Drumroll, please! We have officially posted the first episode of Nice News Today — our new podcast hosted by mindfulness expert Case Kenny. Just as with everything we do here at Nice News, we’ve put a lot of care, effort, and positive spirit into this venture, and we’d love it if you gave it a listen. And don’t forget to follow us wherever you get your podcasts!
Nice News Today
Today’s episode dives into the news that two major food manufacturers are cutting artificial food dyes from their products. There’s also the dating boot camp that partially inspired Netflix’s hit show “Love on the Spectrum,” a new loan scheme aimed at helping college students, and the heroic vet saving animals affected by the war in Ukraine.
The world’s largest digital camera unearths its first images of space today from a Chilean mountaintop: Catch a cosmic first look
A new report ranked the “best-run” cities in the U.S.
Environment
Hawaii Is Dropping Containers of Mosquitoes Over Forests — For a Good Cause
Nancy Strohm/ iStock
Drones flying through the sky and dropping containers filled with thousands of mosquitoes may not sound like “nice news,” but bear with us. This seemingly strange scene is unfolding over forests in Hawaii as a conservation strategy to save the state’s endangered native birds, mainly honeycreepers, that have been wiped out due to avian malaria. The buzzy solution — spearheaded by a partnership called Birds, Not Mosquitoes — is to release male mosquitoes, which don’t bite (phew), over Maui and Kauai. The lab-engineered insects carry an otherwise harmless bacteria that interferes with reproduction, thus shrinking the population of biting mosquitoes. That will hopefully reduce the spread of malaria and give the birds a better chance of survival. Although this effort was previously executed via helicopter drops, the team recently opted for drones because they don’t require humans to be on board. Another perk: They’re easier to deploy on short notice, which comes in handy as Hawaii’s weather is often variable. “What this does is it erects an invisible barrier so that these mosquitoes can’t get up to the forests where these birds remain,” Chris Farmer, the program director of the American Bird Conservancy, told Vox. He added: “This is the last chance to save most of our remaining songbirds. When we’ve succeeded, the birds will come back.” Watch the drone drops in action.
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Meet Colleen Lambo: A Volunteer Vet Who Helped Over 1,000 Animals Amid the Ukraine War
Courtesy of Dr. Colleen Lambo
Last April, veterinary surgeon Colleen Lambo made her first trip to Ukraine with the global charity Worldwide Vets, setting up camp outside Lviv. In just two weeks, she and a team of fellow volunteers sterilized over 600 animals, provided lifesaving care for community members’ pets, and even helped a stork with a broken wing. This spring, she went back for Round 2. The ongoing conflict in the eastern European country has led millions of people to flee their homes, with no choice but to leave behind their beloved pets. That increased an already problematic stray population, and within the first year of war, the number of animals in local shelters rose by 60%, per Lambo. The sheer scale of need is overwhelming, but the reaction volunteers received from residents underscores the importance of their efforts. “The most meaningful aspect of my work in Ukraine has been the gratitude we feel from the community,” Lambo, who returned from her most recent mission in May, tells Nice News. “It feels like we’ve accomplished so little, in the grand scheme of their needs — but every person we’ve met has been so kind and so generous. Our work is a drop in a bucket, but no one has treated it as such.” See more of the animals she helped.
Culture
A Sweet Milestone: Cake4Kids’ Northern Virginia Chapter Delivers Its 10,000th Birthday Cake
Cake4Kids/ Instagram
In its first year, the northern Virginia chapter of Cake4Kids baked 163 cakes for at-risk and underserved youth — and now, six years later, it’s delivering its 10,000th. With outreach like this all over the country, the nonprofit deploys thousands of volunteers to deliver the sweet treats — and often, the birthday cakes are the first ones the children have ever received. Farah Syed, community coordinator for the northern Virginia chapter, has witnessed many meaningful moments since getting involved, but one story stands out, about an older teen who was called into his school’s office: “He assumed he was in trouble. Instead, they surprised him with a birthday cake made just for him,” Syed shared in an email to Nice News. “He started to cry — he couldn’t believe someone would go out of their way to make him a cake.” She continued, “Now imagine the thousands of children like him who might otherwise go unheard, unseen, and uncelebrated on their birthday. That’s why we do this.” If you’d like to volunteer or donate to Cake4Kids, head to the organization’s website.
In Other News
Solo type: Scientists discovered a rare blood type in a Caribbean woman, making her the only known carrier (read more)
“Top canine athletes” shredded the gnar in a California dog surfing contest Friday — paws here for pics (read more)
In a small trial, a new stem-cell-based treatment cured most patients with severe diabetes (read more)
Picasso did pottery? Seven of the artist’s never-before-seen ceramics went up for auction last week (read more)
Wildlife experts freed a bear in Michigan from a lid that was stuck around his neck for two whole years (read more)
Inspiring Story
Seeds of stability
Through a rehabilitation effort at the Volusia County Jail in Florida, inmates are embracing their green thumbs and growing mangroves to bolster the state’s coastline. Beyond protecting against storm surges and coastal erosion, the program hopes to plant something intangible. “I can only imagine what the inmates are feeling when they’re able to plant a seed and say, ‘Wow, look how it grew.’ That in itself builds pride and self-worth,” said Volusia County Council Vice Chair Matt Reinhart.
Photo of the Day
John Lamparski/Getty Images
Mermaids sure know how to have a flipping good time. About 30,000 shell-ebratory souls from New York and beyond, many of them decked in fabulous aquatic ’fits, flooded the streets for Saturday’s Coney Island Mermaid Parade, the largest art parade in the country. Established in 1983, the event features dance groups and mechanical floats, and crowns a new King Neptune and Queen Mermaid every year. “It’s a great expression of people’s creativity,” said attendee Noella Owen.
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“Give Us a Poem” by Glenn Ligon (2007) I have thought of myself as a seeker for a long time, and I have found a lot of joy in the process of seeking. Those efforts and interests have taken me around the world and deep into my own soul. I have promoted and even celebrated focusing on the path, the journey, rather than the destination. But it’s also important to land, get somewhere, and find your people, yourself. Seeking is necessary, but it can also be lonely. And at the end, we need to be home, even if just for a rest between the journeys. Glenn Ligon’s work “Give Us a Poem” quotes a poem once shared by Muhammad Ali. Two simple words, one profound idea: I am you, and you are me. This is one of the many things I love about art: Through and with it, we know that we are more alike than different. Finding art and knowing this feels like home. Interested in adding a little more art to your day and learning how to live artfully? Sign up for the About Art newsletter.
Written by Heidi Zuckerman
Heidi is the CEO and director of the Orange County Museum of Art and author of Why Art Matters: The Bearable Lightness of Being.
