Must Reads

• Starting any day now, Americans can order free COVID-19 tests that will be delivered by the Postal Service
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• A thoughtful guide to decarbonizing your life

Tech

8 New Emoji Are Entering the Chat, Including a Character With Eyebags

We’ve come a long way since the days of using semicolons as winky faces and parentheses as smiles: There are over 3,700 emoji characters that help us communicate and express ourselves online. Now, a new batch of emoji from the Unicode Consortium will be entering the digital universe, and you will surely see them making an appearance in group chats.
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Of the eight newbies set to debut in the coming months and throughout 2025, the one voted “most anticipated” was the ultra-tired eyebag emoji, which is described by Emojipedia.org as “a yellow smiley face with a strained expression and dark markings under its eyes, likely caused by stress or exhaustion.” We’ve all been there, so the new icon will definitely be getting a lot of play once it debuts.
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Other new emoji include a paint splatter, a shovel, a root vegetable, and a leafless tree. Take a look at the full lineup.​

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The automated service removes your personal info from databases to prevent it from winding up in imposter profiles or on people search websites. And it just got an upgrade that makes it even better. A new feature allows you to remove up to three different emails, addresses, and phone numbers at once, so you can feel secure knowing you’re protected on all fronts. Nice News readers can take 55% off an Incogni plan today with the code NICENEWS.

Sports

The Triathlon Turns 50 Today: Meet 10 Athletes Breaking Barriers in the Sport

Running a race is one thing; it’s another to add on swimming and cycling before lacing up one’s sneakers and hitting the pavement. Such is the challenge for triathletes, who pack three endurance sports into one exhilarating, all-consuming race.
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“I look at triathlons as the fountain of youth,” 73-year-old Bob Babbitt, a legendary athlete who has competed in over 500 triathlons, tells Nice News. “It’s something you can do forever.” Forever or not, one race or 100, there’s no doubt triathletes are forces of determination who have kept the endurance sport alive since the inaugural race on Sept. 25, 1974.
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In honor of the 50th anniversary of the first triathlon, we’re highlighting 10 triathletes who’ve gone above and beyond to chase their dreams and encourage others to pursue their own, including Jeff and Johnny Agar, the persevering father-son team pictured here. Meet the others and learn their stories.
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Oh, and if you happen to be local to Orange County, California, look out for Nice News’ booth at the Cal Tri Newport Dunes triathlon taking place Nov. 3.

Humanity

After a Mom Underwent Quadruple Amputation, Volunteers Built Her an Accessible Home

When Cindy Mullins, a mother of two from Kentucky, went in for routine kidney surgery, she awoke forever altered: Doctors had partially amputated all four of her limbs due to a sepsis complication. “It’s hard for me to think about now that [my husband] may have had to tell our children that I wasn’t coming home,” she told NBC News.
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Soon after, Florida businessman James Crocker, who had never met Mullins and lives over 1,000 miles away, heard about her experience and decided to head to Kentucky and help. Rallying the local community, he started the “Mullins Miracle” project to build her family a new, fully accessible smart home.
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“Everything is customized to her specific body,” Liz Betack, the interior designer, told ABC affiliate WTVQ — from the voice-activated bathroom to the kitchen appliances she can access from her wheelchair.
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After 10 days of construction and the tireless work of hundreds of volunteers, Mullins got to see her new home for the first time. “It was more than I ever could have imagined,” she said, adding: “God and love built this house … that’s exactly what happened here.”

In Other News

1. A more precise method of timekeeping may be on the horizon, as scientists are getting closer to building the world’s first nuclear clock.
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2. Beneath a high school in Los Angeles, researchers discovered an extraordinary trove of marine fossils — some dating back nearly 9 million years.
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3. Surprising everyone but New Yorkers, an Italian organization deemed the Big Apple the home of the world’s best pizza. See which restaurant nabbed the top title.
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4. A cat lost in Yellowstone National Park miraculously wandered over 900 miles to his home state of California and was eventually reunited with his owners.
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5. The one with the auction: Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Friends, treasures from the show were sold this week, including a replica of the iconic Central Perk couch.

Inspiring Story

Remember this name

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Some 8-year-olds love Disneyland; Max Alexander loves his local craft store. Earlier this month, the viral prodigy scooped up the Guinness World Record for the youngest runway fashion designer after showcasing a portion of his 100-plus custom gowns at New York Fashion Week. “I thought I would be like 10 by the time that would happen, or maybe more,” Max said of his debut. Even his name sounds fashionable, right?

Photo of the Day

Just looking at this massive diamond necklace, you can tell that it’s something special — or at the very least, something expensive. But what you can’t see are the hundreds of years of history the 300-carat jewelry represents. The 18th century piece was worn at two British coronations, that of King George VI in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and is expected to sell for up to $2.8 million at a Sotheby’s auction in November.
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Most intriguingly, though, its stones are thought to be at the heart of a scandal involving Marie Antoinette — read more.

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Odds & Ends

🛒 We’d love to live here​
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🎄 Mariah Carey dishes on being “Queen of Christmas”
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📖 Forget brat summer, it’s Strega Nona September​
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📷 This photographer wins son of the year

Quote of the Day

“You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough.”

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– JOE E. LEWIS