Grab the popcorn — Shark Week kicks off today. The Discovery Channel’s annual celebration of all things shark, which features seven nights of entertaining and educational themed programming, dates back to 1988. John Cena is hosting the beloved cultural touchstone this time around; learn what’s on the schedule and then take a look back at some of last year’s wildest moments.
Featured Story
Mid-Year Resolutions: Tips for Revisiting (and Revamping) Those New Year’s Goals
It’s been six months since many of us passionately vowed to revamp our lives with positive new habits for 2024: eating more vegetables, saving more money, staying in better touch with loved ones. We won’t pry as to whether you’re among the vast majority whose resolutions faltered and faded away or the impressive few who stuck to their guns, but we are here to offer a framework for going forward either way. Click the link below for expert advice on establishing mid-year resolutions — including why a “should” mentality might be derailing you and how holding on to certain goals can do more harm than good.
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This Week’s Top Stories
Culture
Theodore Roosevelt’s 126-Year-Old Pocket Watch Returns Home After Theft
A pocket watch that belonged to Theodore Roosevelt has been returned to the former president’s summer estate on Long Island, New York, after it was stolen in 1987. The silver timepiece was gifted to Roosevelt by his sister Corinne and brother-in-law Douglas Robinson, and as such features the engravings “Theodore Roosevelt” and “From D.R. & C.R.R.” “Darling Corinne, You could not have given me a more useful present than the watch; it was exactly what I wished…Thank old Douglas for the watch — and for his many, many kindnesses,” Roosevelt wrote to Corinne upon receiving the watch in 1898, the year he was elected as New York’s governor. The watch remained with him when he became vice president in 1901, and then president upon William McKinley’s assassination that same year. It was stolen from a Buffalo, New York, museum by an unknown thief, and remained missing for nearly four decades. Last year, however, the watch turned up at an auction in Florida and was recovered by the National Park Service in collaboration with the FBI. Now returned to its rightful place — Roosevelt’s family home at the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay — the historic pocket watch is on public display.
Health
Texas Hospital Using Holograms to Expand Patients’ Access to Physicians
The doctor-patient relationship plays a huge role in health care, but in certain areas, consulting with a physician face-to-face isn’t possible without significant time spent traveling. One Texas hospital is taking a novel approach to that issue, reportedly becoming the first in the nation to utilize holographic technology for patient visits. Crescent Regional Hospital in Lancaster is employing the futuristic “Holobox,” a system created by Dutch company Holoconnects. It projects a life-size, 3D holographic display of the physician using it, enabling doctors at the hospital to consult with patients at a clinic 30 miles away in real time. Raji Kumar, Crescent Regional’s CEO, hopes to expand access even further. “I plan to give it as a service to rural hospitals,” Kumar told ABC affiliate WFAA. “To say, ‘Hey, I’ve got all the specialists on board. I will give you the box, I’ll take care of the camera setups for my specialists.’” Added Steve Stirling, managing director of Holoconnects for North America: “Doctor shortage areas are everywhere, and health care facilities are closing, so if we can do anything to help make access to care and engagement with health care professionals more productive and satisfying to both patients and doctors, this will be a very satisfying result for us.” Watch how it works.
Environment
All Aboard! The Napa Valley Wine Train Got an Environmental Makeover
Many visit Northern California’s Napa Valley for its bounty of wineries, but the Napa Valley Wine Train makes the ride across the region an experience in itself. The iconic train is now making headlines for retaining its famously vintage flair while adding a more sustainable twist. Per CBS News, the train updated its engine to diesel, “the cleanest in its class worldwide,”in an effort to protect the surrounding environment. The locomotive is among a small group using this type of engine (renamed “1864” to honor the year the rail line was founded), which produces nearly zero emissions. The results are a more peaceful, quieter experience for passengers (Think: less black billowing smoke and less noise when the train runs). “It’s nice driving this in the valley and not having a cloud of smoke,” said engineer Artemus Rogerson. “People would complain sometimes about the train going by, so it’s just nice having this.” Looking ahead, the plan is to have the entire fleet of trains going green by next year. “It’s a slow-moving industry,” said General Manager Nathan Davis. “But when we move, we get momentum, and we just keep plowing ahead.” Check out the train.
Today, nearly 75% of everything Americans eat is processed, shipped, stored, and sold using refrigeration — enabling us to not only keep food from rotting but also enjoy crops from across the globe. Both of these are such commonplace occurrences that it’s easy to forget we’ve only been able to do so for a mere fraction of history. In Frostbite, author Nicola Twilley walks readers through the “transformative impact” refrigeration has had on our tables, guts, farms, the economy, politics, and more.
A “stirring” true story, Sing Sing stars Colman Domingo as Divine G, an inmate at New York’s famed Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit, he finds solace and purpose through the prison’s theater program. The inspirational film features another real-world element as well: Its cast includes former inmates and members of the theater group acting alongside industry pros.
This Week in History
To Kill a Mockingbird Is Published
July 11, 1960
At 34 years old, Harper Lee published her first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Inspired by people and events from her own life growing up in Monroeville, Alabama, the loss-of-innocence narrative depicts the racism and injustice rampant in the Jim Crow South during the Great Depression, and would go on to earn Lee the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. The book was quickly adapted into a film, picking up three Oscars at the 1963 Academy Awards, including best actor for Gregory Peck’s portrayal of attorney Atticus Finch. Watch Peck’s powerful delivery of Finch’s closing argument in court.
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