Good News Headlines 4/3/2023
Happy the Cow – Bellbrooke Holsteins, released
Newborn Calf With Smiley-Face Markings Is Named ‘Happy’ And Will Graze On A Farm For Rest Of His Life
by Andy Corbley, Good News Network
Happy the cow was never destined for greatness, born as he was a bull on a dairy farm. Yet despite his inability to produce milk, Happy had another valuable skill that began working the minute he dropped onto the grass of Barry Coster’s dairy—making people smile. The Holstein calf was born with a smiley face on one side of his body, a result of the naturally random black and white markings typical of their breed. “We’ve seen some number sevens or love hearts on the head, and a few strange markings, but we’ve never seen anything that resembles a smiley face before,” Mrs. Megan Coster told ABC Australia.
U.S. Electricity From Renewables Surpasses Coal And Nuclear For First Time
by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch
According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), electricity generation from renewable sources surpassed coal and nuclear in the U.S. for the first time last year. The increase in renewables was driven primarily by solar and wind, which made up 14 percent of the country’s electricity in 2022, reported The Associated Press. Six percent of electricity produced domestically came from hydropower. “I’m happy to see we’ve crossed that threshold, but that is only a step in what has to be a very rapid and much cheaper journey,” said Stephen Porder, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
‘When We Fight, We Win!’: LA School Workers Secure Deal After 3-Day Strike
by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams
Union negotiators for about 30,000 school support staffers in California’s Los Angeles County struck a historic deal with the second-largest district in the United States after a three-day strike. Members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99, including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, special education assistants, teaching aides, and other school staff walked off the job on Tuesday and continued to strike through Thursday. The tentative contract agreement, which must still be voted on by SEIU Local 99 members, was reached with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) after mediation from Democratic Mayor Karen Bass.
World ‘Population Bomb’ May Never Go Off As Feared, Finds Study
by Jonathan Watts, The Guardian
The long-feared “population bomb” may not go off, according to the authors of a new report that estimates that human numbers will peak lower and sooner than previously forecast. The study, commissioned by the Club of Rome, projects that on current trends the world population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century, then decline rapidly. The peak could come earlier still if governments take progressive steps to raise average incomes and education levels. The new forecasts are good news for the global environment. Once the demographic bulge is overcome, pressure on nature and the climate should start to ease.
High School Seniors Solve An ‘Impossible’ 2000-Year-Old Mathematical Problem
by Komal Banchhor, Upworthy
Two high school students from St Mary’s Dominican High School in New Orleans, Emma Johnson and Claire Jackson, have presented proof of the Pythagorean theorem, which they claim is independent of circular reasoning, to the Mathematical Association of America. According to The Guardian, the theorem, which dates back 2,000 years, states that the sum of the squares of a right triangle’s two shorter sides equals the area of a square on hypotenuse. Its importance to the study of trigonometry, which relies on the theorem, has previously led mathematicians to argue that any alleged proof which uses trigonometry is guilty of circular reasoning.
