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Friday • January 19, 2024
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Whether you love or hate laundry day, it unfortunately might be hurting the environment. Fortunately, there are ways to help — and they come with the happy consequences of extending the life of your clothing and decreasing some of your utility bills. Washing and drying require a lot of water and energy, and can contribute to micro-plastic pollution. To minimize the climate impact of keeping your clothes and linens clean, consider washing only when truly necessary and choosing the cold setting over warm or hot. Get more laundry tips here.
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Health & Wellness
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| Canada Is the Safest Country to Travel to, Report Finds |
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peeterv/ iStock
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International jetsetters know safety is an important consideration when choosing their next locale, and the newest Safest Destinations report from Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection is the perfect tool to help with that.
The report ranks Canada as the No. 1 safest country to travel to in 2024, followed by Switzerland and then Norway. Our neighbor to the north also made it on the safest cities list, with Montreal, Quebec, taking the second spot (Honolulu was first and Reykjavik, Iceland, third). The results were based on surveys of 1,702 travelers last year, as well as data on terrorism, natural disasters, health measures, and discrimination.
Regardless of whether you choose one of the countries on the list, though, there are some steps you can take to ensure safe travels when heading out of the U.S. Always do your research, keep an eye on valuables, and sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, which allows you to enroll your trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate.
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Need a Mood Boost?
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Everyone struggles with anxiety, sleeplessness, and overwhelming feelings from time to time, but you don’t have to suffer in silence — not when the Apollo wearable exists. Through soothing, gentle waves of vibration, the device helps your body relax and reduces stress, allowing you to have more control over how you want to feel.
And there’s plenty of science to back it up: Users experience up to 40% less stress and anxiety on average, up to 30 more minutes of sleep each night, and up to 25% more focus. As a Nice News reader, you can get $50 off an Apollo wearable today.
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Culture
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| Scholar Finds 20 Stories and Poems That May Have Been Written by Louisa May Alcott |
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Bettmann/Getty Images
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Louisa May Alcott may have been even more prolific than previously thought, according to literature expert Max Chapnick. Chapnick, a postdoctoral teaching associate at Northeastern University, believes he’s found about 20 formerly unknown stories and poems written by Alcott, best known for the novel Little Women, which was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869.
Some of the stories he came upon were written under her own name, but others he thinks were published in Massachusetts newspapers using pseudonyms. The name E. H. Gould popped up several times, including alongside a story about her home in Concord. Alcott expert Anne Phillips told the Associated Press that Chapnick makes a “compelling case” that the famed author indeed penned these writings.
Chapnick noted that much of his current evidence is “circumstantial,” but he plans on gathering more. And that’s part of the fun anyway.
“The detective work is fun. The not knowing is kind of fun. I both wish and don’t wish that there would be a smoking gun, if that makes sense,” he said. “It would be great to find out one way or the other, but not knowing is also very interesting.”
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Innovation
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| AI Tool Can “Work Like a Doctor” for Diagnosing Rheumatic Heart Disease in Kids |
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Jolygon/ iStock
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Rheumatic heart disease causes nearly 300,000 deaths each year, primarily affecting children in low- and middle-income countries. When caught early on in childhood, it can be easily treated with low-cost antibiotics, but detection requires expert analysis from cardiologists, who are few and far between in many of the most affected areas.
To solve for this, scientists at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., worked with staffers at the Uganda Heart Institute to develop an artificial intelligence tool that allows nurses and other trained medical professionals to screen children and interpret the results without a cardiologist.
The system, outlined in a recent paper, could prevent thousands of people from having to undergo heart surgery, The Washington Post reports. The researchers’ device, which had an accuracy rate close to 90% in tests, would be lightweight, portable, and cost between $2,000 and $5,000 — a major improvement from the traditionally used echocardiogram machines, which weigh 500 pounds and cost $250,000.
“AI can work like a doctor and potentially add something to what a doctor does,” Pooneh Roshanitabrizi, a scientist at Children’s National who developed the new algorithm, told the outlet.
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In Other News
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Inspiring Stories
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“Blown away”
After Noah Webber learned his school bus driver Heidi Carston had cancer, the 11-year-old organized a bake sale and raised $1,000 for her. “I just couldn’t even believe it, that he had such a kind heart to be able to even come up with this idea,” Carston said.
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Change of plans
Alec Wright was preparing to propose to his girlfriend when he badly broke his finger and had to call EMS. But that didn’t stop him from his original plans, and he ended up popping the question from the back of an ambulance. Watch a video of the sweet moment.
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Post Of The Day
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@visitlex
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Lexington, Kentucky’s new tourism campaign is literally out of this world. The city recently beamed a message — “the world’s first interstellar travel ad” — into space, inviting extraterrestrial life to come and visit. The target is a solar system about 40 light-years away, meaning we won’t know about any response for decades, but Lexington is hoping the untraditional approach might prompt some earthly visitors in the meantime. See what the message contained. (Photo Credit: ChrisBoswell/ iStock)
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Quote of the Day
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| “Generosity and gratitude often go together. They light a path on the way to better.”
- Seth Godin
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