Better News

Letter from Africa: The wonders of Somali cuisine and a taste of home

Ethiopian and Eritrean food is well known globally, but this is your chance to discover Somali cooking.

25/09/2021 BBC

Women win top awards at San Sebastian film festival

Female actors and filmmakers have swept the top awards at the San Sebastian film festival, with the Golden Shell for the best film going to “Blue Moon” (“Crai Nou”) by Romanian director Alina Grigore

25/09/2021 The Independent

Labour to set out 10-year plan for ‘green Britain’

Ed Miliband is set to say the party will invest up to £3 billion to help decarbonise the steel industry in the next decade.

25/09/2021 The Independent

Prince Charles launches climate change channel on Amazon Prime

Channel designed to ‘champion the most inspiring solutions for sustainability from around the world’, says Charles

25/09/2021 The Independent

‘Psychedelics renaissance’: new wave of research puts hallucinogenics forward to treat mental health

It was out of desperation that Michael Raymond found himself sitting in a remote retreat in the Peruvian Andes, sipping a cup of bitter tea. Raymond had reached breaking point.

25/09/2021 The Guardian

Global Citizen Live: Billie Eilish and Ed Sheeran feature in 24-hour concert

The Global Citizen: Live festival will see performances from more than 60 artists in six continents.

25/09/2021 BBC

Automation can be our friend, but we must not let it turn into a foe

What the economic historian Aaron Benanav calls the “automation discourse” has been going ever since the luddites smashed textile machinery in Nottingham in 1811. At issue is whether machines destroy or create jobs.

25/09/2021 The Guardian

Viruses found in Laos bats are closest known relatives to SARS-CoV-2

Researchers have discovered coronaviruses lurking in Laotian bats that appear to be the closest known relatives to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, found to date, according to news reports.

25/09/2021 LiveScience

Could whistling shed light on the origins of speech?

For centuries, shepherds from the small village of Aas in the French Pyrenees led their sheep and cattle up to mountain pastures for the summer months.

25/09/2021 The Guardian

High-rises in Israeli cities now offer a more communal way of living

Come for the comfortable living space, stay for the many amenities: New high-rises in Israel are providing residents with a plethora of activities right under their apartments

25/09/2021 Haaretz

Sweden’s green dilemma: can cutting down ancient trees be good for the Earth?

Forest-owner Lars-Erik Levin doesn’t seem like an environmental villain. As he walks through his 80 hectares (198 acres) of woodland in southern Sweden, he identifies goldcrests by their song, points out a cauliflower fungus and shows off the…

25/09/2021 The Guardian

An alarm went off on SpaceX's all-tourist space flight. The problem was the toilet

As Jared Isaacman and his three fellow crewmates were freeflying through Earth's orbit, shielded from the unforgiving vacuum of space by nothing but a 13-foot-wide carbon-fiber capsule, an alarm started blaring.

25/09/2021 CNN

As the world turns on coal, scientists are at work on green steel

With world leaders being urged to abandon coal-fired power at upcoming climate talks, attention is now turning to coking coal used to make steel.

25/09/2021 Sydney Morning Herald

Math Is Personal

The mathematician Federico Ardila-Mantilla grew up in Colombia, an indifferent student but gifted in math. He was failing most of his classes at his high school in Bogotá when someone suggested he apply to MIT. He had not heard of the school.

25/09/2021 The Atlantic

When Israelis downsize their homes but upgrade their quality of living

What do couples do once the kids leave the nest? Move back to the city, trade a garden for a seaview and live in a home with no stairs are a few of the more popular options

25/09/2021 Haaretz

Art project creates 'human-alien hybrids' with meteorite-infused water

The water flowing from a medieval fountain in the Italian village of Fontecchio bubbles with extraterrestrial effervescence.

25/09/2021 LiveScience

In France's Perfume Capital Of The World, There's A World Of Beautiful Fragrance

Its jasmine and roses are prized by perfumers and those eager to learn the trade. But the French Riviera town of Grasse didn't always smell sweet. Centuries ago, it was known for leather tanneries.

25/09/2021 NPR