Hello and welcome to our weekly wrap-up of good news stories from around the world and here at home!
We’re going to kick things off with a classic good news story – the Australian living a long and fabulous life.
Via Eugene Boisvert at ABC South East (South Australia) comes the story of Australia’s oldest woman, Lorna Henstridge.
It’s media law to ask anyone who lives to an advanced age what the secret to their longevity is, and Ms Henstridge’s refreshing answer is that she has no idea.
But she does have a lesson for us all – she likes exercise, fresh air and being active.
Read more about her remarkable life here: Australia’s oldest woman, Lorna Henstridge, celebrates her 110th birthday in Bordertown – ABC News
Amongst all the functional challenges faced by people who live with medical conditions or disability, the social challenges are often overlooked.
So it was nice to be reminded of the inherent value of inclusion this week via the US Today Show, who told the story of 15-year old American high schooler Macy.
Macy is living with Down Syndrome and doesn’t get invited to many birthday parties. Her joyful reaction to receiving a birthday party invitation is definitely worth watching: Teen’s Joy At Birthday Party Invitation Goes Viral (today.com)
It sounds like the start of an adventure movie aimed at teenagers, but it actually happened: three boys on a hike in North Dakota stumbled over the remains of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Cop that, Ross from Friends.
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science put out a press release earlier this week that the 2022 story of the young men and the father (of two of the boys) will be the subject of a new Museum experience, which they have cleverly called ‘Discovering Teen Rex’.
Read more: OFFICIAL Denver Museum of Nature & Science : Three Kids Find Rare Juvenile T. Rex Fossil (dmns.org)
We’re focused on good news here, so we’ll try not to linger too much on the fact that the film ‘Sister Act 2’ is now thirty years old, and that the original is even older.
The film with one of the greatest subtitles of all time celebrated its thirtieth anniversary on US talk show The View this week, with an appropriately joyful (joyful) reunion of some of the film’s original stars getting back in the habit.
Watch the reunion via CNN: Whoopi Goldberg’s ‘Sister Act 2’ choir reunion is the latest nostalgia obsession | CNN
Also via CNN, what’s the connection between sperm whales and NATO? If you answered ‘they both have a phonetic alphabet’, well you’ve either read this story already or you’re a bit scary.
Scientists from MIT have uncovered that sperm whales communicate via what they call a ‘phonetic alphabet’, using click sequences to exchange messages or emotions with each other.
We don’t know exactly what they’re saying yet, but we can’t wait to find out.
‘Alphabet’ of sounds reveals complexity of sperm whale communication, scientists say | CNN
If you’ve ever been tempted to leave the hustle and bustle of city life after having to send just one e-mail too many, you can follow the example of Dallas Davison, who worked in the glamorous world of film production before packing it all in and moving back to the family farm.
It’s a nice story, but I’ll be honest, it’s mostly worth it for the sheep pics: Why Dallas left film and chose to return to life as a sheep farmer at Towri Sheep Cheeses – ABC News
