NASA’s Landsat program has been around for more than 50 years, providing the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence. It tracks natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, keeps an eye on food and water management, follows carbon storage, and so much more. Less essential is its ability to spell your name, but it is very fun. Click here to type in your name and see it spelled out in Landsat-captured imagery of Earth.
Your Memories Are Like Movie Scenes and Your Brain Is the Director: Study
A Mokhtari/ iStock
Whether or not you feel like the main character of your life, you’re the director, according to recent research. It’s long been known that the brain sorts memories much like the way a movie is broken up into scenes, but a new study suggests we have greater control over how the “scenes” of our lives are formed than previously believed. Participants listened to 16 short audio narratives that combined one of four locations (a restaurant, airport, grocery store, and lecture hall) with one of four social situations (a breakup, proposal, business deal, and meet-cute). While they did, scientists scanned their brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe and track changes in neural activity. The team found that activity spiked when critical moments in the social situations occurred, like when the proposal was accepted or the business deal closed. But when subjects were specifically instructed to focus on the location in the narrative instead, their brain activity changed — and so did the segmentation of events. “These results are exciting because they reveal how flexible and active our memory can be. … We can choose what we pay attention to and what we remember,” David Clewett, an assistant professor of cognitive psychology at UCLA who was not involved in the study, told Live Science. “This means that, in many ways, we control the narrative of our own experiences.”
Together With Timeline
How You Age Is Up to You
Is it too soon to think about how you’re aging? Probably not. Starting in our 30s, some key cellular processes begin to slow down, making us feel tired and weak over time. This decline not only affects our physical strength and endurance, but also significantly reduces our quality of life, making everyday activities harder to enjoy. Luckily, scientists have discovered a way to shape how we age. Mitopure® by Timeline targets the root cause of this cellular decline and is clinically proven to increase cellular energy, giving our bodies the energy they need to function optimally. The results? Double-digit increases in muscle strength and endurance without any change in exercise. Get 30% off with code NICENEWS for a limited time, while supplies last.
“The Best Idea Yet”: New Podcast Explores Big Brands’ Origin Stories, From Sriracha to Birkenstock
Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
We’ve all marveled at some innovative article of clothing or impossibly delicious food item and wondered, “How did someone come up with this?” Now, two longtime friends and former college roommates are answering that question in a new Wondery podcast. Co-hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer and Nick Martell, The Best Idea Yet dives into the largely unknown histories behind some of the world’s most beloved products, from Sriracha hot sauce to the video game Super Mario Bros. In one forthcoming episode, the duo tells of a family who set out to build their own airplanes and wound up inventing the Jacuzzi. In another, they detail how a German cobbler’s passion project 200 years ago paved the way for timeless shoe brand Birkenstock. The weekly show is an offshoot of Crivici-Kramer and Martell’s pop-business news podcast The Best One Yet. “Our goal has always been to make business stories captivating, accessible, and above all else, fun,” the pair said in a statement, adding:“We found the specific products that aren’t just obsessively followed, but also have unbelievable origin stories.” Episode 1, about how the McDonald’s Happy Meal came to be, is out now on all podcast platforms — have a listen.
Culture
15 Years After Her Death, Photog Vivian Maier Headlined Her First Major American Retrospective
Cinematic / Alamy Stock Photo
Nanny by trade and shutterbug by passion, Vivian Maier is considered one of the best street photographers of the 20th century. But it wasn’t until after she died in 2009 that her vast collection of work garnered attention. This summer, her first major American retrospective, “Vivian Maier: Unseen Work,” was on view at Fotografiska in New York, closing at the end of September. The exhibit featured around 230 pieces from the 1950s through the 1990s, including black-and-white photos, films, and sound recordings. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the “reclusive nanny” used her spare time to chronicle the world around her, often capturing quiet moments, like strangers waiting for the train, reading a newspaper, or sitting on a bench. Her work may never have seen the light of day, though, if not for an art collector who discovered hauls of her images at a thrift shop auction. “The discovery of Vivian Maier’s photographs after her death is one of the great serendipities in the history of the medium,” said Anne Morin, the director of diChroma photography and exhibition curator. Scroll through some of the enigmatic photographer’s portfolio.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot appears to be morphing into different shapes — behaving similarly to a stress ball. Check out a timelapse.
A U.K. rewilding project will release a herd of long-horned tauros into the Scottish Highlands to replicate the essential ecological role the species’ extinct wild ancestor once played.
First-of-its-kind nanoscale footage captured hydrogen and oxygen atoms fusing into a water droplet out of “thin air.”
Céline Dion released a liveversion of her Paris Olympics performance of “Hymne A L’Amour,” marking her return to music and paying tribute to late French singer Edith Piaf.
Inspiring Story
Very, very good boy!
Jamie Parker, an 11-year-old from North Carolina, was separated from his family after a mudslide caused by Hurricane Helene slammed into his grandparents’ home near Asheville. That’s when their dog Tucker came to the rescue. The pup began barking near the 12-foot-deep pile of rubble Jamie was stuck beneath — and wouldn’t leave until firefighters arrived to dig the boy out. “I think he could hear me and smell me. He was trying to tell them where I was,” said Jamie, who has been medically cleared. You’re a hero, Tucker!
Photo of the Day
Liao Pan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
If you look up in New York City’s bustling Times Square, you’ll likely see scores of busy billboards. But if you look down, you’ll catch another story unfolding on Broadway plaza between 47th and 48th Street. A new, 160-foot-long mural from artist Shantell Martin encourages New Yorkers to slow down and meditate as they navigate intricate lines and stumble upon affirmations like “You are in the right place at the right time.” Take a closer look.
Timeline: Live Better for Longer
Age is just a number, but how you age is up to you. Mitopure® by Timeline is a clinically proven supplement for healthy aging. Fight fatigue and weakness with this breakthrough discovery over 15 years in the making. A daily dose can lead to a double-digit increase in muscle strength and endurance — no exercise required.
