The World Happiness Report came out yesterday and — drumroll please — Finland was named the world’s happiest country for the eighth year running. In addition to the country rankings, the annual report revealed some interesting findings about human benevolence, specifically that we tend to significantly underestimate strangers’ kindness. This “hugely encouraging” discovery could help us all boost our own happiness, as having a favorable perception of others’ benevolence is linked to improved well-being.
Must Reads
The French bulldog remains the top U.S. dog breed, but an Italian pooch is becoming a real contender
Remote working enthusiasts, here’s another item to add to the pro column: Working from home reduces carbon emissions. Fully remote workers can have less than half the carbon footprint of onsite workers, and hybrid workers also contribute to a significant drop in emissions, per a 2023 study from Cornell University and Microsoft. This dip was attributed to lower office energy use and a reduction in driving. The driving aspect alone adds up Monday through Friday, as the average passenger vehicle emits about 400 grams of CO2 per mile, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The researchers also factored in how a remote worker’s lifestyle affects their carbon footprint, seeing as those who work from home tend to travel to more social and recreational activities and use more tech at home. But all told, remote work was still more climate-friendly. “It seems like a very obvious solution to a very pressing and real problem,” Curtis Sparrer, principal and co-founder of a San Francisco-based company with remote employees, told Grist last year. That said, if you’re headed to the office, rest assured there are still plenty of ways to reduce your carbon footprint — here are five of them.
Together With RYSE
Don’t Lose Out on This Smart Home Innovation
Imagine passing on Ring — only to watch Amazon buy it for $1.2 billion. That’s exactly what happened to the Sharks on Shark Tank, costing them 67,765% return on investment. Now, there’s a new smart home startup making waves. Meet RYSE, the company revolutionizing smart shades with patented retrofit technology. These shades install in minutes and can be controlled via smartphone or voice command. With the smart home market growing at 25% annually, RYSE is leading the charge with over $10 million in revenue, 200% year-over-year growth, and more than 10 patents protecting its industry-leading technology. It’s already in 127 Best Buy stores and expanding into Home Depot in 2025, so now’s the time to get in early. RYSE’s public offering is live at just $1.90/share — if you missed out on Ring like Mr. Wonderful, this could be your second chance.
World’s Longest Immersed Tunnel Promises 10-Minute Driving Time From Denmark to Germany
Femern A/S
If you thought driving in Los Angeles was inefficient, this route between two European cities takes the cake: As the crow flies, the Danish town of Rødbyhavn is only about 13 miles away from the German village of Puttgarden — but actually driving from one to the other would set you back five and a half hours. Thankfully, the world’s longest immersed tunnel is set to significantly improve that. The Fehmarnbelt tunnel, expected to be completed in 2029, will carve two double-lane highways and two electric rail lines beneath the Baltic Sea, which separates Rødbyhavn and Puttgarden. Currently, the shortest route between the towns involves a 45-minute ferry ride, but the new tunnel will cut travel time down to a mere 10 minutes by car and seven by train. Aside from drastically increasing efficiency for one of the busiest shipping lanes on the globe, the structure will be an engineering marvel. As Denmark’s largest infrastructure project — costing over $8 billion — the 18-kilometer (about 11-mile) immersed tunnel will comprise 89 concrete sections, called elements. To construct it, a crew dug a trench into the seabed, and will next build the tunnel block by block, lowering and linking concrete elements to create watertight connections. See more renderings.
Science
Hello! Hola! Rytsas! It’s All (Pretty Much) the Same in Your Brain, Study Finds
Veronika Oliinyk/ iStock
Whether you’re proficient in English, Spanish, Greek, Mandarin, or High Valyrian from Game of Thrones, your brain processes each language similarly, according to a recent study diving into the nuances of language. MIT neuroscientists studied 50 speakers familiar with “artificial” or “constructed” languages (such as Klingon from Star Trek, Na’vi from Avatar, and the aforementioned Valyrian). They used functional MRI to see what regions in the brain lit up when participants heard the artificial language compared to hearing their “natural” or native language — and found not a lot was different. “We find that constructed languages very much recruit the same system as natural languages, which suggests that the key feature that is necessary to engage the system may have to do with the kinds of meanings that both kinds of languages can express,” senior author Evelina Fedorenko told MIT. Previous research from the same team suggested that computer programming languages like Python do not activate the same brain network that’s used to process natural language, nor do music or nonverbal communication. “It helps us narrow down this question of what a language is, and do it empirically, by testing how our brain responds to stimuli that might or might not be language-like,” said fellow author Saima Malik-Moraleda.
Global Good
🏴 In 2027, theTour de France will begin in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the first time (read more)
🇦🇺 New medications for birth control, endometriosis, and IVF will soon be cheaper in Australia (read more)
🇨🇦 Two salt marshes are now protected along Nova Scotia’s shore in a bid to support migratory birds (read more)
🇳🇿 A 15-year-oldfrom New Zealand became the youngest athlete to run a mile in under four minutes (read more)
🇫🇷 France offered a sneak peek of its new high-speed trains, featuring a sit-down bistro and “space age vibes” (read more)
Meet the Springs — a Minnesota family of 12 children, six of whom were born with Down syndrome. “Every one of our kids have surprised us,” said mom Leah Spring, who has become an advocate for the wider community. She added: “Down syndrome is not scary. I think how much we get from our kids … we are the lucky ones, we have this gift times six.”
Photo of the Day
Marcin Kopij
This majestic tree, called the Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills, has been named Europe’s 2025 Tree of the Year. The 300-year-old beech, located in a historic park in Poland, is no stranger to the award, having won four years in a row. It’s also home to a bit of local lore: Tourists throw peanuts into a hole in the tree, believing that it makes wishes come true. Check out some of the other trees that were in contention for this year’s prize.
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