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A few U.S. states are considered retirement hotspots — namely Florida, California, and some other warm weather locales. But the financial news site Insider Monkey recently came up with a list of the best states to retire to in 2024, and the No. 1 pick might surprise you. South Dakota came out on top thanks to its affordability, Midwestern friendliness, natural landscapes, and lack of an income tax. Learn more about the Mount Rushmore State and discover which other spots made the top five.
Culture
250-Year-Old Cherries Found at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate
The story of a young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree may be a myth, but the first U.S. president did likely dine on cherries at Mount Vernon, as evidenced by a recent discovery. Archeologists came upon two intact bottles of cherries that had been buried beneath a brick floor at the Virginia estate.
Principal archaeologist Jason Boroughs called the preserved fruit an “extraordinary” find. “They’re plump, they have flesh, they have pits and stems,” he told USA Today. “They don’t look as if they’ve been sitting in a bottle for 250 years, although they have.”
According to a press release from Mount Vernon, the liquid still even smelled of cherry blossoms. The European-manufactured jugs were likely produced in the mid-18th century and ended up buried when the brick floor was laid in the 1770s.
After a press viewing period through the end of April, the bottles will be conserved and their contents will head to a laboratory for further analysis and testing. “These bottles tell stories,” Boroughs said. “They’re attached to people who had real lives and if we know how to put the pieces together, we can piece together something about their lives.”
Check out photos of the bottles and the excavation process.
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Together With Brilliant
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Environment
Baltimore Icon Mr. Trash Wheel Marks 10 Years of Cleaning the Harbor
Since its installation in 2014, Baltimore’s Mr. Trash Wheel has collected 2,362 tons of trash from the city’s harbor, including 938,626 plastic bags, 1.8 million plastic bottles, and even a guitar. The whimsical machine has become somewhat of an icon, and it celebrated its 10th birthday earlier this week.
Mr. Trash Wheel is the brainchild of resident John Kellett, who noticed garbage collecting in the Jones Falls stream on his daily commute to work and wanted to do something about it. He created a prototype and then collaborated with the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore to make the full-size version that sits in the harbor today.
As for the signature googly eyes, those come from the nonprofit’s current vice president, Adam Lindquist. He told ABC affiliate WMAR he was trying to answer the question, “How can we get people more invested in the health of the Baltimore harbor?” Lindquist explained: “I built the first set of googly eyes in my basement and we held them up on the device and that was like the aha moment. … People are going to love this because Mr. Trash Wheel turns out is adorable.”
Today, there’s an entire Mr. Trash Wheel family — meet them all.
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Science
Animals Have Been Glowing for at Least 540 Million Years, Study Finds
Bioluminescence is a wonder of the natural world, occurring in insects like fireflies and glow worms and countless marine species. But the trait’s origins are a bit mysterious. “Nobody quite knows why it first evolved in animals,” Andrea Quattrini, the corals curator at the National Museum of Natural History, said in a press release.
In a study published yesterday, Quattrini and some fellow researchers began uncovering that mystery by focusing on how long bioluminescence has been around. They set their sights on octocorals, a group of glowing marine invertebrates.
“We wanted to figure out the timing of the origin of bioluminescence, and octocorals are one of the oldest groups of animals on the planet known to bioluminesce,” said lead author Danielle DeLeo. “So, the question was when did they develop this ability?”
The answer is at least 540 million years ago — nearly 300 million years earlier than previously thought. The discovery will help scientists learn more about exactly why some animals evolved to produce light, and they might find that bioluminescence began even further back in time.
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In Other News
- The Department of Transportation is implementing stricter passenger rights rules, including one requiring airlines to provide cash refunds when flights are canceled or significantly changed.
- An elementary school in Indiana has become the first in the state to approve a four-day week.
- Two new types of mosquito nets could be important tools for fighting malaria as the disease grows increasingly treatment-resistant.
- David Archuleta returned to American Idol nearly 16 years after he competed on the show to perform a touching new song about coming out of the closet.
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife rescued a pair of yearling mountain lions that had gotten trapped in a dam. Watch the video.
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Something We Love
LMNT
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*Indicates a Nice News brand partnership or affiliate
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Inspiring Story
“Nobody was ever able to say thank you”
Dozens of women who helped crack Nazi codes during World War II are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Learn about some of the heroes.
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Quote of the Day
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
– ZORA NEALE HURSTON, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD
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