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Tuesday • February 20, 2024
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A winter storm swept the Northeastern U.S. last week, but some in the center of the snowfall may have been surprised to find that their handy phone weather app didn’t predict the full breadth of it. That’s because weather maps usually represent “just a fraction of the possible outcomes contained within official forecasts,” per The New York Times. Check out the newspaper’s zip code-specific prediction tool to see the “full range” of snowfall possibilities for your area over the next few days. Apologies to those in year-round warm weather states, though — the tool won’t work for you, so keep enjoying that sunshine.
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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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Everyone Deserves Privacy
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Culture
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| Goodwill Program Helps Single Moms Go From Homelessness to 6-Figure Salaries |
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| Courtesy of WorkingNation |
A free digital career acceleration program is helping people learn new tech skills, and the positive impact it’s had on three single mothers has been captured in an inspiring short documentary titled Glory in Overcoming: From Homelessness to Six-Figure Salaries.
The initiative, which enables participants to earn professional certificates in everything from computer programming to visual design, is the result of a $20 million partnership between Goodwill and Google.org and has led to employment for over 387,000 people, Forbes reported in August.
Single moms Kara Gooch, Chelsea Rucker, and Shaheera Alnatshia (pictured, from left) all personally attest to its effectiveness in the film. They’d each faced their own obstacles, like domestic abuse and homelessness, and were seeking meaningful work that could help improve the lives of their families. Since completing the program, the women have found stable and emotionally fulfilling careers.
“The journey has changed my life in a way that I never could have envisioned,” said Rucker, who has earned multiple certificates, including one in IT support. “I’m an example of what persistence and resilience will get you.”
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Science
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| Getting to the Root of It: The Secret to Great-Tasting Tea |
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tdub303/ iStock
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Tea lovers will tell you that a good cuppa starts with the leaves, but new research suggests the secret to better flavor lies even deeper: in the soil. Published last week in Current Biology, the study found that root microbes can make tea taste better.
Scientists determined that the microbes affect the plant’s uptake of ammonia nitrogen, which subsequently affects its production of the amino acid theanine — a key player in influencing tea’s flavor profile. They then created a synthetic microbial community to mirror this process, hoping to enhance the flavor of lower-quality teas.
“To our astonishment, we discovered that the synthetic microbial community not only enhances the quality of low-quality tea plants but also exerts a significant promoting effect on certain high-quality tea varieties,” study co-author Wenxin Tang said in a statement.
Aside from their implications for flavor, the findings could also lead to reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. Because tea trees need ample nitrogen to grow, those planted in low-nitrogen soil often require additives. The synthetic microbial community could be used to curb that practice, not just in teas, but in other crops as well.
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In Other News
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Inspiring Stories
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“I gotta fix this”
When Kentucky bus driver Larry Farrish Jr. pulled up to first grader Levi’s house on Feb. 9, he saw the normally cheerful little boy in tears. It was Pajama Day at school, but Levi didn’t have any to wear — so Farrish set out to fix that. After he finished his routes, he purchased two pairs for the youngster. “I can tell Mr. Larry is nice and his heart is filled with joy,” Levi said. “When he got me the pajamas, I did a happy cry.” Meet the duo and see Levi decked out in his new PJs.
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A second life
A polar research institute donated extreme-weather clothing and gear once used by scientists in Antarctica to the England-based nonprofit Wintercomfort, which supports unhoused individuals. “We are incredibly grateful to have received six huge boxes full of super warm thermal hats, fleeces, and gloves, as well as reusable water bottles,” the organization said.
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Post of the Day
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@ManMythDaLegend
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Teacher Mr. L saw this student’s potential and decided to challenge her, asking her to create a painting on canvas even though she previously only made art with colored pencils. “I told her [to] let her creativity take over, whatever she wants to make,” he wrote. Just three hours later, she came to him with this masterpiece. “Long story short, if you can … invest in the youth,” Mr. L concluded.
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Quote of the Day
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| “It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
- Arthur Conan Doyle, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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