Thursday, February 20th, 2025

Good Morning! 🌞 

Happy February 20th – it’s National Love Your Pet Day! Today’s all about celebrating the special bond we share with our furry (or feathery, or scaly) friends—the ones who fill our lives with unconditional love and endless joy. Take a little extra time to spoil your pet today; after all, they deserve it!

Environment

Nature’s Engineer

As winter approaches, nature’s most industrious engineers kick into high gear—beavers! These incredible creatures transform landscapes with their dam-building skills, creating intricate waterways and lodges to stay warm and safe during the cold months. Using branches, mud, and sheer determination, beavers craft sturdy dams that not only protect their homes from predators but also help maintain ecosystems by creating wetlands that support diverse wildlife. Watching them at work is like seeing a master architect in action, each twig carefully placed with purpose. Curious to see how they pull it off before the first snow falls? Check out the full video!

Innovation

Renewable Power Surge

In 2004, it took an entire year for the United States to install its first gigawatt of solar power. Today, that same one-gigawatt milestone is reached in just a single day. A gigawatt of solar capacity provides electricity to around 200,000 homes, underscoring the scale of these rapid advancements. By 2024, U.S. businesses and government agencies had installed 30 gigawatts of new solar capacity, a striking indicator of the industry’s remarkable progress.

Renewable energy made up 90% of all new grid additions in 2024, with solar accounting for 80% of that growth. The 30 gigawatts of solar added this year is nearly 75% of California’s total historical solar capacity and almost nine times more than new natural gas and nuclear combined. Meanwhile, wind contributed an additional 3 gigawatts, while hydropower, biomass, and geothermal added 213 MW, 51 MW, and 29 MW respectively.

This dominance of renewables reflects both the brisk pace at which solar installations can be deployed and waning investment in long-term fossil fuel projects. Solar’s share of U.S. generating capacity is now ten times larger than it was just a decade ago, helping push renewables beyond 30% of the total grid mix. As these trends continue, cleaner and more sustainable sources of energy are poised to define the next chapter of America’s power sector.

World News

First Words Decoded

Scholars are racing to decode an ancient scroll that was among hundreds buried and charred during Mount Vesuvius’s AD 79 eruption. Housed at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, this manuscript is the fifth intact Herculaneum scroll to be virtually unrolled for the Vesuvius Challenge—a competition aimed at fast-tracking the deciphering of these rare texts and revealing fresh insights into ancient Rome and Greece.

Using AI and cutting-edge imaging techniques, the Vesuvius Challenge team has produced the first clear images of the scroll’s interior, identified as PHerc. 172. Early translations uncovered the ancient Greek word διατροπή, meaning “disgust,” appearing twice. Because the scrolls are too fragile to physically unfurl, digital imaging allows researchers to peer inside them for the first time in nearly 2,000 years. Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky and co-founder of the Vesuvius Challenge, notes that this particular scroll has yielded more legible text than most, possibly due to an ink formulation that shows up vividly in X-ray scans. Researchers suspect it may contain lead or another denser element, but further testing is needed.

While AI enhances the visibility of the carbonized script, human expertise remains key to transcribing and interpreting the recovered passages. The team continues to refine its imaging methods in hopes of revealing additional text hidden within the tightly layered scroll—possibly even the manuscript’s title—offering a deeper glimpse into the intellectual heritage of the ancient world.

Support Daily Upsider!

Help our mission to share positive, meaningful news! Your support keeps us going without the need to bombard you with annoying ads!

Mind Stretchers

⁉️

Yesterday’s Answers to the Mind Stretchers:

I hold no crown but shape the wise,
With silent power, I help minds rise.
I give no gold, yet wealth I share,
Guiding journeys everywhere.
Who am I? —teachers! James Godfrey got this early 🌞 

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to[email protected]or reply to email.

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.