Weekly Rewind: July 14

1. Teleportation Becomes Possible 

...though it's probably not worth heading to the Holodeck just yet. As Time reported, so far it’s just a photon that they’ve been able to teleport using a process called quantum entanglement, which is definitely on our list of things we’re going to get Brian Cox to explain to us if we ever meet him.

2. Dippy Replaced by Hope

London’s iconic Natural History Museum has housed Dippy the Diplodocus dinosaur in its foyer since 1979. However this week, an 85ft blue whale – known as Hope – was installed in Dippy’s place, as the dinosaur is due to tour of the UK (through the Evening Standard). When asked about the change, the museum’s director of science, Ian Owens said, “We are at a critical point in the planet and humanity’s future. We want to take a more prominent role in that debate and help engage people on saving the planet.” Hopefully this small switcheroo results in people taking more care of the world around them.  

3. 15 Mins of Fame While on Work Experience

Few people look back on their work experience and realise that it was a pivotal moment in their careers. That was not the case for 15-year-old Eddie, who spent the past week at Southern Rail, managing their Twitter account, according to the BBC. Usually the account is bombarded with abuse and complaints from angry commuters, but once Eddie introduced himself to their 161,000 followers, customers engaged him in a variety of topics and questions – asking him everything from his favourite football team and what GCSEs he’s taking to what meal they should eat that evening. The responses were so positive that Eddie returned to Twitter duty on Wednesday.

4. Jay Z Answers Infidelity Rumours 

W Magazine this week reviewed Jay Z's newly-released album, 4:44, and seemingly concluded that it's a direct response to claims he cheated on Beyoncé, following her album Lemonade, released in 2016. Tracks on the album seem to reference his famous fight with Solange Knowles, the mysterious woman Becky who features in Bey's album and coming to terms with his rumoured infidelity. In the song Footnotes, he raps: "I’m not saying it wasn’t uncomfortable because obviously it was." Sounds like Jay Z is still grovelling... 

5. Kermit Re-Cast 

It wasn’t easy being green (yes, I know that’s the second week in a row I’ve used that joke) this week as Radio Times told us about the firing of Kermit the Frog voice actor Steve Whitmire after 27 years, during which time he’s voiced the character in everything from Muppet Treasure Island to An Audience with Kylie Minogue. Better hope there’s a job centre at the Rainbow Connection…

6. Andy Murray Dismisses Casual Sexism 

The British Wimbledon champion can do no wrong. Although Andy Murray lost his quarter-finals match earlier this week, he stole the show in a press conference when he corrected a reporter’s sexist throwaway comment (Metro). While the journalist causally disregarded his comment and laughed – blissfully unaware that he had discounted the success of the Williams’ sisters – Murray remained unimpressed and stony-faced, something his fans later heralded on Twitter.

7. New Abortion Rules in Arkansas

Although abortion is legal in Arkansas, a new law that restricts the disposal of foetuses may infringe on the privacy of women once it is implemented, according to Broadly. The current Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009 states that all bodies including aborted foetuses must be dealt with like a deceased family member – which means that the spouse, children, parents and grandparents have the power to decide how to dispose of the body. However under this new law, sexual partners would also be involved in the decision making process, even in rape cases. 

8. It’s the Happiest Day of the Year!

July 14 is statistically the happiest day of the year, according to the Telegraph. So if you’re not smiling from ear to ear, you’re letting the side down, and you will be hunted! To avert the happiness police from bashing in your door and forcing you to watch videos of small animals, that same publication has compiled 45 Ian Dury-style reasons to be cheerful, though none of them is as good as the clip of Kermit the Frog singing with Kylie Minogue we mentioned above...

9. Emmy Noms Named 

As us culture bores will shout at you, RIGHT NOW IS PEAK TV, with shows like the Blind Date revamp, Love Island and Reggie Yates: Hidden Australia showing us how truly innovative the medium can be. Oh and also Game of Thrones, Better Call Saul and The Handmaid’s Tale are on? Amazingly, as the Guardian noted, the Emmy nominations focused on the latter rather than the former. There’s no accounting for taste I guess. Just give everything to the new Twin Peaks, even if it wasn’t eligible. It’s that good.

Click here to see all the ads nominated for Outstanding Commercial.

10. Giant Iceberg Breaks Off 

To paraphrase a classic chat-up line, there must have been a pretty heavy penguin in Antartica this week, because something broke the ice. To be specific, a trillion tonne iceberg has broken free from a glacier in the Antarctic. That’s an iceberg the size of London, and Live Science has detailed exactly what that means for us in the near and distant future.