We live in unusual times. It all gets a bit much some days. So each weekday we’re bringing you a much-needed dose of positivity to remind you that there’s inspiration, kindness and quirkiness out there too.
Man plays 607 golf holes in 10 days for charity
Matt Wallbank’s legs are knackered and his battered feet are in no state to go showing off.
That’s what playing 607 holes at various New Zealand golf courses across 10 days, walking almost 300km in the process, will do.
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But it was worth it for the 26-year-old from Hamilton, whose fundraising quest has pulled in almost $20,000 for mental health charity I am Hope.
He was aware of the Longest Day challenge, in which people play 72 holes (four rounds) in a day and raise money. But Wallbank figured he’d take things to another level.
So, having ran a half-marathon a day for a month in the past as a mental health fundraiser, he settled on playing 607 holes in 10 days – a hole for each person who committed suicide in New Zealand between July 2020 and June 2021.
Five-year-old boy joins police motorbike ride along
The Christmas after five-year-old Harry lost his dad, Santa brought him the electric police bike he’d been wanting as a gift.
And when police from Durham Constabulary in the UK heard of Harry’s story, they decided to surprise him with a motorbike ride along.
Running 150 marathons in 150 days for charity
Five months after setting out from the tip of Australia, marathon runner Erchana Murray-Bartlett has reached the country’s southern edge.
The 32-year-old on finished her 6300km journey on Tuesday – a marathon every day for 150 days.
Murray-Bartlett’s effort sets a new world record for the most consecutive daily marathons by a woman and has raised over NZ$108,000 for conservation charity the Wilderness Society.
The identical strangers with the same name and job
Two US baseball players have a lot in common. For starters, they’re both called Brady Feigl.
The striking similarities between the two men don’t just stop at their name. They also have matching careers and even physical appearances, which have stunned many.
After years of being confused for one another, the two Feigls decided to try and end the debate once and for all – with a DNA test.
It turns out the duo both measure up at 6 feet, four inches tall (about 1.93m, the NY Post reports). They both have red hair and beards and wear glasses. There is a 5-year age gap, though.
Brady Feigl, 32, plays for the Long Island Ducks, and the other Brady Feigl, 27, plays for the Las Vegas Aviators.
Because their careers are so similar, they’ve often been mixed up. Such a time was when the University of Mississippi’s baseball team accidently tagged the incorrect redhead online when wishing him a happy birthday.
Video screenshot
Brady Feigl and Brady Feigl have a lot of things in common.
“Wrong Brady Feigl,” was the response.
Over time, there’s been some speculation and unanswered questions regarding the pair. Are they related? Is there an old, undiscovered family link somewhere? Were they separated at birth?
The answer came about following an interview with Inside Edition, where both Feigl’s agreed to take a DNA test. They’re not related. Not even close.
The conclusion from the test and interview was that they’re two total strangers who just look alike and happen to share the same name and occupation.
“We’re still brothers in a way,” one Brady Feigl says in the interview.
“And we’ll always be Brady Feigl,” the other adds.
A new species of gecko that was hidden in plain sight all along
There have only been two confirmed sightings of the Cupola gecko in 53 years, but now lizard experts have struck gold deep in the Nelson Lakes National Park (video published March 2021).
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to an incredible diversity of lizards (mokomoko) – more than 120 species are identified, and counting.
Elusive species are being (re)discovered in cracks and crevices in remote areas, while geneticists are using DNA to untangle hidden diversity in widespread populations.
We’ve known for a long time that Hoplodactylus geckos living on rocky islands in the Cook Strait were a little different from their northern counterparts. They are smaller, have different patterns and possess unique DNA fingerprints – all indicating a new species.
The arrival of rats, coupled with the burning of native forests centuries ago, complicated this taxonomic task by driving geographically intermediate mainland populations to extinction. With those crucial puzzle pieces missing, it was unclear how significant the observed differences between northern and southern populations were.
Shaun Lee/Supplied
Before now, all living Hoplodactylus populations were known as Duvaucel’s gecko.
It wasn’t until we used new methods of analysing ancient DNA on those extinct populations that we realised northern and southern Hoplodactylus geckos were quite different indeed – they had been separated for over five million years. Our new research describes these populations as different species.
