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Wednesday • February 21, 2024
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The Oscars are fast approaching, and with so many great films over the past year, there were sure to be at least a few snubs — but none more disappointing than Messi missing out on a nomination. And no, we’re not talking about the star soccer player. Messi is a border collie who plays a key role in the critically acclaimed French movie Anatomy of a Fall, which earned five Academy Award nominations. While Messi did not nab an acting nod, he did steal the show at the Oscar nominees luncheon, even sharing a special moment with Ryan Gosling, per the BBC. See the pup on the red carpet.
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Science
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| Astronomers Identify What Might Be the Universe’s Brightest Object |
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| ESO/M. Kornmesser |
Astronomers discovered what could be the most luminous object in the universe, shining more than 500 trillion times brighter than the sun, per a press release from the European Southern Observatory. And it’s not a moon, a star, or a planet, but rather a quasar.
The research organization defines quasars as “bright cores of distant galaxies” that are powered by supermassive black holes. They are all among the brightest objects in the universe, but this one, J0529-4351, is unlike other quasars: It’s driven by the fastest-growing black hole ever recorded.
“It has a mass of 17 billion suns, and eats just over a sun per day,” explained Christian Wolf, the lead author of a new study outlining the findings.
Although only recently identified as a record-breaking bright spot, the quasar was first seen over four decades ago. “The exciting thing about this quasar is that it was hiding in plain sight and was misclassified as a star previously,” Yale University astronomer Priyamvada Natarajan, who was not involved in the study, told the Associated Press.
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Not Your Grandpa’s Hearing Device
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Hearing aids have come a long way over the years, with modern benefits including smartphone connectivity and Bluetooth streaming. But hear.com’s IX hearing aids offer something more: They can process speech and background noise independently, then recombine them for unparalleled, crystal clear sound.
These are the world’s first hearing aids with multi-stream processing, so you can follow the conversation wherever it goes, even when there’s ambient noise or multiple people are talking at once. The state-of-the-art noise suppression and lightning-fast dual processing technology result in the most natural listening experience you’ll find on the market.
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Environment
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| How Los Angeles Is Becoming a “Sponge City” Amid Rainy Season |
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Dania Maxwell/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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With rain continuing to fall on drought-prone Los Angeles, the metro is setting an example when it comes to effective flood control and water preservation amid climate change. How? By becoming a “sponge city.”
For the last several years, LA has been replacing concrete with dirt and plants, adding green spaces near roadways, and building “spreading grounds” that allow water to be soaked up by the earth. The idea: With more dirt and plants, more water can be absorbed during the rainy season, thus reducing flooding and conserving the water for use when it’s drier.
These efforts, combined with traditional dams, allowed LA to capture 8.6 billion gallons of stormwater — enough to provide for 106,000 households for a year — between Feb. 4 and Feb. 7 alone, Wired reports. As an added bonus, more greenery is linked to improved mental health and overall well-being. In this sense, preparing for wetter weather doubles as an opportunity to improve residents’ quality of life, one urban garden at a time.
“No one driveway or roof in and of itself causes massive alteration of the hydrologic cycle,” said Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute at UC Berkeley. “But combine millions of them in one area and it does. Maybe we can solve that problem with a thousand Band-Aids.”
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Culture
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| Meet the Only All-Indigenous, All-Women Snow Sculpting Team in the US |
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| Vulcan Snow Park/ Facebook |
We’ve shared quite a few stories this winter that prove snow is more than a nuisance to be shoveled (or an excuse for a day off). In that same vein, let us introduce you to Team Kwe, an all-Indigenous, all-women snow sculpting team based in Minnesota.
In addition to getting recognition for their intricate and whimsical sculptures at major contests — the creation above took third place at the 2022 Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition — the three members use snow art to connect with their identities as Anishinaabe women. “For us, telling a story is important,” captain Heather Friedli told Atlas Obscura.
Per the outlet, one of the team’s past works featured a dancing woman, sculpted in honor of Friedli’s grandmother who believed dance brought healing. Another was based around the theme of knitting, a task often associated with women, to highlight those who are not traditionally represented in the male-dominated snow sculpting competitions.
“I feel really interconnected with the world when I’m out there sculpting, creating, and knowing that the pieces go right back to nature,” Friedli said. “It’s the circle of life, and reminds us that even we’re impermanent, just like the sculptures.”
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In Other News
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Inspiring Stories
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A mug, a mission, and Mama Kelce
Small business owner Annie Stowe designed a Donna Kelce-themed mug and quickly caught the attention of the fan-favorite football mom. Stowe got permission to print Mama Kelce’s cookie recipe on a new mug and now puts a portion of every purchase toward paying off lunch debt for elementary school students in Kansas City, Kansas. See the mugs that do good.
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Homeward bound
Patches, a dog who went missing in 2020 in Colorado, was recently found more than 500 miles away in southern Mexico. Thanks to a microchip, Patches is now back with her owner, Benjamin Baxter. “I’m not a big crier. But you know, I definitely was getting some teary eyes just seeing my dog back in front of me again,” he said.
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Post of the Day
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@visitsilverton
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In Silverton, Colorado, cowboys, cowgirls, horses, and skiers come together every year to participate in a little-known winter sport called skijoring. It involves a person on skis getting pulled by an animal or vehicle (horses, in Silverton’s annual event) and having to navigate a series of obstacles and ramps. It’s been going on in the Colorado town since 2010 — the picture above is from 2014’s iteration. Watch a video from this year’s competition. (Photo Credit: MaryAnne Nelson/Getty Images)
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Hear Clearly in 2024
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The IX hearing aids from hear.com combine powerful German technology with a tiny design — so tiny that many people can’t even tell they’re wearing a hearing aid. Learn how hear.com is changing the game with ultra-discreet hearing aids and unparalleled speech clarity.
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*Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡
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Quote of the Day
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| “Of all fires, love is the only inexhaustible one.”
- Pablo Neruda
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