|
|
| Wake up to good news. |
|
| Supported by |
|
|
|
|
Thursday • February 15, 2024
|
|
If winter’s chill has you dreaming of sandy beaches and sunny days, we have good news: Spring break is just around the corner, and it’s not too late to book a trip on a budget. “Right now we are in the Goldilocks window for cheap spring break flights,” Going.com founder Scott Keyes told Good Morning America, noting that vacationers should plan to book flights before March 1. Check out his other spring break travel tips.
|
|
•
|
There are solar eclipses on Mars, and a NASA rover just caught a glimpse of one
|
|
•
|
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Massachusetts was again named the most educated state in the U.S. — see the rest of the list
|
|
|
|
Environment
|
|
| “America’s Amazon” in Alabama Gets a Protection Boost Thanks to 8,000-Acre Purchase |
|
| © The Nature Conservancy
|
Did you know that the United States has its own version of the Amazon rainforest? And that it’s in Alabama? The Mobile-Tensaw Delta, where the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers meet, is incredibly ecologically rich and diverse, and it just got a major protection boost thanks to a nearly 8,000-acre land purchase.
The Nature Conservancy, an undisclosed donor, and the Holdfast Collective — the nonprofit that owns 98% of Patagonia stock — pooled together “well over $15 million” to buy 7,990 acres of the delta, Mitch Reid, the state director for The Nature Conservancy in Alabama, told AL.com.
“This is a landscape that’s on par with anything you’ll find worldwide from Mongolia to Africa to the Amazon,” he said. “There’s always been this sort of moniker that the Mobile Delta is North America’s Amazon. Well, if you look at the biodiversity of the Mobile Delta, it really should be [that] the Amazon is South America’s Mobile.”
The recently purchased tract, which is being referred to as the Land Between the Rivers, is a “mosaic” of different geographic features, with marshlands, swamps, creeks, rivers, ponds, and oxbow lakes, the conservancy said. It’s home to various wildlife, including fish, waterfowl, and the state’s largest population of American alligators.
|
|
|
|
|
|
This Surprising Asset Is Outpacing Stock Market Darlings
|
|
|
Equal access is important in any industry, but it’s unfortunately all too rare in the investment world. Masterworks is trying to change that. The platform allows everyday investors to get in on a market that’s currently outpacing the S&P 500 and stocks like Berkshire Hathaway and Walmart.
And it’s not some obscure investment: We’re talking about the market for blue-chip art from famous creatives like Basquiat, Banksy, Picasso, Monet, and more. When Masterworks sells a painting — like the 20 it’s already sold — investors like you can realize a return. The offerings are limited, but Nice News readers can skip the waitlist below.
See important Regulation A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.
|
|
|
|
*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
|
|
|
|
|
|
Culture
|
|
| Dictionary.com Adds More Than 300 New Entries for Winter 2024 |
|
|
TarikVision/ iStock
|
Dictionary.com just got a winter refresh. The popular online lexicon recently added 327 new entries, 173 new definitions, and 1,228 revised definitions.
“It’s 2024, and the pace of language change is as rapid as it has ever been,” wrote Senior Editor Nick Norlen and Director of Lexicography Grant Barrett. “Our lexicographers are updating the dictionary more frequently than ever, doing the human-scale work of documenting words across the vast spectrum of the always-evolving English language. And wow, the variety is real.”
The entries run the gamut of categories, from youthful slang to science terms and new wellness fads. They include the TikTok trend “girl dinner,” defined as “an often attractively presented collection of snacks that involve little preparation, such as small quantities of cold cuts, cheese, fruit, cherry tomatoes, etc., deemed sufficient to constitute a meal for one.”
There’s also “stellar nursery,” an astronomy phrase that entered the mainstream thanks to discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope; “shacket,” a combination of shirt and jacket; and so much more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Health & Wellness
|
|
| How Familiar Scents Can Help People With Depression |
|
|
ArtRachen01/ iStock
|
A recent study tapped into the power of the human olfactory system to ease depression. More specifically, it evaluated whether familiar scents, like freshly brewed coffee or tobacco, could help people with depression improve their memory recall.
“The olfactory system is the only sensory system that has a direct, superhighway access to the memory centers of the brain and the emotional centers of the brain. All the other senses have to take the side streets to get there,” neurobiologist Michael Leon, who was not involved in the research, explained to NBC News.
Kymberly Young, one of the study co-authors, said that depressed patients have memories, but they have trouble accessing them. The experiment, which included 32 adults with clinical depression, found that people were able to recall more specific memories while smelling familiar odors versus just being given verbal cues.
About 68% of the participants could point to specific memories when exposed to the scents, while 52% could do the same with words alone — results that could open new treatment pathways for depression, Young said. |
|
|
|
|
|
In Other News
|
|
|
1.
|
In another milestone for the Notre Dame reconstruction, the cathedral’s new spire was just unveiled in Paris.
|
|
2.
|
Alyce Clarke was the first Black woman elected to the Mississippi Legislature in 1985. Now, she’s the first Black person and first woman to have a portrait in the state Capitol. See her with the painting.
|
|
3.
|
Tai chi may be even more effective than cardio when it comes to reducing blood pressure, a recent study found.
|
|
4.
|
The “world’s oldest pancake race,” in which the female residents of Olney, England, run with frying pans full of pancakes, can be traced back to 1445. This year’s event took place Tuesday.
|
|
5.
|
Officials have spotted another pod of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
|
|
|
|
|
Inspiring Stories
|
|
|
Fan support
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who bought the Welsh soccer team AFC Wrexham, donated around $12,500 to a 4-year-old fan named Louis, who is disabled due to a rare genetic condition. “We were totally blown away by their generosity really. We were just in shock,” his dad said.
|
|
|
“Pass the Bricks”
At just 17, Charlie Jeffers heads up a nonprofit that collects discarded Lego pieces and turns them into newly designed sets for donation to local charities like the Boys & Girls Clubs. He said it’s “awesome” to see other kids find the same joy in building Legos as he does.
|
|
|
|
|
Post of the Day
|
|
|
|
@jennycavnar
|
|
Jenny Cavnar has made MLB history as the new play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics. Cavnar, pictured left, will be the first woman to take on primary play-by-play duties for a major league team. “There’s been so many other women before me who have carved out their opportunities and taken their trails and blazed them,” she said in a recent interview following the announcement. “And we’re just gonna keep going.” (Photo Credit: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
|
|
|
|
Expand Your Investment Portfolio
|
|
|
|
Every single one of Masterworks’ 16 sales has returned a profit, for a 100% positive net return track record. With three of the most recent deals, everyday investors realized net annualized returns of 17.6%, 21.5%, and 35% — and you could become one of those investors.
|
|
|
|
*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
|
|
|
|
Quote of the Day
|
|
| “Asking better questions is the key to creating closeness.”
- Esther Perel
|
|
|
|
|
|
