Learning to be nice to one another is a big part of growing up: We’re taught to share, use kind words, and wait our turn to play with our favorite toys. But being nice isn’t just about good manners, and adults may benefit from some simple lessons in getting along just as much as kids do. “Having more social interactions that are safe and benevolent is a way to feel like you belong,” Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, told Time. Learn eight ways to be a nicer person. — the Nice News team
Featured Story
The Society of Happy People Is Hunting for Happiness All Week Long
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Are you familiar with the 31 types of happiness? That might sound like a lot, but author Pamela Gail Johnson says that’s precisely the point. She wants us to expand how we think about the emotion — and that includes separating all the different ways we can experience it, including feeling peaceful, nostalgic, and playful. “For example, joy is a word we culturally use to describe happiness now,” Johnson told Nice News over email, adding, “However, it is a high vibration type of happiness. Other types of happiness may be more obtainable at times, such as contentment, amusement, or relief. The amount of happiness we experience is often based on how we measure it.” Johnson is the driving force behind the Society of Happy People, a global movement to help people recognize all of life’s happy moments — and Hunt for Happiness week, which starts today, is a tangible way to do that. Learn more at the link below.
If you spend a good amount on Amazon, keep reading. The experts at FinanceBuzz reviewed dozens of cash back credit cards and found one with some particularly amazing perks for Amazon Prime shoppers. This card could put hundreds of dollars back in your wallet every year while giving you the chance to earn up to 5% cash back on purchases you already make, all with no annual fee. And for a limited time, you’ll get a $250 Amazon gift card as a welcome offer upon approval. But don’t wait, the offer won’t last.
Which States Did Americans Move to (and Leave) in 2025?
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Millions of Americans packed up and moved in 2025, and a recent report sheds light on where exactly they wound up. Moving company United Van Lines released its Annual National Movers Study late last month, revealing the states with the highest percentages of inbound and outbound moves within the contiguous United States and Washington, D.C. An accompanying survey also uncovered the two biggest deciding factors for those moves: wanting to be closer to family (29%) and relocating for a job (26%). Other major reasons included retirement (14%), lifestyle change (10%), and improved cost of living (3%). Oregon took the top spot for the highest percentage of newcomers settling in — 64.5% of moves were inbound, while 35.5% were outbound. The ranking is a big jump from 2024, when it came in at No. 8, a hopeful sign for a state that has seen slow population growth in recent years. The main motivator for people staking their claim in the Beaver State was job-seeking, at 36% of inbound migration. Family came in second, at 25%, and lifestyle was third, at 16%. See the top 10 inbound and outbound states.
Sports
Hari Budha Magar Becomes First Double Above-Knee Amputee to Complete the 7 Summits
Abiral Rai / SWNS
Hari Budha Magar is a world record-breaking mountaineer who just summited the highest mountain on Antarctica, proving that physical disabilities don’t define a person — or their limits. The 46-year-old from Canterbury, England, is now the first double above-knee amputee to conquer the highest peaks on all seven continents. At 10 p.m. on Jan. 6, the Pride of Britain winner reached the top of Mount Vinson after a grueling three-day climb that saw him battle through negative 13-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures. “The climb was very tough, the conditions and difficulty meant that I was literally crawling up on all fours, battling my way up the mountain,” Magar said upon finishing the climb, per SWNS. “As we took our time climbing along [the] rocky summit ridge, much of which I had to crawl along, I was able to look up and take in the incredible views where spectacular Antarctic mountain peaks pierced a thin layer of cloud below.” The summit is also a major landmark in Magar’s mission to create awareness of disability and “inspire others to climb their own mountain — whatever that might be.” Check out more photos from the journey.
Health
Exercise Boosts — Not Drains — Your Body’s Daily “Energy Budget,” Study Says
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After a long run or sweaty yoga session, all we want to do is flop down on the couch and catch our breath. But while we may temporarily feel tired after a workout, a new study supports the idea that exercise actually adds to our body’s daily “energy budget” — it doesn’t deplete it. There are two leading theories about how workouts impact our bodies’ energy expenditure. One posits that we have a set amount of energy we can “spend” in a day. If we use a portion of it on exercise, our bodies conserve some in other ways, like by suppressing our immune system (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the level of exercise). But researchers have now found more evidence in favor of the other theory, which states that our energy budgets are flexible and additive, meaning physical activity allows for an increase in the total amount of energy a person spends. “Our study found that more physical activity is associated with higher calorie burn, regardless of body composition, and that this increase is not balanced out by the body reducing energy spent elsewhere,” principal investigator Kevin Davy said in a news release. Read more to get some inspo for getting moving.
Crime novelist Val McDermid, whose Karen Pirie series was artfully adapted by ITV, is known for writing about the darkest elements of humanity. But in her new essay collection, the Scottish author takes on the darkest of the seasons — and brings light to it. Featuring meditations on topics like traditions, food, and creativity interspersed with memories from her childhood, Winter is an ode to the cold months that TheWashington Post called “odd, unexpected, and quite lovely.”
If you haven’t caught on to K-dramas yet, here’s your chance to dip your toe in. Korean interpreter Joo Ho-jin takes a job behind the scenes for a new reality dating series and finds himself translating for Cha Mu-hee, a woman he met years earlier and who is now a global celebrity. Mu-hee travels the world looking for love on the reality show, with her interpreter in her ear the entire time, but when a handsome Japanese actor professes his feelings for the star, it’s Ho-jin whose heart hangs in the balance. You can catch all 12 episodes on Netflix now.
This Week in History
Toy Company Wham-O Produces Its First Plastic Frisbees
January 23, 1957
S&G/PA Images—Getty Images
The story of the first Frisbee starts with someone enjoying a delicious pie. Well, that part can be assumed at least — because used pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company of Connecticut are said to be predecessors to the modern plastic toy. According to popular legend, in the late 19th or early 20th century, students at Yale University started tossing the empty pie tins to each other as a game, often yelling “Frisbie!” as they let them rip. Then, in 1948, inventors Walter Morrison and Warren Franscioni created a plastic disc called the “Flyin-Saucer,” a playful nod to America’s newfound fascination with UFOs. In 1955, Morrison (having split with Franscioni) reimagined the disc as the “Pluto Platter.” He demonstrated it at the Los Angeles County Fair, where it caught the attention of the Wham-O toy company, which bought the rights and rolled out the first mass-produced models in 1957. Aware of the Frisbie pie tin-tossing trend that was still going on, Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee a year later, and the rest is history. See an original Pluto Platter.
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