From a WWII hero battling back the coronavirus to Ice Age rhinos in Siberia. Here's a selection of positive stories from around the world that you might have missed over the festive period.
Agora attributes two thirds of the reduction to the coronavirus pandemic: most notably a signifcant drop in energy usage in industry, resulting in a CO2 emissions fall of more than 50 million tons compared to 2019.
Without the crisis, the drop would have been closer to 25 million tons, Agora estimated.
Norway becomes the first country to sell more electric cars than petrol vehicles
Electric car sales in December set a monthly record in Norway with 66.7%, according to figures published on Tuesday by the OFV industry group.
Electric vehicles accounted for 54.3% of the new car market last year, up from 42.4% a year earlier, OFV said.
The four best-selling models in the Nordic nation were the Audi e-tron, the Tesla Model 3, the Volkswagen ID.3 and the Nissan Leaf — all fully electric.
The highlights of polar lights
Each year, Capturetheatlas.com showcases the best images of northern and southern lights from across the world. Here is a selection of the majestic auroras.
Image: Nico Rinaldi/Capture the Atlas
'Heavenly Dance'
This picture of the rocky Barents Sea coast was taken on Kola Peninsula, in northwestern Russia, by Sergey Korolev. "I was mesmerized by the shape of the boulders," says Korolev. "As well as the steep mountains rising from the sea." It took Korolev several attempts over numerous days to capture these northern lights.
Image: Sergey Korolev/Capture the Atlas
'The Hunt’s Reward'
Ben Maze captured this stunningly colorful image at Lion Rock, southern Tasmania. It shows three astronomical phenomena: aurora australis, the setting Milky Way galactic core, and zodiacal light. The latter is visible in a diffuse white glow, which results from sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust.
Image: Ben Maze/Capture the Atlas
'Antarctic Night'
This long time-lapse picture was taken at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory on the South Pole, at temperatures around -80 degrees Celsius. Eberhardt says it was the product of a "learning curve over multiple months, with a lot of trial and error and frostbite." Though, he also says, "Once you have tackled all the challenges, you have plenty of reasons to be proud of your shots."
Image: Benjamin Eberhardt/Capture the Atlas
'Lofoten Ice Lights'
The Lofoten Islands are located only a few hundred kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Numerous travel magazines list them among the world’s most beautiful archipelagos — northern lights are easily spotted in this region. This image was taken by Dennis Hellwig, squeezed in between two icicles.
Image: Dennis Hellwig/Capture the Atlas
'Ghosts of the Fell'
Petri Puurunen took this surreal picture with bright northern lights in the Finnish part of Lapland. These snow-covered candle spruces are up to 10 meters tall and can weigh several tons. One clear night, with temperatures at -24 degrees Celsius, Puurunen set out to capture this landscape. He recalls how the "half-moon was illuminating the scenery, so the conditions were nearly perfect."
Image: Petri Puurunen/Capture the Atlas
'Vikings in the Sky'
Nico Rinaldi took this jaw-dropping picture in Iceland. He remembers reaching this location and seeing "an imposing mountain lying on a volcanic black sand beach, surrounded by large dunes created by the wind." It was this "concentration of beautiful natural elements" that really impressed him. After waiting for the clouds to clear, he got the opportunity to snap this incredible picture.
Image: Nico Rinaldi/Capture the Atlas
'Lights in the Land of Living Sskies'
Jeanine Holowatuik captured this beautiful image of northern lights in Saskatchewan, Canada, in May. "The moon was illuminating the clouds and the northern lights reached overhead," she recalls. "It was a magical moment!" Holowatuik says she was able to witness the spectacle near her home until the early hours of the morning.
Image: Jeanine Holowatuik/Capture the Atlas
'Natural Mystique'
Virginia Yllera photographed this stunning photo on a windy November night in Iceland. She recalls how it was "one of the most spectacular moments I have experienced chasing the northern lights." Frigid wind and spray from the waterfall presented serious challenges, forcing her to continuously wipe the lens dry and adjust the exposure. But then "the lights exploded and all the effort paid off."
Image: Virginia Yllera/Capture the Atlas
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Russian scientists discover intact Ice Age woolly rhino in Siberia
Scientists in Siberia durint the week discovered a well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino that likely roamed Russia's extreme north thousands of years ago.
The rhino was discovered complete with all its limbs, some of its organs including part of the intestines, its tusk and even its wool, according to Russian news agency Yakutia 24.
Berlin Candy Bomber beats back COVID-19
Gail Halvorsen, the pilot who was known and loved by German children in the late 1940s as the Candy Bomber, mostly recovered from the coronavirus, his daughter told German media on Thursday.
Halvorsen, who lives in the US state of Utah and recently turned 100 years of age, has a cough but is otherwise doing "very well," Denise Williams said.
The former pilot became famous after the end of World War II, when US, British and Allied pilots made hundreds of thousands of deliveries of groceries and supply by air.
The deliveries included candy, which was released from the plane via a chute from which the packages of sweeets and chocolate would float down to the ground below on small white parachutes.
The kids ran for the parcels with glee. Halvorsen had come up with the idea to drop sweets for the children and he soon became the face of the Berlin Airlift.
