Discovery
‘Use stimulus funds – Arnie’:
Government stimulus programs designed to keep countries afloat during the coronavirus pandemic offer “a tremendous opportunity” to build a clean-energy economy, actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday.
Schwarzenegger called on governments not to “invest in the past,” saying that “forward-looking decisions” are needed now as trillions are being poured into rebuilding economies around the globe.
“These funds are so massive they’re capable of remaking societies; we have a tremendous opportunity here,” Schwarzenegger said while speaking by video link from Los Angeles to the Austrian World Summit in Vienna, an offshoot of his climate initiative. “All we have to do is pick it up.”
Since leaving political office in 2011, the Austrian-American actor has devoted time to environmental causes. A Republican, he has sparred with US President Donald Trump over climate issues.
“When you hear that government plans to spend stimulus money bailing out fossil fuels, we must ask ourselves: if investors aren’t supporting those declining companies, why should taxpayers?” Schwarzenegger said. “Government must realize what the smart money knows instinctively: don’t invest in the past.”
Schwarzenegger said efficient uses of money would include making buildings more energy-efficient and weatherproof, installing energy-efficiency appliances, cars using alternative fuels and planting trees. (AP)
T rex goes up for auction:
He weighed at least 7 tons and had eyes the size of baseballs. His bite could have crushed a car. He bore scars from fierce prehistoric battles.
All this could be yours for as much as $8 million.
The legend of the Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed Stan is getting fresh life thanks to Christie’s. The auction house put his bones on display starting Wednesday through floor-to-ceiling windows at its midtown Manhattan gallery in advance of putting them up for auction.
“He is 37 feet long and one of the fiercest killing machines that has ever roamed the earth,” said James Hyslop, head of the auction house’s science and natural history department.
About 67 million years after Stan did all that roaming and killing, his remains were discovered in 1987 by paleontologist Stan Sacrison in a geological area in the Midwest known as the Cretaceous Badlands.
The fossils became known for forming one of the most intact dinosaur skeletons ever discovered. Researchers also marveled at how the skull had large puncture wounds, speculating that they were the result of T. rex warfare.
The skeleton - being put up for sale by the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota - will remain on display through Oct 21 at Christie’s flagship location at Rockefeller Center. The auction is set for Oct. 6.
Hyslop assured potential buyers that Stan “is being offered with no reserve. So absolutely everyone has a shot at him.” (AP)
Lego to ditch plastic bags:
Lego has said that it will stop using plastic bags inside its boxed sets and replace them with paper ones.
The Danish toymaker said it will start making the switch next year and expects plastic bags to be completely phased out in the next five years. The bags are used to hold loose bricks in boxed sets.
Lego, as well as other big brands, have been looking for ways to cut plastic use in order to please customers increasingly worried about how their purchases impact the environment. Monopoly maker Hasbro, for example, has also announced plans to eliminate plastics in its packaging.
Among the environmental issues posed by plastic is that it doesn’t disintegrate. Instead, it breaks down into tiny pieces that can be eaten by birds or other wildlife, endangering their health.
“We have been exploring alternatives for some time and the passion and ideas from children inspired us to begin to make the change,” said Lego CEO Niels B.
Christiansen, in a prepared statement.