ICYMI: Stories to put a smile on your face

Possums make comeback in Australia

Tiny pygmy possums made a comeback on Australia's Kangaroo island, for the first time after the 2019-2020 bushfires that ravaged the country.

Regarding the discovery of a single pygmy possum – a tiny mammal smaller than an adult human's thumb – ecologist Pat Hodgens told The Guardian: "This capture is the first documented record of the species surviving post-fire."

Almost half of the island was burned last December and January, charring 88% of the pygmy possum's habitat. The creatures can be found in Tasmania, as well as mainland South Australia and Victoria, in addition to Kangaroo Island.

Denmark to end all new gas exploration

Denmark is set to end all new oil and gas exploration in the North Sea as part of a plan to stop extracting fossil fuels by 2050.

Last year, Denmark – the EU's largest producer of oil and gas – committed to reducing emissions by 70% versus 1990 levels by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. The country canceled its latest licensing round and all future rounds, but exploration will still be permitted under current and active licenses.

"We are now putting a final end to the fossil era," Danish climate minister Dan Jorgensen announced on Thursday.

Greenpeace Denmark called the move a "watershed moment."

Denmark pumped 103,000 barrels of oil a day in 2019, according to oil giant BP, while the country plays host to 55 drilling platforms across 20 oil and gas fields.

New York painter buys works worth $65,000 to support struggling artists

New York painter Guy Stanley Philoche spent more than $65,000 (over €53,000) to purchase work from artists struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 43-year-old creative sought artists from around the wold who were unable to make ends meet, purchasing more than 150 works for up to $500 each.

"The art world is my community and I needed to help my community," Philoche told CNN. "People say New York is dead, but it's far from that. There's an artist somewhere writing the next greatest album. There's a kid right now in his studio painting the next Mona Lisa. There's probably a dancer right now choreographing the next epic ballet."

London's homeless offered two-week stay in hotels 

London-based charity Crisis paid for 217 hotel rooms to house the homeless over the holiday weeks. Crisis usually hosts the annual initiative to house the homeless, in dormitory-style accommodations. However, given the risks imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, the charity instead booked out four London hotels.

"Normally, we would be running 10 centers with 4,000 guests and 12,000 volunteers. Then this came along, and we just really had to stop and reinvent the wheel from scratch," Crisis Christmas boss Ian Richards told The Sunday Times. "We didn't want to do anything less. Our first objective was to offer as much as we always have done in a different way."

Guests will be given three hot meals a day, delivered by room service.

TIME Magazine's readers dub essential workers 2020 'Person of the Year'

Essential workers have won TIME's 2020 Person of the Year reader poll.Essential workers include nurses, doctors, delivery people and grocery store employees. They won with 6.5% of the more than 8 million votes cast in the poll, which asked readers to choose the person or group of people who had the greatest influence over 2020.

The magazine itself was rather more predictable in its official award, sharing the honor between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.