World's oldest Olympic champion still sprightly at 100
Hungarian gymnast and Holocaust survivor, Agnes Keleti, was still showing off ahead of turning 100 over the weekend.
The five-time Olympic champion — and Hungary's most successful gymnast — is also one of the most decorated Jewish athletes in history.
Moving in a sprightly manner around her apartment where both her life mementoes and Olympic medals are on display, she joked about not being allowed to perform the full-leg splits anymore.
"I'm told by my caretaker that it's not good for me at this age," she laughed, while leafing through a new book "The Queen of Gymnastics, 100 years of Agnes Keleti."
After the 1944 Nazi German occupation of Hungary, Keleti escaped deportation to a death camp by getting false documents and assuming the identity of a maid girl, Piroska Juhasz.
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WWI love letters find their way back to family after 100 years
A bundle of old love letters written by a British soldier during World War I is being sent to the family of Mary Fortune, the original recipient, more than 100 years after she first received them.
The letters were discovered in a second-hand store in the UK city of Sunderland, which then launched a campaign to find Fortune's family.
David Bambrough, the great-grandson of Mary Fortune's brother, was impressed with the lengths people went to in order to track him down.
"It was really amazing that people took the time to ... find me," he told British media.
Mary's husband, George Fortune had written the letters to her while serving as a soldier during World War I. He was later killed in action.
10 lighthearted takes on pandemic everyday culture
With ever-growing infection numbers and death tolls, the coronavirus pandemic is no laughing matter. Yet the world found ways to keep smiling in 2020.
At the start of the pandemic, people hoarded goods such as toilet paper, leaving store shelves empty. Its scarcity turned it into a semiprecious object and inspired some to create clever signs and comedic drawings that poked fun at its newfound status. This bakery in Dortmund covered marble cake with fondant to make its sugary toilet paper creations, riding the wave of cake-as-daily-objects trend.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Thissen
Elbow greetings
At the outbreak's start, when droplets were seen as primary transmission pathways and masks were not widespread, people started eschewing physical contact. The handshake was one of the first things to go. Various non-skin-to-skin greetings arose, including the foot tap, the bow and the hand-to-heart. These chess players attempted to elbow bump in March — without bumping their pieces off the board.
Image: Reuters/FIDE/M. Emelianova
Dining with the bear family
When restaurants and cafes reopened after lockdowns, many of them suddenly had unexpected dining guests: giant plush teddy bears. These were used to space out tables and human diners according to distance regulations. When restaurants were forced to close again, some, like the above in Bjelovar, Croatia, left their tables filled with furry families — a sweet gesture in the face of hardship.
Image: Damir Spehar/PIXSELL/picture alliance
Zoom memes
With many people around the world working from home, video conferencing has become part of the daily routine. From accidentally leaving a mic on to revealing our chaotic private lives in a business setting: The comedy potential is endless. Some memes have cleverly reinterpreted history and art through COVID's digital lens, such as this new version of da Vinci's "The Last Supper."
Image: pinterest.com
Coronavirus bedtime stories
COVID-related books popped up over the year, parodies included. One example is, "Goodnight COVID-19," a spinoff of the classic US children's book "Goodnight Moon." Simple lines like, "There was an agitated cat / And grandparents on a video chat" capture everyday reality with a wink. The author hoped humor could help parents talk to their kids about the situation — and, of course, lighten the day.
Image: Independently published
Animal distancing
Can't remember the recommended social distance? Think of a baby elephant! That's what Austria encouraged, saying if you imagine the sizable baby mammal between you and the next person, you'll definitely stay far enough away. If you live in Australia, however, you're supposed to stay one adult kangaroo apart. And the US National Park Service has advised keeping two T-rex arm's length away.
Image: Harald Schneider/APA/picture alliance
Lockdown music
As entire countries went into hard lockdowns in spring, streets and cities were left eerily quiet as public life died. In many places, people tried to lift spirits and fill the silence by making music from their balconies or windows, such as the man above in Oakland, California. In some places, even the police showed off their musical skills by serenading as they made their lockdown rounds.
Image: Reuters/K. Munsch
More than happy birthday
When you're washing your hands more than ever before, there's only so many times you can sing the same handwashing song without getting tired of it. Happily, many people shared their favorite alternatives. These ranged from pre-existing songs with the perfect chorus length of 20 seconds, such as Dolly Parton's "Jolene," to clever mashups of old songs with new coronavirus-inspired lyrics.
Image: Tina Rowden/Netflix/Everett Collection/picture alliance
Funny face masks
Face masks are the essential accessory of 2020. They're seemingly available in every possible style, from high-end designer ones costing three figures to one-off artist creations. And while the masks cover your mouth (and nose!), they don't have to hide your emotions — some humorous designs might even cause onlookers to smile, behind their own masks, of course.
Image: Etsy.com
'Aachoo!'
The famous anonymous street artist Banksy showed sharp humor in his latest mural, painted on the wall of a building in Bristol, England, in early December. An old lady is seen sneezing, dropping her cane and purse while sending dreaded droplets far into the air. But she also launches something else even further from her mouth: her dentures!