What was your favorite song of 2025? This year saw new releases from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Rosalia, and so many more. Everyone’s top 10 list probably looks different — check out one ranking from USA Today, and consider making your own to compare with family and friends.
Japanese Practice of Ōsōji Encourages a Year-End Reset
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Spring cleaning is a well-established seasonal reset, but in Japan, many people also engage in a similar practice at the end of the year: ōsōji. It literally means “great cleaning,” Japan Society’s Yumi Nagasawa told HuffPost, and, though it’s associated with Shinto beliefs, it can be viewed as a secular exercise or a more spiritual ritual. “Ōsōji, or the year-end deep cleaning, is similar in spirit to spring cleaning in that it’s an important opportunity to clear away a year’s worth of dirt and dust,” explained Marie Kondo, who has a chapter on ōsōji in her recent release, Letter From Japan. “What makes it different, however, is its timing and meaning. Since it’s done at the end of the year, it’s not only a chance to reflect on the past 12 months, but also a way to prepare for the arrival of Toshigami-sama ― the deity who visits at New Year’s to bring happiness for the year ahead.” If you want to try out the centuries-old practice in the final days of 2025, you don’t have to drop all your plans and start scrubbing the baseboards — Kondo advised reflecting on how you can incorporate ōsōji in a way that’s best for you. “Even if you choose just one small area that’s been bothering you, cleaning it with a sense of gratitude for the past year can become both an expression of appreciation toward your home and a gentle opportunity for self-reflection,” she said. “It may also help you begin the new year with a fresh and renewed feeling.”
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Where the Wild Things Thrive: Finding and Protecting Nature’s Climate Change Safe Havens
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This article was written by Toni Lyn Morelli, an adjunct full professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst and a research ecologist at U.S. Geological Survey; and Diana Stralberg, an adjunct professor, department of renewable resources at the University of Alberta, for The Conversation. The idea began in California’s Sierra Nevada, a towering spine of rock and ice where rising temperatures and the decline of snowpack are transforming ecosystems, sometimes with catastrophic consequences for wildlife. The prairie-dog-like Belding’s ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi) had been struggling there as the mountain meadows it relies on dry out in years with less snowmelt and more unpredictable weather. At lower elevations, the foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii) was also being hit hard by rising temperatures, because it needs cool, shaded streams to breed and survive. As we studied these and other species in the Sierra Nevada, we discovered a ray of hope: The effects of warming weren’t uniform. We were able to locate meadows that are less vulnerable to climate change, where the squirrels would have a better chance of thriving. We also identified streams that would stay cool for the frogs even as the climate heats up. Some are shaded by tree canopy. Others are in valleys with cool air or near deep lakes or springs. These special areas are what we call climate change refugia: Learn more about what they mean for our planet’s future health.
Culture
100 Years of Winnie the Pooh: A Look Back at the Beloved Bear’s History
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When A. A. Milne published his first Winnie the Pooh book nearly a century ago, the author couldn’t have predicted that his stories of adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood would be a fixture in childhoods for decades to come. And now, the beloved fictional teddy bear is reaching a major milestone: centenarian status. Pooh was inspired by a real black bear named Winnie, who was rescued as an orphaned cub in Canada by a soldier during World War I, and later transferred to the London Zoo. She became a favorite among visiting kids — including Milne’s young son, Christopher Robin Milne, who changed the name of his own teddy bear to Winnie the Pooh. The stuffed animal sat in his nursery among other plushies with now-familiar names, like Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger. His novelist father drew inspiration from the toy bear and introduced the character Winnie the Pooh in his 1924 children’s poetry book, When We Were Very Young, which was illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. The following year, Pooh made an appearance in a story called “The Wrong Sort of Bees” that was featured in the 1925 Christmas Eve edition of the London Evening News, but it wasn’t until Oct. 14, 1926 that Milne and Shepard published Winnie-the-Pooh — a book composed entirely of the bear’s stories. See photos from the early days of Winnie the Pooh and get info on the celebrations underway in honor of the iconic bear’s centennial.
In Other News
At least 20 new marine species were discovered in Pacific waters off the coast of Guam, scientists said (read more)
German engineer Michaela Benthaus became the firstwheelchair user to fly to space over the weekend (read more)
Thousands of people gathered at Stonehenge for Sunday’s winter solstice — see pics from the celebration (read more)
After winning the NBA Cup, some Knicks stars are sharing their prize money with the team’s support staff (read more)
A restored WWII aircraft was transformed into a holiday sleigh, taking flight above Christmas lights in Texas (read more)
Inspiring Story
Honoring an icon
Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti was posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award last week, becoming the first African musician to receive the prestigious accolade. “Fela Kuti’s music was a fearless voice of Africa — its rhythms carried truth, resistance, and freedom, inspiring generations of African musicians to speak boldly through sound,” said Senegalese singer Youssou N’ Dour. Learn about his career, both in music and in activism.
Photo of the Day
OSCAR DEL POZO—AFP/Getty Images
It’s a sea of Santas! On Sunday, thousands of people donned their running shoes, Santa suits, and jolliest demeanors for Madrid’s annual Red Cross Christmas charity run. See footage from the 4.5-kilometer race.
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“What’s important to us remains the same. It’s that inside stuff: the need for love and acceptance, and getting to know yourself and your place in the world.”
