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Sunday • February 25, 2024
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As animal lovers, we at Nice News appreciate learning about all creatures great and small — and it turns out small is actually quite an understatement for some of Earth’s inhabitants. From a chameleon that fits on the surface of a human thumb to a hummingbird that weighs as much as a paperclip, scientists recently shared a few of the planet’s most minuscule insects, birds, mammals, and more with The Guardian. See photos of the tiny life forms and learn the science behind why they’re so diminutive. “Whatever the reasons, these small species are fascinating,” said Simon Loader, principal curator of vertebrates at London’s Natural History Museum.
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| All About the 400-Year-Old Cat Door at Exeter Cathedral, Where Felines Were Once on Payroll |
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Prisma by Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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Founded in the 11th century, England’s Exeter Cathedral is famed for its stunning features, including a medieval astronomical clock. But the building also boasts another ancient wonder: a cat door that may be among the world’s oldest.
Cut into the bottom of the door to the clock room is a small, cat-sized hole, and records show it was put there with a purpose. In 1598, Queen Elizabeth I nominated William Cotton for the role of Exeter Cathedral bishop. When he started his post, he also seems to have recruited a helper.
“It is from Bishop Cotton’s time that we have the record, ‘Paid ye carpenters 8 pence for cutting ye hole in ye north transept door for ye Bishop’s cat,’” cathedral historian Diane Walker tells Nice News. It’s believed the hole served to assist the feline in catching mice and rats, which were drawn to the lard used to lubricate the clock’s mechanisms.
Cotton’s kitty wasn’t the first to keep the church’s rodent population in check, though. Records from the 14th and 15th century indicate payments made to cats — or more likely, their owners — in the amount of 13 old pence per week. Click the link to learn more about the cathedral’s long feline history, including a World War II-era “cathedral celebrity” named Tom.
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| Wellness Made Simple |
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There’s a lot of noise about health and wellness these days, but Nice News believes that taking care of yourself shouldn’t be complicated — and that’s why we love AG1. It was designed to be as easy as a health habit can be: You just need one scoop, once a day, every day.
Starting your morning with AG1 sets the foundation for your overall health, providing high-quality vitamins, minerals, pre- and probiotics, and nutrients from whole foods that help your body. With AG1 on your side, you can be at your best, even when life is at its most demanding. |
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Environment
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| Car-Free Rental Community in Arizona Could Represent the Future of Development |
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| Business Wire |
No parking? No problem. An innovative settlement in Tempe, Arizona, is the first in the U.S. designed to be entirely car-free. The 17-acre rental community, named Culdesac, is a mecca for pedestrians — and its founders are looking to bring the concept to other parts of the country.
Located just about 10 miles from Phoenix’s metropolitan sprawl, the development was strategically built right next to the light rail system. All residents, the first of whom moved in last year, receive a free transit pass, as well as discounted Lyft trips.
“Because we don’t have residential parking, it opens us up to have 55% landscape space,” Culdesac co-founder Ryan Johnson told NBC News. “We get to add so much to the neighborhood.” That includes ample social spaces, a gym, restaurants and retail stores, and a dog park.
About 200 apartments have been completed so far, with another 500 or so to be built by 2025. But Johnson and partners are already planning to replicate the space. “We have heard from cities and residents all over the country that they want more of this, and this is something that we want to build more,” he told The Guardian in October.
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Culture
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| Why Engagements Are Expected to Rise in 2024 |
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madisonwi/ iStock
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If you’ve been seeing more diamond rings on your social media feed lately, you’re not the only one. Wedding industry players are expecting 2024 to be a banner year for engagements, CBS News reports.
Signet Jewelers is anticipating that a record 2.5 million couples will get engaged this year, and dress retailer Bella Bridesmaids said it saw a 30% uptick in business in January alone. “We are just really shaping up to have one of our best seasons yet,” owner Erin Wolf said.
Sarah Schreiber, associate editorial director at Brides magazine, said the COVID-19 pandemic is likely the cause of the 2024 engagement boom.
“The singles were not mingling,” she said of the 2020 shutdown. “When those pandemic restrictions lifted, everybody came out, the dating seemed [to blossom] again. Relationships boomed. Consider the fact [that] the average American couple takes about three years to get engaged. Everybody is getting ready to take that next step.”
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Science
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| Astronomers Identify What Might Be the Universe’s Brightest Object |
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| ESO/M. Kornmesser |
Astronomers discovered what could be the most luminous object in the universe, shining more than 500 trillion times brighter than the sun, per a press release from the European Southern Observatory. And it’s not a moon, a star, or a planet, but rather a quasar.
The research organization defines quasars as “bright cores of distant galaxies” that are powered by supermassive black holes. They are all among the brightest objects in the universe, but this one, J0529-4351, is unlike other quasars: It’s driven by the fastest-growing black hole ever recorded.
“It has a mass of 17 billion suns, and eats just over a sun per day,” explained Christian Wolf, the lead author of a new study outlining the findings.
Although only recently identified as a record-breaking bright spot, the quasar was first seen over four decades ago. “The exciting thing about this quasar is that it was hiding in plain sight and was misclassified as a star previously,” Yale University astronomer Priyamvada Natarajan, who was not involved in the study, told the Associated Press.
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Recent Discoveries
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Books have the power to educate, entertain, and otherwise influence us — and even amid the many diversions competing for our attention these days, reading remains a popular pastime. Bibliophile and teacher Shannon Reed delves into humans’ love of literature in this “laugh-out-loud funny” collection of essays about her own connection to books and the meaningful ways they’ve affected her students.
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You’ve probably heard of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, but how about Ed Dwight or Charles Bolden? National Geographic’s documentary profiles trailblazing Black pilots, engineers, and scientists who joined NASA and fought to break down barriers on Earth and in space, “giving us new heroes to celebrate and a fresh history to explore.” Stream it on Hulu or Disney+.
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For Kelly Moran’s upcoming album, Moves in the Field, the Brooklyn-based composer wrote and recorded using a player piano, allowing her to create layered music with chords and patterns she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to achieve. The gorgeous, echoey piece “Butterfly Phase” shows off the imaginative ways Moran dueted with her own instrument, and it makes for a moving listen.
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Things We Love
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Hive Eco-Friendly Market
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| If you value sustainability and consider yourself a conscientious shopper, Hive is right up your alley. The Certified B Corp curates an array of food items, beauty and wellness products, pet snacks, and other household staples. From recyclable packaging to ethically sourced ingredients, the online marketplace makes it easy to stock up on what you need while still being kind to the planet. |
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Paint by Sticker Masterpieces
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Crafty types may be familiar with paint-by-number kits, or even diamond painting, but here’s a fun new spin: This book lets you recreate classic works of art by masters like Michelangelo and Van Gogh with — you guessed it — stickers. It’s a meditative way to relax and unwind, and the 12 cardstock pages are perforated, so you can frame your handiwork and put it on display.
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*Recommendations are independently selected by our team but may result in a commission to Nice News which helps keep our content free.
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Stay Healthy With AG1
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AG1 offers comprehensive support for your mental and physical health — and takes just seconds to mix into your drink of choice, proving that the most powerful health habits can be powerfully simple.
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Quote of the Day
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“I feel that the need to look at the sky — at the moon and stars — is very basic, and it is inside all of us.”
- Nancy Holt
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