Baby, it’s c-c-c-c-cold outside where I am in the Midwest! Most of our surrounding area has been shut down since Thursday…and we are used to cold weather! That should tell you something! Me? I’ve been hibernating. I think I must be part bear. I hate winter.

Anyway…hibernating gives me lots of time to find some great good news stories. Here you are…and enjoy!

Electronic Nose Knows Quality Coffee

Perhaps new invention created by scientists at the Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland isn’t ready to be called into daily demitasse-sipping service. But it predicted the range of aromas and intensities noted by a panel of experts for 11 different espressos, with only a few mismatches. Then in another test, the electronic nose almost duplicated the panel’s opinion in characterizing an additional eight espressos.

In the search for consistently high-quality coffee, the coffee industry would benefit enormously from any nose that really knows its stuff (whether by man or machine).

“We do not attempt to replace human tasters by instruments but to assist human tasters,” said a Nestlé researcher. “But in some cases we can use the approach as a pre-screening tool to eliminate those samples which would anyhow fail a sensory evaluation because of insufficient quality.”

Crackerjack Prize is More than Expected

Deborah Rogoff of Irvine, CA got more than expected from a local Whole Foods shopping trip. When her daughter opened the box of crackerjacks purchased there she discovered a white envelope containing $10,000.

The family turned the envelope into the police, who told them it might be apart of a drug drop. However, it was later discovered that days earlier a retiree had reported to the store managers that she had accidentally returned the box of crackers with her life’s savings tucked inside.

Luckily for her the store made the mistake of restocking the crackers instead of disposing of them as they should have.

US Airways Pilot’s Wife: “We Are Very Proud of Him”

The wife of the pilot who safely landed a crippled jetliner in the Hudson River said Friday she was stunned to hear about the ordeal from her husband after it was all over.

“Suffice to say, it was a shock, like it was to everyone,” Lorrie Sullenberger said.

“My husband has said over the years that it’s highly unlikely for any pilot to have an incident in his career, and something like this…. I was stunned when he called and he said there was an incident,” she said. “And even then, I assumed that it was a tug that had bumped the airplane. Your mind never goes to something like this.”

Sullenberger spoke outside their California home a day after her husband, pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, guided a US Airways jetliner to a safe landing in New York’s Hudson River.

Sullenberger praised her 57-year-old husband and credited his calm personality.