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Since its debut back in 1934, the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp — more commonly known as the Duck Stamp — has raised over $1.2 billion for wetlands conservation. Now, the 2024-2025 edition is out, following an annual contest that sees artists submit waterfowl-themed artwork, and the winning design is about as adorable as they come.
Health
“Gentle Movement” Is the Newest Exercise Trend — Here’s How It Helps
You may associate working out with a whole lot of huffing and puffing, but a new trend (we know, we know, they don’t stop coming) offers a different way to think about exercise. It’s called “gentle movement,” and it has its own set of health benefits.
“Gentle movement helps us reconnect with a slower pace in a world that’s constantly moving at a very fast pace,” holistic therapist Jenny Flora Wells told Well+Good. It includes practices like yoga, Pilates, walking, meditation, and even gardening — essentially, any activity that allows you to slow down and foster a stronger mind-body connection.
Proponents of gentle movement say that one of the main benefits is the regulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which can improve sleep quality, boost energy levels, and strengthen our ability to cope with stress. Some practices may also benefit posture and aid our bodies in recovering from more high-impact exercises.
“Intense workouts can be fun and leave us dripping in sweat with the feeling that we ‘got the job done’ in the workout,” Pilates instructor Theresa Barone explained. “But gentle movements, like Pilates, can help facilitate our parasympathetic nervous system — the ‘rest and digest’ system.” Learn how to get started.
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Together With First National Realty Partners
A More Stable Real Estate Investment
There are so many avenues for investing today, and it can be difficult to decide where to put your money for the best long-term payoff. Here’s one option: First National Realty Partners’ grocery-anchored commercial properties.
As the name suggests, these properties have a supermarket or grocery store as the primary tenant, thus attracting consistent foot traffic even in difficult economic times. Grocery-anchored tenants are generally considered more stable and lower-risk investments within the retail real estate sector — click below to learn more about the offerings from First National Realty Partners.
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Culture
Archaeologists Discover Over 30 Ancient Egyptian Tombs Carved Into Hillside
Ancient Egypt continues to captivate archaeologists and laypeople alike, and a recent discovery is providing more insight about the bygone societies who lived there. More than 30 tombs dating back to between 332 B.C. and A.D. 395 were unearthed from a hill in Aswan, a city on the Nile River that was once a trading port.
“It was a rich place, an important place,” Patrizia Piacentini, an Egyptologist and archaeologist who has been surveying the site since 2019, explained to Live Science. “All the people who intended to make trade between Northern Africa and subtropical Africa, this was the place [for them] and it was a place for all the history of ancient Egypt.”
Within the tombs, researchers found mummies likely belonging to families who were buried together, as well as decorated clay vessels and colorful cartonnage — a material made from papyrus or linen and used for mummy cases. Oil lamps were also located during excavations, possibly left behind by mourners who visited the tombs.
“We can imagine how spectacular it was when, for example, during the [mourners’] feast, all these tombs were illuminated,” said Piacentini, adding that the discovery is “very promising with many, many new aspects we are trying to understand.” See some of the finds.
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Environment
The Mission to Turn Maryland’s Ocean City Into a Zero-Waste Resort Town
Over the years, many things have stayed the same in Ocean City, Maryland. There’s still a boardwalk, a picturesque pier, and plenty of tourists. But other things have changed, particularly when it comes to the city’s cleanliness.
Long the butt of jokes due to the surfeit of discarded food, cigarettes, and plastic waste in the sand, per Good Good Good, Ocean City has been undergoing a clean makeover with the help of local Josh Chamberlain, who took it upon himself to make a change. “We all live on the planet together and we should leave it better than we found it,” he shared with WMDT.
So in 2018, Chamberlain founded the nonprofit Go Green OC, launching a citywide compost program that has since diverted over 680,000 pounds of food waste. And according to the website, this is just the beginning. The organization has big plans to turn Ocean City into the first zero-waste resort town in the country by introducing dual-stream recycling programs, hosting zero-waste events, and swapping plastics for compostable products.
“We’re becoming a voice in the zero-waste space,” Chamberlain told the Ocean City Today-Dispatch in March. “We are already becoming a model.”
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Something We Love
Mango Basket
This natural fiber basket, made from 100% seaweed, is the Renaissance man of household goods. It works as a stylish catchall for whatever room needs it — perfect for holding blankets, linens, books, or anything else that could use a home. And if you like the look of it, check out Mango’s range of other similar products, including lidded baskets of various sizes.
Recommendations are independently selected by our team but may result in a commission to Nice News which helps keep our content free.
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Inspiring Story
USA Gymnastics’ “goodest boy”
A 4-year-old golden retriever named Beacon had a very important role at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials last week. The pup was “hired” as a therapy dog to provide support to the athletes and staff during the event. And from the sound of it, he did just that: “One of the gymnasts suggested [Beacon] should be the CHO,” his owner Tracey Callahan Molnar said. “That would be the Chief Happiness Officer.”
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Photo of the Day
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently celebrated the establishment of the Wyoming Toad Conservation Area in Laramie, a 1,078-acre swath of land that the amphibian species can call home. “The real cherry on top? Releasing captive-bred, endangered Wyoming toads (Anaxyrus baxteri) back into their natural habitat!” the agency wrote on Instagram.
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Have You Heard of Grocery-Anchored Commercial Properties?
Grocery-anchored commercial properties, meaning plots that have a supermarket or grocery store as their primary tenant, are generally considered more stable investments within the real estate sector. And with First National Realty Partners, you have the opportunity to invest in these properties.
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Quote of the Day
“Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties … out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in.”
– JOHN GARDNER
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