We’re starting today’s edition with an oldie but a goodie: Writer Alexandra Franzen’s list of “50 ways to be ridiculously generous and feel ridiculously good” was first published over a decade ago, but it remains evergreen. Nice News readers already know by now that acts of kindness are beneficial for both the recipient and the giver, but it’s helpful to read through a list of specific, actionable ways to show your generosity. (You can’t go wrong with No. 1 on the list — “Give a compliment to three strangers: a child, someone your own age, and an elder.”)
$101 Million Longevity Research Prize Hits Major Milestone
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It’s one thing to live a long life; it’s another to extend the years we live with good health. That’s the conundrum driving a longevity research competition with a seven-figure prize. “This competition isn’t just accelerating progress, it’s shattering the limits of what’s possible when it comes to aging,” said Jamie Justice, the executive director of XPRIZE Healthspan, which unveiled its first cohort of semifinalists yesterday. The prize winner has clear and hefty objectives to meet: Develop a therapy that restores muscular, cognitive, and immune function by a minimum of 10 years in adults between the ages of 50 to 80. The winning idea must also be accessible to as many people as possible and scalable within a year. The entrant who can do all of the above better than the rest will walk away with $81 million in funding for a one-year clinical trial. Two $10 million awards will be divided among other finalists. The teams in contention have time to hone their products, though: The winner will be awarded in 2030. This adds to the new wave of longevity research that seeks to improve what it means to grow old. Because despite the global life expectancy more than doubling over the past 100 years, the quality of our health as we age has seemingly plateaued. “The next breakthrough in aging could come from scientists and entrepreneurs, anywhere,” said Peter Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of XPRIZE. “With this prize, we’re igniting a global healthspan revolution, and these semifinalists are leading the charge.”
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Pondering Artistic Beauty May Encourage “Big Picture” Thinking
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The next time someone rushes you through a museum, show them the findings from a new study out of the U.K.: Stopping to ponder artistic beauty may encourage “big picture” thinking. The research suggests that contemplating the beauty of artistic objects in a gallery or museum boosts our ability to think in abstract ways and look at our lives from a wider perspective. Publishing their work last week in the journal Empirical Studies of the Arts,University of Cambridge psychologists say their findings offer solid evidence that engaging with artistic beauty helps us escape from certain elements of the quotidian, like daily anxieties and to-do lists. “Many philosophers throughout history have suggested that engaging with aesthetic beauty invokes a special kind of psychological state,” senior author Simone Schnall said in a news release. “Our research indicates that engaging with the beauty of art can enhance abstract thinking and promote a different mindset to our everyday patterns of thought, shifting us into a more expansive state of mind.”
Environment
Chimps Talk to Each Other Much Like We Do, Study Finds
Chimps are a lot like us: They’re sociable, empathetic, and genetically close to humans — and a recent study suggests wildchimpanzees use even more nuanced, human-like communication than previously believed. After studying 53 wild chimpanzees for 12 hours at a time, researchers found that they combine hoots, grunts, and calls to create new meaning in a way that’s reminiscent of how people use idioms or tweak the order of words to build new phrases, per NBC News. “Generating new or combined meanings by combining words is a hallmark of human language,” Catherine Crockford, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who co-directs the Taï Chimpanzee Project, said in a press release. And chimps may very well not be the only ones, as other recent research provides evidence that bonobos have also evolved to modify their language to talk to one another in a similar way. The takeaway: “There is indeed something special about hominid communication — that complex communication was already emerging in our last common ancestor, shared with our closest living relatives — or that we have underestimated the complexity of communication in other animals as well, which requires further study,” said study co-author Cédric Girard-Buttoz. In somewhat related news, chimps also know a thing or two about rhythm — watch one drum on a tree trunk with serious style.
In Other News
New data shows promising results for a drug treating plaque psoriasis, a chronic skin condition (read more)
Moms know best: A study found wasp mothers have a “remarkable” memory when it comes to nest management (read more)
NASA scored not one but two Emmy nominations for its coverage of the total solar eclipse last year (read more)
The 1940 World Expo was postponed by war— 85 years later, a man got a chance to use a ticket from the event (read more)
A coral-hued rose has been named after Catherine, the Princess of Wales (read more)
Inspiring Story
Graduation inspiration
Hats off to Linwood Riddick! The 79-year-old veteran came out of retirement to earn his bachelor’s degree at South Carolina State University. “If I can do it, you can do it,” he said. “It’s not impossible if you try.” Learn the moving reason he decided to hit the books in old age.
Photo of the Day
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Did you spot May’s bright Flower Moon rising in the sky Sunday or Monday night? If not, at least you can gaze at this photo of the moon perfectly aligning with the Statue of Liberty’s torch.
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