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Monday • February 5, 2024
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No one likes food waste, especially with the current grocery store prices, but it can be hard to find a use for produce scraps — those stubs and stems left over from chopping fresh veg. Many will compost scraps or turn them into homemade stock, but did you know you can also use them to grow an indoor garden? In addition to repurposing your produce, the harvest could help keep your cooking fresh during the winter months. “And it’s a fun way to also get kids involved in gardening so they can see how nature works,” Sandi Duncan, editor of the Farmers’ Almanac, told The Washington Post. Check out five veggies and herbs to get your garden started.
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Culture
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| Credit for Caring Act Offers Hope of Financial Relief for Family Caregivers |
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gradyreese/ iStock
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Around 80% of family caregivers incur out-of-pocket costs as a result of looking after loved ones, with those costs averaging $7,242 per person in 2021. In total, family caregivers in the U.S. provided about $600 billion worth of unpaid care that year — and nearly two-thirds of them also had part-time or full-time jobs, according to AARP.
After eight years of working with Congress to create change in this area, the organization believes we’re finally close to granting some financial relief to caregivers.
The Credit for Caring Act, reintroduced last week by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, would be a federal tax credit amounting to 30% of the qualified expenses paid or incurred by an eligible family caregiver above $2,000. The maximum credit is $5,000.
“Increasingly, policymakers are recognizing the vital role that family caregivers play in our health care landscape — and the pressing need to give them more support through new laws and policies,” Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer, said in a statement. “Without their unpaid work, America’s system of long-term care would fall apart.”
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Keep Your Personal Details Private
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Your personal information should be just that: personal. But unfortunately, a whopping 1 in 3 Americans have experienced identity theft. That’s why it’s so crucial to ensure details like your Social Security number, contact information, and physical address aren’t floating around the internet, up for grabs for anyone to plunder.
Incogni is here to help protect you. The subscription-based service removes your personal information from databases, keeping your private details off of imposter profiles or people search websites. And Nice News readers can get 55% off with the coupon code NICENEWS.
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Science
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| 90,000-Year-Old Human Footprints in Morocco Are the Oldest Ever Found in the Region |
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Cybola Art/ iStock via Getty Images Plus
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Geologists have dated a set of human footprints on a Moroccan beach back to the late Pleistocene period, also known as the last ice age. The prints, totaling 85, are estimated to be around 90,000 years old, making them the oldest ever found in the North Africa and southern Mediterranean region.
Mouncef Sedrati, the lead author of a recent study detailing the findings, told LiveScience his team was initially unsure of what they found on that beach in 2022. “We were surprised to find the first print,” he said. “At first, we weren’t convinced it was a footprint.”
Then they came upon more — and more — and a pattern emerged. The large number of footprints is an “important” piece of the puzzle, the study says, as most other similar sites “have yielded, in the best of cases, less than a few dozen.”
The researchers think the footprints were left by at least five ancient humans, and the group may have included children. Now that they’ve confirmed the age of the prints, they’re focused on figuring out why people were on that beach. “We hope to learn about the total history of this group of humans and what they were doing there,” Sedrati said.
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Animals
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| “Party of 5”: Big Bear’s Famous Bald Eagle Couple Are Tending to 3 Eggs for the First Time |
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| Friends of Big Bear Valley |
If you haven’t met Jackie and Shadow, let us introduce you. The bald eagle couple have become somewhat famous over the past few years from their perch in California’s Big Bear Valley. Tens of thousands of people tune in to the live feed of a wildlife camera set up near their nest by the nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley.
And those dedicated fans now have something to get especially excited about: For the first time, Jackie has a “full three-egg clutch,” meaning she and Shadow could welcome a trio of chicks later this winter. According to Friends of Big Bear, the parents are well-prepared for the additions.
“Jackie and Shadow are running a smooth, well-organized household for their new ‘party of five’ and their switcheroos have been totally in sync,” a recent update reads. “This is super important now as they could have three little newly hatched chicks scurrying around the nest in just about a month or so!”
Click below to watch Jackie and Shadow on camera — and stay tuned for news on their growing family.
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In Other News
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Virginia music teacher Annie Ray won the 2024 Grammy Music Educator Award. See who else took home awards last night.
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The people of Wichita, Kansas, raised nearly $200,000 in less than a week to replace the community’s stolen Jackie Robinson statue.
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Australia released a progress report on the Great Barrier Reef, noting that the country is “on track” with the main climate goals needed to protect the essential ecosystem.
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Scientists have successfully treated angioedema, a condition characterized by swelling attacks, using CRISPR gene-editing technology.
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Fancy a piglet cuddle? These trendy Japanese pig cafés offer just that — watch a video.
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Inspiring Stories
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“You’re my king”
At his October wedding, groom Eldridge Buchanan read vows to his future stepson, 7-year-old Kayden, in addition to bride Asia Green. “I’m gonna love you, I’m gonna teach you, I’m gonna guide you, and I’m gonna pour into you,” Buchanan says in the emotional clip.
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Happy birthday, Edie!
Edith “Edie” Recagno Keenan Ceccarelli, the oldest living American and second-oldest person on Earth, turns 116 today, and her Northern California town planned quite the celebration for her.
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Post Of The Day
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@NaturalSprings
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Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews is making headlines, and not for his football skills this time. In a now-viral thread on X (formerly Twitter), a user named Andrew Springs detailed a medical emergency he witnessed on a recent Southwest Airlines flight. Mid-emergency, Andrews stepped up and offered his diabetic testing kit to the medical professionals helping a woman in need. “Andrews instructed the medical professionals (equal citizen heroes in this story) on using his test kit. Eventually her heart rate stabilized,” Springs wrote, later adding, “Watching complete strangers spring into action to help save someone’s life is truly amazing.” Click the photo above to read the full thread. (Photo Credit: Michael Owens/ Getty Images)
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Quote of the Day
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| “I am convinced that most people do not grow up. … Our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.”
- Maya Angelou
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