art to celebrate the launch of its new historical strategy game, HUMANKIND, which enables players to create and lead their own unique civilization.
Read more: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/major-moments-from-modern-history-onepoll-sega/
