We know Nice News readers love a good (or bad) dad joke, so we had to share the story of Tom Schruben. The 66-year-old father has been keeping his Maryland neighborhood entertained since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic by writing a new dad joke on a whiteboard outside his home every day. As of Friday, the tradition was 1,615 days strong. See some of the jokes — and hear about the positive impact they’ve had on Schruben and his neighbors.
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You know the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when you hear it: From “Requiem in D minor” to his many successful operas, the musician wrote around 600 pieces in his lifetime. Now, 233 years after he died at age 35, there’s new Mozart music hitting the charts, so to speak. Researchers at Germany’s Leipzig Municipal Libraries recently discovered a previously unknown, 12-minute piece Mozart wrote in his youth. The handwritten manuscript is believed to be a copy of a composition for a string trio dating back to the mid-to-late 1760s. Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation, explained that Mozart’s father had kept a list of his son’s earlier works, but all had been believed lost. “It looks as if — thanks to a series of favorable circumstances — a complete string trio has survived in Leipzig,” he said in a statement. Titled “Ganz kleine Nachtmusik,” the piece seems to be sourced from Mozart’s sister, who herself was an accomplished musician. “It is tempting to think that she preserved the work as a memento of her brother,” Leisinger added. “Perhaps he wrote the trio specially for her and for her name day.” Take a look at the sheet music.
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These Female Gibbons Have “Robot-Dance-Like” Moves
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Watch female gibbons for a while and you may (if you’re lucky) see them bust out a move or two. Scientists observed the animals’ mysterious penchant for boogying while analyzing footage from zoos and other enclosures, per a preprint of a study set for publication in the journal Primates. “The body becomes stiff, and then these robot-dance-like movements commence,” lead author Kai Caspar told The New York Times of the phenomenon, which you can watch in action here. These female apes seemed to intentionally dance (i.e. swaying, squatting, dipping, and posing) in various contexts, sometimes directing their performances toward human keepers and sometimes moving for reasons not yet completely certain. Curiously, the behavior only presented in adult females and has nothing to do with music, appearing to have evolved independently from the species’ singing. In other words, gibbons have mastered the art of dancing without a soundtrack.
Environment
Norway Is the First Nation to Have EVs Outnumber Gas-Powered Cars
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For years, Norway has been dubbed the “poster child” of electric vehicle adoption, largely due to its generous government incentives. Living up to that reputation, the Nordic country is officially the first in the world with more EVs than gas-powered cars. “This is historic. A milestone few saw coming 10 years ago,” Øyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of the Norwegian road federation, said in a statement. According to the organization, there are 754,303 electric cars and 753,905 running on gas — and things are likely to keep trending in the EV direction, given that about 9 out of every 10 new cars sold in Norway are electric,the BBC reports. Not resting on its laurels, the nation has a bigger goal in mind: end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by next year — a decade ahead of the European Union’s target. “The electrification of the fleet of passenger cars is going quickly, and Norway is thereby rapidly moving towards becoming the first country in the world with [a fleet] dominated by electric cars,” said Thorsen.
In Other News
California isbanningall plastic shopping bags in supermarkets starting in 2026, closing a loophole that allowed thicker ones.
Las Vegas Aces starA’ja Wilson was named the WNBA MVP, becoming the second player in the league’s history to win unanimously.
The power of journalism: A North Carolina hospital system is forgiving the debts of 11,500 people after NBC News reported on its aggressive collection tactics.
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Inspiring Story
“The most selfless kid I’ve ever met”
When it was time for Stephen Dick, an Arizona high schooler diagnosed with brain cancer, to ask for his “Make-A-Wish,” he didn’t want something for himself — he requested upgraded helmets for his football teammates. “Brain surgery is a tough surgery for anyone, so I was going to do whatever l could do to reduce that chance,” he said. Now, he’s in recovery, on the field again, and wearing one of the gifted helmets.
Photo of the Day
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Prost! The 189th annual Oktoberfest is underway in Munich, Germany. Read more about this year’s festivities.
In the Pursuit of Less, Buy Better From ASKET
It may sound counterintuitive for a clothing label to encourage consumers to purchase less, but that’s exactly what ASKET is doing. The sustainable company is firm in its belief that overconsumption is harming the environment (and not making humans any happier), so it created a collection of high-quality closet staples made to last. Keeping in line with that philosophy, ASKET provides care and repair support and buys back unwanted items for resale or recycling.
