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Google praises 86-year-old for polite internet searches

Google has thanked 86-year-old May Ashworth who proved old-fashioned manners have a place in the modern world by typing ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ into her internet searches.

May Ashworth’s grandson Ben John, a 25-year-old from Wigan, found her laptop open and took a photo of the unusually polite online request. She was asking for a translation of the Roman numerals MCMXCVIII. He then tweeted the photo which has been retweeted more than 11,000 times.

He told the BBC he and his boyfriend do not have a clothes dryer so they go to Ashworth’s house for their laundry.

“I asked my nan why she used ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and it seemed she thinks that there is someone – a physical person – at Google’s headquarters who looks after the searches.

“She thought that by being polite and using her manners, the search would be quicker,” he said.

Google tweeted back: ‘Dearest Ben's Nan. Hope you're well. In a world of billions of Searches, yours made us smile.

‘Oh, and it's 1998.’

Banksy suprises pupils with mural at Bristol School

Pupils and teachers heading back Bridge Farm Primary School in Whitchurch, Bristol after half term yesterday were stunned to find an original Banksy mural painted in the playground.

The secretive graffiti artist had left a spray-painting of a child holding a stick and chasing a burning tyre on the wall – the image is believed to be a modern take on hoop rolling, a popular game played by children during the Victorian days.

The six-foot high artwork also features a flower and a small house with ‘Banksy’ signed to the bottom left of the brick building.

A further note from the artist, pinned behind the mural, said: “Dear Bridge Farm School. Thanks for your letter and naming a house after me. Please have a picture.

“If you don’t like it feel free to add stuff, I’m sure the teachers won’t mind.

 “Remember - it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Much love Banksy.”

Electric vans rolled out for delivery company

A London ‘farm food’ home delivery service has become the first in the capital to use only electric vehicles.

Farmdrop, which specialises in food from 70 farms and other producers within 150 miles of London, says the move will save hundreds of tonnes of CO2 as well as other harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxide from being pumped into the atmosphere.

Farmdrop founder and former Morgan Stanley investment banker Ben Pugh said: “The mainstream food chain is harmful to our health, our environment, our local producers, and it needs fixing.

“Farmdrop is on a mission to make it easy to buy the freshest food direct from the best local producers and delivered to people’s doors in a convenient and green way.

“Our larger supermarket rivals all use diesel and petrol engines, but Farmdrop is the only grocery delivery service using 100 per cent electric. Not only does this mean cleaner air for Londoners but the savings on fuel allow us to continue to offer great value.”

Electric milk floats were once a mainstay of home delivery but have all but disappeared from London’s streets to be replaced by diesel vans. A conventional diesel delivery van emits 13.89 tonnes of CO2 and 10.36kg of nitrogen oxides into London’s atmosphere every year.

The small lorries that use diesel-powered transport refrigeration units are particularly harmful, giving out 164 times more particulates — the microscopic sooty flakes that are a by-product of burning diesel —than a diesel car. There are estimated to be 84,000 transport refrigeration units in Britain.

Original story here.

Abandoned kitten saved by kind hearted soul

This tiny kitten pictured above was found clinging to the tyre of a truck by a kind-hearted soul who decided he just had to come to its rescue. Immediately after finding the kitten, he sent the picture to his wife asking 'Can I bring it home?' His wife immediately answered: 'Who could say no to that face?' They took it to the vets where they found out the kitten was only 4-5weeks old. It's a mystery what happened to the poor kitten's mum but at least she has found a new, loving secure home to belong to – alongside her new siblings, a 19-year-old cat and 2-year-old dog.

Man sports new bionic arm

Meet James and his amazing bionic arm!

When James Young lost an arm and a part of a leg in an accident on his morning commute, he thought his love of playing video games was over. 

But after spotting an advert he began to work with prosthetics designers to create a unique limb that looks like something straight out of a science fiction movie. Enjoy the lovely BBC news video right here.

Edible six-pack rings that feed wildlife

Credit: Saltwater Brewery

Plastic six-pack rings are the bane of conservationists, entangling and killing sea life. But a Florida-based brewery has come up with an environmental alternative.

Saltwater Brewery has partnered with the ad agency We Believers to create what they say is the first fully edible beer can packaging. Made from byproducts of the brewing process such as wheat and barley, their six-pack holders, which are just as strong as the plastic variety, are fully biodegradable and completely digestible. Rather than ensnaring wildlife, the six-pack rings could serve as a satisfying snack. And if nothing bites, it will quickly decompose.

The company 3-D printed a test batch of 500 holders in April and now plans to scale up production to meet its current output of 400,000 cans per month. While the edible holders are more expensive to make, Saltwater Brewery wants this to set an example for other beer producers and encourage them to adopt the idea. They say if their edible holders become commonplace, they could potentially be as cheap as the regular plastic rings.

The six-pack ring crisis is not as dire as it was in the 1970s, when images of trapped wildlife first began to appear. Six-pack rings are now widely made from photo-degradable plastic, meaning that they dissolve in sunlight and should eventually fall apart. However, the current standards specify that the rings should be made to break down within 90 days, leaving plenty of time to harm wildlife. And, they don’t completely disappear, at least not for a long time, so they could still pose a risk to animals that eat them.

Moving away from plastic entirely and embracing sustainable solutions would be a much better idea. It’s not just drink holders that threaten wildlife - plastic of every size and description floats in the oceans. The Ocean Conservancy’s 2015 investigation found plastic inside many species of marine animals.