Words by Smiley Team
Ending your week on a high will put you in a positive mindset for the weekend, and there’s no better way than to read through the good news that has happened in the past week.
Here's your weekly round-up of goodness!
There’s a new list of the world's endangered plants and animals from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – which revealed tuna is no longer on the brink of extinction. In 2011, most species of tuna were at serious risk. However now, of seven commonly fished tuna species, four of them are no longer at risk.
The Atlantic bluefin tuna moved from ‘endangered’ to ‘least concern’ and the Southern bluefin became ‘endangered’ rather than ‘critically endangered’. The albacore and yellowfin tunas went from being ‘near threatened’ to ‘least concern’.
Teachers in Sussex from Highfield and Brookham Schools teachers have taken part in a 100k challenge to raise money for Highfield Highreach Holidays, a volunteer-run organisation based at Highfield and Brookham Schools that provides week-long residential breaks for children with learning difficulties.
Sophie Baber, Kerri Wilkes, Georgie Hunter and Georgie Cooke-Priest battled through fatigue, sore feet and blisters to complete the 100k South Coast Challenge. Walking non-stop overnight last Saturday and into Sunday, the four went from Eastbourne in East Sussex to Arundel in West Sussex, raising a whopping £3,825. The South Coast Challenge fundraising link is still live and Mrs Baber is hopeful that the final total may yet still top an astonishing £4,000. To donate to the charity walk, visit gofundme.com/f/hhh-south-coast-challenge.
The good thing about wind turbines is that they can generate electricity without using fossil fuels – but the bad thing is the actual turbines themselves can’t be recycled. Well, the blades can’t to be exact.
However a new company, based in Spain, hopes to change that. Renewable energy company, Siemens Gamesa, has designed a recyclable wind turbine blade called ‘RecyclableBlade’. It’s a blade that can be recycled once it’s stopped being used.
We all know the pressure exams can have on children at school, causing them to suffer stress and anxiety. China has decided to stop this, banning writing exams for six and seven year olds as part of their education reforms.
"Too frequent exams ... which cause students to be overburdened and under huge exam pressure" have been axed by the Ministry of Education, according to the guidelines released. The ministry said the pressure on pupils from a young age "harms their mental and physical health".
In Taiwan, an abandoned airport has been put to good use and has been transformed into a big green space with sensory experiences, to create a calm haven in a busy city.
Called ‘The Phase Shift Park’, it includes 200 different plant species, as well as 10,000 trees to shade people from the heat. But there are also 12 landscape “installations” that match up to philosopher Rudolf Steiner’s ‘Principle of the 12 Senses’. It also has a few indoor places for refuge, including a cafe, public wash centre, and cultural centre. These buildings all emit light in the evenings to help guide people walking past.
Do you have a good news story you'd like to share? Email [email protected].
