At the risk of getting a Paul Simon song stuck in your head, today we’re sharing 50 Ways to Meet Your Neighbor, the latest zine by the community-centered folks at One Million Experiments. Some ideas from the list: Organize a garage sale. Ask for compost scraps. Complain about the weather. Once you’ve struck up an acquaintanceship, revisit our article on the importance of making pals with the people next door. — the Nice News team
Featured Story
It’s World Water Day: Take Our Quiz to Test Your H2O Knowledge
Nicholas Klein/iStock
Across the world, 2.1 billion people live without safely managed drinking water services. To inspire action addressing this global crisis, the United Nations holds World Water Day annually on March 22. This year’s theme is gender and water, highlighting the fact that water-related challenges disproportionately affect women and girls. Learn about that disparity and how you can be part of the solution here. The day is also a general celebration of water, the substance at the center of experiences as mesmerizing as viewing Niagara Falls and as mundane as washing dishes. And in addition to being the source of life, water is the source of a ton of fascinating facts. For example: Did you know that when you throw back a glass of it, you may actually be drinking something older than the sun? We put together a quiz on all things H2O — from how much water the average adult loses in their sleep to which ocean has the most tsunamis. Click below to test your knowledge.
Daily Health Digital Reveals the “Joint Drought” Behind Your Pain
If you’re dealing with persistent joint discomfort, especially that stubborn morning stiffness, you might be surprised to learn that one of the culprits could be “joint drought.” It’s when your joints literally dry out from within, losing the essential lubrication they need to move smoothly. Daily Health Digital has a remarkably simple five-second daily routine that targets this root cause directly. The natural approach helps rehydrate your joints from the inside out, addressing the problem at its source rather than just masking symptoms. In the video below, a Boston wellness doctor offers a detailed demonstration explaining the science behind joint drought and showing you exactly how to perform this quick technique.
What Are the Ingredients for a Happy Life? Here’s What Nice News Readers Had to Say
AleksandarNakic/iStock
We asked, and you answered: Nearly 700 people wrote in to Nice News to share what makes them happy, and that makes us very happy indeed. We put out a request earlier this month with the aim of sharing our readers’ ingredients for happiness — because the feeling can be contagious, even when it comes in the form of written reflections. As you’ll see in our roundup, the responses truly run the gamut. They’re sweet, funny, specific, inspiring. They also confirm what scientific studies have already determined: Happiness very often comes from meaningful relationships. Around 43% of responses mentioned family or friends, and that’s not taking into account those that made more general allusions to people, community, or service to others. And in what will come as a surprise to exactly zero animal lovers, the relationships that make us happy don’t always involve other humans. Dogs were referenced in nearly 15% of responses, and cats came in at 6%. Birds actually got more mentions than felines at nearly 8%, a testament to how beneficial birdwatching and birdsong can be for well-being. Learn what other trends emerged and read 75 of our favorite reader responses.
Environment
1.5 Million Bats Emerge at Sunset From Beneath a Bridge in Austin, Texas
JEFF HAYNES—AFP/Getty Images
Every March, hordes of creatives flock to Austin, Texas, for the famed South by Southwest music and film festival. But another annual event is unfolding there this month as well. The city is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony, and just after sunset each evening, hundreds of thousands of the winged creatures emerge from beneath a bridge to soar into the night across Lady Bird Lake. Mexican free-tailed bats have been migrating to the city for hundreds of years, but it wasn’t until a 1980 expansion of the Congress Avenue Bridge that the numbers really took off. The renovation resulted in deep, dark, concrete crevices that roosting bats find ideal for raising their young. Now, the bridge serves as a nursery, hosting as many as 1.5 million bats each year. When the weather cools between October and November, the colony takes off again for warmer climes. On a trip to Austin last month, Nice News’ managing editor, Natalie Stone, had the opportunity to witness the phenomenon, calling it a “serendipitous” experience, as the bats typically arrive in late March. She perched on a small hill with hundreds of people nearby, some on an adjacent walking trail or atop the bridge and others taking group kayak or boat tours on the lake. When the bats finally emerged that Feb. 28 evening, everyone tilted their heads up in unison to see. Watch (and learn more about) the annual phenomenon.
