CultureThe good news
Prato prepares an open evening at Officina Giovani
The free programme on 23 October starts at 5:30 pm, bringing music, theatre and activities to the refurbished former slaughterhouse.
AI illustration · Positive Times · ImageGen
From the archive: the edition of , with the original dates and sources for every story. Read the latest edition.
Music for today ·Edition of 23 October 2026
N° 046 8 stories to take with youPerspectives.
ScienceThe good news
Hubble shows two images of one galaxy and helps prepare Roman
NASA’s gravitational-lens image helps researchers build analysis tools for the future Roman space telescope.
WorldThe good news
Nigeria: nearly 2,000 connected schools, with teacher training in UNICEF’s update
The 22 October account reports around one million students reached and more than 19,000 teachers trained in digital skills.
AI illustration · Positive Times · ImageGen
WorldThe bright side
Yemen: one million dollars for temporary work and local recovery
UNDP announces funding for work in Aden and Lahj; 1,200 participants is a target, rather than an outcome already achieved.
AI illustration · Positive Times · ImageGen
Moving forward.
CultureThe good news
San Gimignano’s path towards Porta alle Fonti is ready to reopen
The municipality announces reopening on 24 October after stabilising the walkway damaged by a 2019 landslide.
Photo · Comune di San Gimignano · CC BY 4.0
CultureThe good news
Sant’Arsenio’s G. Amabile auditorium is cleared to resume activities
The 21 October order lifts its temporary closure and permits public or municipally authorised activities on a non-profit basis.
AI illustration · Positive Times · ImageGen
ScienceThe good news
Genoa’s Science Festival opens eleven days of new perspectives
Inaugurated on 22 October, the festival runs until 1 November, with 101 workshops and opportunities to meet researchers.
AI illustration · Positive Times · ImageGen
SocietyThe bright side
Busto Arsizio prepares Donacibo 2027 with schools and its solidarity food bank
The council executive approves cooperation for a future food collection; no quantity already collected is announced.
Archive · Comune di Busto Arsizio · CC BY 4.0
A little more to discover.
Design · Philosophy · Plants · Curiosities · Words · Food · Cultures & peoples. Ideas worth a closer look.
01Design
Richard Sapper: the lamp that finds its balance
Two counterweights and conducting arms turn Tizio into a small lesson: freedom of movement can grow from carefully designed constraints.
Read the full story
George Berkeley: what do we mean when we say “exists”?
A table becomes a philosophical question: Berkeley connects perceived objects with minds, without reducing reality to a matter of personal whim.
Read the full story03Plants
Nephrolepis: the dots beneath the frond are not flowers
A familiar indoor fern invites a second look: orderly structures beneath its fronds reveal a way of reproducing without flowers.
Read the full story
How can a drinking straw become an instrument?
A familiar table object hides a question about sound: a tiny reed and the length of its air column can change what we hear.
Read the full story05Words
Merenda: a word that is not a test you must pass
The Italian word merenda has a Latin link to deserving; its present meaning names a small meal, without adding moral conditions.
Read the full story06Food
Couscous: the grains are made
They resemble tiny seeds, but semolina couscous is formed through processing: water, movement and sorting turn small particles into grains.
Read the full story
Taquile: when a belt tells the story of a year
In Taquile’s textile testimonies, a belt can carry activities and memory: understanding it means listening to its makers as well as looking.
Read the full storyOriginal illustrations made with AI assistance. Facts and sources stay in plain sight.
A chart a day
Edition of
Enlarge the chart Where do crop calories go?
- Data period
- Circa 2000 · mostly 1997–2003 / circa 2000 · soprattutto 1997–2003
- Datobello chart dated
A harvest can follow different paths. In the study by Cassidy and colleagues of 41 crops worldwide, 55% of produced calories were allocated to direct human food, 36% to animal feed and 9% to other uses, including biofuels. The data refer to around 2000, mostly the period 1997–2003: they do not describe the situation in 2026. [1]
The denominator counts calories, not tonnes or hectares. These crops represented over 90% of the worldwide crop calorie production considered by the study. The estimates come before waste and exclude food produced by grazing. The three bars show the initial allocation of the harvest, without counting animal products made from feed a second time. [1]
A project by gaiaz · Instagram
View the sources
- Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare Emily S. Cassidy, Paul C. West, James S. Gerber, Jonathan A. Foley · Environmental Research Letters 8, 034015 · Published · Accessed
That is quite a lot of good for one day.
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