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Saturday • January 13, 2024
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The winners and finalists of the fifth annual Close-up Photographer of the Year competition were announced earlier this week — and it wasn’t an easy process to pick them. The competition said it took over 20 hours of Zoom calls with 23 judges looking at 11,870 photographs to choose the top 100 shots. Each photo showcases a unique, intimate perspective on the natural world — check them out here.
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Environment
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| “Alaska Cabins Project” Is Making the Wilderness More Accessible for Adventurers |
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| National Forest Foundation |
Alaska is the largest state in the U.S. (more than twice the size of Texas), comprising over 586,000 square miles of land. There’s undoubtedly a lot to see, yet much of the beauty is either hard to reach or intimidating to explore for the average adventurer.
A hut-to-hut hiking initiative is seeking to change that by sprinkling more cabins throughout the Chugach and Tongass National Forests, thus making it easier for tourists and locals to immerse themselves in Alaskan wilderness. The Alaska Cabins Project, a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation, will repair 10 existing huts and add 25 more, providing vital infrastructure and safe lodging for adventurers of all kinds.
Many of the new buildings will be less than a mile from roads or parking areas for easy weekend getaways. Others will be part of the Alaska Long Trail, a proposed 500-mile trail system similar to the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. “They’re amazing,” Patrick Shannon, the National Forest Foundation’s Pacific Northwest and Alaska director, told Smithsonian Magazine of the cabins.
“We’ve been trying to select sites that are unique,” added James King, the Forest Service’s Alaska region director of recreation, land, and minerals. “Many of them are at the edge of a lake, ocean, or river, or on a ridge with beautiful views.”
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Say Hello to a More Energized You
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Science
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| Paris Research Facility Once Used by Marie Curie Saved From Demolition |
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© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis Historical via Getty Images
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The Pavillon des Sources building in Paris — once utilized by the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie — has been temporarily spared from demolition, the French minister of culture, Rima Abdul Malak, announced earlier this month.
The initial decision for the Curie Institute to replace the building with a new research center faced opposition from cultural heritage advocates, leading to the latest update. “I think they don’t realize what it means symbolically,” historian and Curie enthusiast Claudine Monteil told The Guardian. “Marie Curie is the most famous woman scientist in the world and is a reference and inspiration.”
Constructed in 1914 and designed by architect Henri-Paul Nénot, the Pavillon des Sources holds historical significance as the place where Marie Curie stored and prepared radioactive materials for her pioneering research.
Monteil emphasized the importance of preserving the history and legacy of Curie. She added: “Ask people around the world to name famous French women and they come up with Joan of Arc and Marie Curie.”
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Animals
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| Wildlife Corridors in Australia Provide “Lifeline” for Endangered Koalas |
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TerrySze/ iStock
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Known for their sleepy, tree-hugging lifestyles and love of eucalyptus, koalas are easy to adore. So it’s especially hard to grasp the tough reality that their populations are rapidly shrinking across Australia due to challenges like habitat loss, wildfires, and chlamydia infections. Fortunately, Bangalow Koalas — a conservation group based in New South Wales — is planting a solution: forested wildlife corridors to help koalas safely get from point A to point B without having to cross roadways.
“Our corridors are actually trying to get them away from humans, from cars, from dogs,” Linda Sparrow, president of Bangalow Koalas, told Reuters. “They can safely move across the landscape and not have to put up with us humans.”
Thanks to community involvement and volunteers, the group has planted over 330,000 trees to foster the protection of koalas since 2020. The long-term goal? Plant 1 million by 2030.
These corridors (which Reuters described as a “lifeline”) come at a critical time, as koalas in New South Wales are estimated to be extinct in the wild by 2050 without urgent government intervention. It’s a scenario unfathomable for many, including Sparrow. “I can’t imagine a world where there’s no koalas in the wild,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can possibly to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
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In Other News
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Inspiring Stories
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“Anyone can take ballet”
The Oklahoma City Ballet provides free dance lessons to older adults and individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease through its “Golden Swans” and “Dance for Parkinson’s” programs.
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Neverending season of giving
Julian Lin, a 9-year-old from New York City, turned his charitable lemonade stand into a winter-appropriate hot chocolate stand. He donates 30% of his sales and hands out $10 and $20 bills to local homeless people during his walks to and from school. “Generosity to me is like breathing,” he said.
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Post Of The Day
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@bee_manoharan1
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This is proud mom behavior! When Bairavi Manoharan appeared in a Vaseline advertisement three years ago, her mother naturally stocked up on copies. “I cannot believe all the lovely comments and messages!” Manoharan wrote after her post went viral. “Thank you so much.” (Photo Credit: @bee_manoharan1/ X)
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Quote of the Day
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| “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.”
- Nora Roberts, Tears of the Moon
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