You’ve likely heard that trying new things can benefit the mind and body: Novel experiences trigger the release of dopamine, which makes us feel good, and they can force us to think and learn, helping to keep our brains healthy. Starting a totally unfamiliar activity is easier said than done, though, right? The Guardian gets that — the outlet’s “How to Start” series consults experts for tips on kicking off everything from a simple conversation with a stranger to dating, weightlifting, and reducing your carbon footprint. Here’s their advice.
Featured Story
4 Ways to Back Up Your Phone’s Photos and Save Priceless Memories
FG Trade Latin/ E+ via Getty Images
Whether you’re documenting your best friend’s wedding or your grandchild’s first steps, photos are priceless — and with today’s tech, you can freeze more special moments in time than ever before. Most of us stop at simply snapping the images, but it’s also crucial to securely store that irreplaceable data. Think about it this way: Phones can break easily, and they sometimes get lost or stolen. It only takes leaving your mobile in the back seat of an Uber one time, and years’ worth of core memories (as the kids call them) can be gone forever. That’s where backing up your pictures comes in. And if you’ve never backed up anything in your life, fear not — your most precious snapshots are a great place to start. Staff Writer Stephanie Friedman walks through the steps for both iPhones and Androids at the link below.
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This Week’s Top Stories
Tech
World’s First Mass-Produced Flying Car Prototype Unveiled
Klein Vision / SWNS
Eager teens reaching driving age in the next few years may be able to take their inaugural spin in a car ... in the sky. The world’s first mass-produced flying automobile prototype has been unveiled, and we’re ready for a ride. Created by Slovakia-based company Klein Vision, the AirCar production prototype made its public debut May 8, after making its insider debut at the 2025 Living Legends of Aviation Awards Ceremony in Beverly Hills late last month. At the event, Morgan Freeman and John Travolta presented the car’s inventor, Stefan Klein, with a Special Recognition Award for Engineering Excellence. Per the company website, the AirCar is the result of Klein spending the past 20 years “converting his flying car dream into reality.” The vehicle already holds a Certificate of Airworthiness and has successfully completed over 170 flight hours and more than 500 takeoffs and landings. It’s capable of automatic transformation from car to aircraft in under two minutes, enabling the operator to simply drive to an airport and then take off. Learn more and watch it fly.
Environment
Chimps Talk to Each Other Much Like We Do, Study Finds
Chimps are a lot like us: They’re sociable, empathetic, and genetically close to humans — and a recent study suggests wildchimpanzees use even more nuanced, human-like communication than previously believed. After studying 53 wild chimpanzees for 12 hours at a time, researchers found that they combine hoots, grunts, and calls to create new meaning in a way that’s reminiscent of how people use idioms or tweak the order of words to build new phrases, per NBC News. “Generating new or combined meanings by combining words is a hallmark of human language,” Catherine Crockford, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who co-directs the Taï Chimpanzee Project, said in a press release. And chimps may very well not be the only ones, as other recent research provides evidence that bonobos have also evolved to modify their language to talk to one another in a similar way. The takeaway: “There is indeed something special about hominid communication — that complex communication was already emerging in our last common ancestor, shared with our closest living relatives — or that we have underestimated the complexity of communication in other animals as well, which requires further study,” said study co-author Cédric Girard-Buttoz. In somewhat related news, chimps also know a thing or two about rhythm — watch one drum on a tree trunk with serious style.
Health
If You Require Less Sleep Than Most, It May Be in Your Genes
Ridofranz/ iStock
Getting seven to nine hours of sleep is a tried-and-true doctor recommendation. While that’s generally solid advice, sleep is an individual thing and your genes can play a role in how much (or little) rest you need. Often called natural short sleepers, some people can snooze between four to six hours each night without feeling sleep deprived. These individuals are likely genetically wired to need less sleep, as a new study has linked a mutation in the salt-induced kinase 3 gene, or SIK3, to reduced sleep duration. “These findings underscore the conserved function of SIK3 as a critical gene in human sleep regulation,” the authors wrote. Although it’s estimated that only about 1%-3% of the world’s population are natural short sleepers, the study’s lessons could help many more, particularly when it comes to finding new treatments for sleep disorders, which affect 50-70 million Americans. The team noted the results could “advance our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of sleep, highlight the broader implications of kinase activity in sleep regulation across species, and provide further support for potential therapeutic strategies to enhance sleep efficiency.”
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
When a quirky art professor died, her favorite students knew she’d left them money — but they weren’t prepared for how much
The space-age interiors popular from the ’50s-’70s are trending again: Why the retro-futuristic aesthetic is all the rage
If you haven’t yet adapted the name of Glennon Doyle’s podcast, We Can Do Hard Things, to act as a personal mantra for overcoming challenges — you really should try it.Her newest book, which she co-wrote with wife Abby Wambach and sister Amanda Doyle, repurposes the phrase, diving into life’s biggest questions. In this “guidebook for being alive,” the authors share collected wisdom from their friends, loved ones, and podcast guests, all to help readers better answer queries like “Why can’t I be happy?” “How do I let go?” and “Am I doing this right?”
Pearl Jam fans who watched last week’s episode of HBO’s The Last of Us might have been bummed when protagonist Ellie stopped singing the poignant track “Future Days” after only one line. The song was presumably too emotional for the character to focus on rather than watch for fungi-zombies, but the band just put out a music video for the 2013 tune that can be enjoyed in full. The video drop coincides with the release of a new EP that leans into their connection with the series. It includes a live and studio version of the aforementioned song as well as two others that were featured on the show. Click above to listen.
This Week in History
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis Are Granted a Patent for Blue Jeans
May 20, 1873
ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Marlon Brando rocked them on-screen in 1953, Snoop Dogg onstage in 2015. And in 2025, you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who hasn’t at some point owned a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans. So the fact that the denim trousers were patented as humble work pants over a century and a half ago makes their versatility and enduring popularity all the more impressive. The story goes like this: A Nevada tailor named Jacob Davis was a customer of Levi Strauss’ San Francisco-based wholesale clothing and dry goods company. In 1872, Davis wrote to Strauss to tell him about how he’d been reinforcing denim pants pockets with metal rivets and selling them with great success. Davis suggested to Strauss that they co-file a patent for the method, and Strauss agreed. The following year, the patent was granted, and the birth of Levi’s 501 blue jeans was official. See the original patent sketch and learn how the jeans have evolved over the decades.
Try a Week of Free Therapy From BetterHelp
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