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Christ, did February breeze by.
Or did it? It always seems so in retrospect but – now I think of it – it was pretty jam packed.
It was also the first time during this series that I actually took note of positive stories on (almost) a daily basis – filing them away into a dedicated Google Docs whenever they appeared instead of doing a frenzied search at the end of the month.
For example, I was encouraged to hear on February 3 about the opening of the first hydrogen-powered homes at a demonstration facility in Fife.
Under SGN’s H100 scheme, several hundred homes in Leven will have their mains supply switched from natural gas to hydrogen, with the company covering the cost of installing new boilers and cooking hobs.
It is designed to showcase how hydrogen can be an alternative fuel source for heating homes, one which does not produce any carbon emissions.
The day after that, I spotted that the spaceport in the Shetland Islands will be ready for satellite launches by July.
A number of companies plan to use SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst as a launch site for commercial rockets.
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), from Germany, is thought to have the most advanced plans and it was officially licensed for spaceflight by the regulator in January – which I included in last month’s newsletter.
But this is another important step towards the first vertical space launch (ever) in Europe. Awesome stuff.
And then, the next day, I saw that Techscaler, a Scottish Government programme which was founded in 2022 to help tech founders grow their businesses, has helped Scottish entrepreneurs raise more than £118 million of capital investment in the past two years.
In sectors such as medical technology, artificial intelligence and space, the number of companies involved in the programme almost doubled last year from 502 to 978, while the number of individual entrepreneurs more than doubled from 610 to 1411.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the programme has helped Scotland solidify itself as one of the best places in the world to launch a start-up tech company.
Now, that may be a (little) bit of spin. I’m sure many politicians across the world would be keen to claim the very same – but in a nation that invented the telephone, the microwave and penicillin, it’s encouraging to see Scots benefiting from programs such as these.
In another case of us Scots being alright, actually – a new poll found that a majority of us (62 per cent) believe people seeking asylum should have the right to work.
It’s a real bugbear of mine, that currently people are not allowed to work until they receive refugee status, something that can take many months and even years.
Especially given the abuse asylum seekers get from far-right actors for not doing the thing they, quite literally, legally can’t do.
So, the news that I’m not alone in Scotland in that thought, was a welcome one.
I also welcomed the fact that the Skipinnish Oak in Lochaber, which was named UK Tree of the Year last year, has now been chosen to represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year contest.
You know, for national pride reasons or something.
Also, any tree-related story reminds me of the time I spoke with a Scottish tree hugging association, who then slammed Keir Starmer after it was reported that he said “I hate tree huggers” during a shadow cabinet meeting. Because, yes, my job is very serious.
Finally, this month, the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh was found for the first time since the discovery of Tutankhamun more than a century ago – and it was by a Scot!
Now, he wasn’t alone – it must be said.
The discovery was made by a joint mission formed by the New Kingdom Research Foundation (NKRF), a British independent academic foundation, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt, a project affiliated to the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge.
But the leader and field director is Piers Litherland, from Galashiels!
Alright, that’s it for this month. I hope you all have a wonderful March. Walking into work this morning, it certainly felt as though spring had (finally) sprung!
If there’s anything you think should be included, please don’t hesitate to ping me an email: james.walker@newsquest.co.uk