Sports
Stars, Stripes, and Soccer: Here’s What the US Team Will be Sporting at the World Cup
Nike
The countdown is on to the FIFA Men’s World Cup! While we still have a little under three months to go, the official U.S. Soccer National Team uniforms were unveiled last week — and they were brought to life with input from some of the players themselves. On March 16, Nike and U.S. Soccer shared a peek at the new kits, noting that the men’s team helped steer the design. In workshops, the players weighed in on fabric weight, fit, and even seam placement to ensure the jerseys were “built to perform in the high-intensity conditions expected during the summer World Cup,” per a press release. The uniforms come in two patriotic styles — stars and stripes — and will be worn across all 27 U.S. national teams, from youth to seniors. “A national team jersey represents the pride of wearing the crest, not just for players on the field, but also for the fans who support them every step of the way,” said Dave Wright, chief commercial officer of U.S. Soccer. Take a closer look at the kits and learn about some of the more subtle design details.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
After decades of mining turned an Oklahoma tribal area into a toxic wasteland, the Quapaw Nation is revitalizing the land
According to authors like Isabel Allende and Paul Yoon, the best writing partner is a dog: Meet their pups
If you’re someone who can’t hit the “jump to recipe” button fast enough on a website, a narrative cookbook may not seem up your alley. But writer and pastry chef Tanya Bush is banking on the idea that people actually do want to spend a little more time learning about the dishes they’re whipping up — which in her kitchen are often desserts. Beautifully illustrated and dotted with over 50 recipes, it’s half love letter to baking and half lyrical coming-of-age story. Get a taste for Bush’s writing and recipes on her (quite aesthetically pleasing) Instagram account.
In Project Hail Mary, based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, Ryan Gosling stars as a dad joke-cracking sixth grade science teacher who wakes up one day to find himself hurtling through space with no idea why. As his amnesia wears off, his mission reveals itself: learn how to stop a mysterious substance from annihilating the sun (and thus all of humanity). As luck would have it, he finds an unlikely pal to help him along the way — making the movie not just a funny and visually stunning sci-fi, but also a sweet statement on friendship. Catch it in theaters now.
This Week in History
The First Women’s Collegiate Basketball Game Is Held
March 22, 1893
Bettmann/Getty Images
Two years after James Naismith invented basketball at a college campus in Springfield, Massachusetts, it made its way to another of the state’s higher learning institutions: the all-women’s Smith Collegein Northampton. Director of Gymnastics Senda Berenson had watched a game at a YMCA and decided that, even in dresses, her athletes could play the sport just as well as men. So she adapted the rules, gathered some students, and held the very first women’s collegiate basketball game, 133 years ago today. Soon, versions of her game (the rules of which would eventually evolve to be nearly identical to men’s basketball) were taking place at other women’s colleges across the country. Berenson went on to write an official guide to the sport and became known as the “Mother of Women’s Basketball.” She died in 1954, but posthumously became the first female inductee into the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985. See photos of the 19th-century b-ballers on the court at Smith.
AARP: It’s Never Too Late to Start Feeling Better
Most adults over 50 believe mental health care can improve overall quality of life, including boosting energy, strengthening relationships, and supporting caregiving responsibilities. Therapy isn’t about changing who you are — it’s about supporting who you want to be. Sign up for AARP® Online Therapy by BetterHelp now and get 30% off your first month of a BetterHelp subscription.*
The services are provided through BetterHelp and its independent licensed therapist, not AARP or its affiliates. BetterHelp pays a royalty fee to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. *Offer valid for new users only. Offer cannot be combined with insurance.
Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
