China Launches Astronauts to Space Station

Good News Notes: “There will soon be two places in orbit where astronauts live. On a clear, sunny Thursday morning in the Gobi Desert, China launched three astronauts to rendezvous with the country’s nascent space station. They waved to cameras in their capsule as their trip to space began. Twenty-one minutes into the mission, the…

China lands on Mars in major advance for its space ambitions

Good News Notes: “China landed a spacecraft on Mars for the first time on Saturday, a technically challenging feat more difficult than a moon landing, in the latest step forward for its ambitious goals in space. Plans call for a rover to stay in the lander for a few days of diagnostic tests before rolling…

Here’s a cool green way to upcycle millions of old tires

Good News Notes: “If you’ve ever seen a tire graveyard piled high with trashed rubber, you can easily understand that Israeli company EcoTech Recycling has a green gem of an idea. EcoTech’s nontoxic process produces a unique material, Active Rubber (AR), from end-of-life tires. With1.6 billion tires manufactured annually, and 290 million tires discarded each year in…