Any parent who has glanced at their kid’s math homework knows that education evolves over the years — and one example of that is going viral on social media as we head into back-to-school season. A teacher recently shared on TikTok that the alphabet song is taught differently today in an effort to help little ones better distinguish between the letters. The main change: The slightly modified tune breaks up that pesky “LMNOP” block.
Period and Pregnancy App Achieves Unicorn Status, a “Milestone” for Femtech
Flo
Flo Health, a period and pregnancy tracking app, raked in more than $200 million in investments beyond a $1 billion valuation, officially becoming the first purely digital women’s health app to achieve unicorn status. “Reaching unicorn status is a significant milestone for Flo and the entire femtech industry,” co-founder and CEO Dmitry Gurski said in a press release. “When we started Flo, we identified a huge gap in women’s health services. Now, we’re a leader in a global movement to make women’s health a priority everywhere.” Founded in 2015, the London-based company boasts 380 million downloads and nearly 70 million monthly active users. With free and paid versions, Flo offers features to track menstrual cycles,conception, pregnancy, and menopause. It includes an ovulation and fertility calendar, a PMS symptom tracker, access to expert advice, and even a section for sharing updates with partners. Looking ahead, Gurski said the recent infusion will propel the app forward to help “continue normalizing conversations about women’s health, improving health literacy, and raising awareness of women’s health issues worldwide, especially in underserved regions.”
2024’s Best Hearing Device Offers Clarity Beyond Compare
Imagine this: You’re in a crowded restaurant with friends, family, or colleagues — take your pick. There’s music playing, people all around, and it’s not super easy to hear the conversation. What do you do? You could lean in, try to read lips, ask for repeats, or — hear us out — you could give hear.com’s Horizon IX hearing aid a shot. The bestselling device is making conversation effortless, even in loud spaces, and the clarity is beyond compare, thanks to dual processing technology.
There’s been a lot of talk about the “epidemic of loneliness” in the United States. But it turns out that even with the COVID-19 pandemic’s emotional fallout, friendships haven’t changed much over the decades — at least when it comes to the number of friends the typical adult has. In a recent study, researchers found that Americans have an average of four to five friends, similar to previous findings spanning 1970 to 2015. Also aligned with previous data, only about 2% of people describe themselves as “friendless.” Despite the steady numbers, many still showed a desire to make new friends and build deeper bonds. “Americans long for greater closeness with friends; although over 75% were satisfied with the number of friends they had, 42% felt they were not as close to their friends as they would like,” the authors wrote. The timely research was published on last month’s International Day of Friendship — revisit our article from the U.N.-designated holiday on the seven different types of friendships everyone needs.
Environment
Nissan’s New Paint Aims to Help Drivers Stay Cool Behind the Wheel
Nissan
It’s impossible to ignore that temperatures are soaring around the world. One of the effects of that is warmer car interiors, which, beyond being uncomfortable, result in an increased use of air conditioning and a greater strain on engines and batteries. Luckily, a practical solution is in the works at Nissan to keep drivers cool from the outside in. Currently in the trial phase, the auto brand’s “cool paint” looks like regular paint, except it’s six times thicker and much cooler to the touch, lowering roof-panel temperatures by nearly 22 degrees Fahrenheit and interior temps by 9 degrees, according to Nissan. Additionally, the paint reflects sunlight and creates electromagnetic waves that redirect energy away from the vehicle. “My dream is to create cooler cars without consuming energy,” Susumu Miura, the development lead, said in a press release. “This is especially important in the EV era, where the load from running air conditioning in summer can have a sizable impact on the state of charge.”
Hoo-ray! An adult great horned owl was rescued from a manure lagoon and given quite the spa day before being released. See before and after photos.
Something We Love
Things to Look Forward to by Sophie Blackall It’s easy to lose sight of the good in the world, but not while reading author Sophie Blackall’s beautifully illustrated book. Things to Look Forward to is a “collection of joys,” meant to gently remind you about those little glimmers of happiness we experience as humans, like holding a warm cup of tea, hugging a friend, watching a sunrise, or petting a dog. It’s an antidote to the hustle and bustle.
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Inspiring Story
Climbing for a “bigger” cause
Kirk Keeler, a nature photographer with stage 4 colon cancer, recently reached the 8,800-foot summit of Yosemite’s Half Dome to raise awareness for cancer screenings. “It’s not just a climb that I want to do and accomplish. I want it to be for something bigger,” he said.
U.S. women’s soccer has done it again. The team beat Germany 1-0 in yesterday’s semifinals to advance to Saturday morning’s final. It was a tough match, with the first and only goal coming after the end of regulation play, five minutes into extra time. Assisted by fellow forward Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith scored and was promptly tackled by her teammates — a moment of pure Olympic joy. Also key to the victory was goalie Alyssa Naeher, who made an essential save with just a minute to go in the game. The USWNT has won gold in four of the last six Summer Games, and will now be focused on earning another under the guidance of new coach Emma Hayes, who left England’s Chelsea to lead this team last year.
The Horizon IX Hearing Aid Is Small But Mighty
Hear.com’s Horizon IX hearing aids are so small and inconspicuous, it would be easy to assume the technology lags behind. But that assumption would be wrong. They feature dual processing technology, meaning they can process speech and background noise independently, then recombine them for unparalleled, crystal clear sound.
