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Nice News writes a lot about mental health, and now we’re giving you an opportunity to support an organization at the forefront of building better lives for Americans: the National Alliance on Mental Illness, better known as NAMI. Given that July is Disability Pride Month, we also want to highlight the connection between disability and mental health — U.S. adults with disabilities report experiencing frequent mental distress nearly five times as often as adults without disabilities, and mental illness is among the most commonly reported disabilities in the country. Click here to access NAMI’s myriad mental health resources and to support the nonprofit’s efforts.
Health
Stress Is Down and Positive Experiences Are Up, Global Emotions Report Finds
Every year for the better part of the past two decades, polling organization Gallup has been taking the temperature of the room, so to speak, with its Global Emotions Report. The results are in from its latest survey, and the news is positive, if a bit surprising: The world is feeling better.
The findings were derived from nearly 146,000 interviews conducted in 2023 with people ages 15 and older in 142 countries and areas. Researchers asked participants questions about their feelings and experiences the previous day, then created two index scores, positive and negative, reflecting the responses.
For the first time since 2014, experiences of stress, sadness, anger, worry, and even physical pain all decreased. The downturn resulted in the Negative Experience Index dropping two points from the previous year to 31, the same as it was in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversely, the Positive Experiences Index jumped up one point, to 71, also returning to pre-pandemic levels. Read about more of the noteworthy takeaways.
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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 — members of the public can view the historic pocket watch.
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Science
Innovative Researchers Are Looking to Save Rhinos via Radioactive Horns
Anything “radioactive” likely doesn’t bring up positive connotations, but in the case of South Africa’s rhinoceros population, radioactivity could be lifesaving. Researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg have successfully inserted low doses of radioisotopes into 20 live rhinos in an effort to stop poachers.
“Every 20 hours in South Africa a rhino dies for its horn,” project lead James Larkin said in a statement, explaining that trafficked horns are “currently being the most valuable false commodity in the black-market trade, with a higher value even than gold, platinum, diamonds, and cocaine.”
The goal with the radioisotopes is to take advantage of the existing nuclear security infrastructure at ports of entry around the globe. Poachers who transport treated horns through radiation detectors will be found out, hopefully discouraging further poaching. “Ultimately, the aim is to try to devalue rhinoceros [horns] in the eyes of the end users, while at the same time making the horns easier to detect as they are being smuggled across borders,” said Larkin.
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Something We Love
Mud Pie
Mud Pie should be your one-stop shop for all things hosting and entertaining this summer. From the adorable guac, salsa, and queso serving set seen here to the endless varieties of wood boards for cheese plates, the female-founded lifestyle and home decor brand will have your guests incessantly asking, “Where did you get that?” Check out the bestsellers below, with up to 80% off some items.
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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Inspiring Story
Mental health matters
Singer Noah Kahan has exploded in popularity since the release of album Stick Season, and he’s put that popularity to good use. Within a year of launching The Busyhead Project, he raised $2 million to fund mental health care in rural areas.
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Photo of the Day
It’s officially bear cam season! For those unfamiliar, that means the wildlife cameras at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve are turned on 24/7 and poised to capture scores of bears searching for salmon in Brooks Falls. July is one of the most active months on the bear cam, so be sure to take a peek.
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Odds & Ends
😎 Towel animals are so back
✏️ Have you seen a cuter school backpack than this?*
🏄 Some therapists are “swapping the couch for the surfboard”
🤸 66 years young, and still learning new tricks
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Quote of the Day
“Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who make the morning and spread it over the fields. … Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”
– MARY OLIVER
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