Is anyone else familiar with hostas? In my (admittedly limited) experience, these little green plants are the heartiest things to ever grow out of the Earth. Case in point: Last year, I discarded a few hosta clippings in the woods behind my house. Lo and behold, with absolutely no tending or attention whatsoever, there is now a giant thatch of hostas in the exact same place. In the garden of life, it must certainly be nice to be a rose bush or an ephemeral bloom of hydrangeas, beautiful and classic. But sometimes, it pays to be a hosta instead -- nothing special to look at, but built to thrive no matter where they land.
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Our favorites this week Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week
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A friend of the bees
Beekeepers are very, very serious about their bees. Just ask Edward Morgan Jr., a beekeeper who spent hours trying to save thousands of bees stranded at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport. The rescue mission started with a call from a stranger, a fellow beekeeper in Alaska who was expecting 200 packages of bees, with about 10,000 in each package. (I had to double-check the math, because that is a LOT of bees.) Instead, the bees had gotten stranded on the Atlanta airport tarmac during a layover after some of them escaped their packaging. Morgan packed up his supplies and headed to save them. Sadly, many of the bees didn't survive the spring heat, and the rest likely wouldn't have made it to the next available flight. Morgan, who is on the board of the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association, spoke with the Alaskan beekeeper and decided the best way to save them was to sell them in Atlanta instead. An all-call went out to beekeepers in the area, who began showing up at the airport to take the bees to a safe home. |
Do you vahnt to join us?
Calling all Dracula enthusiasts! The Gothic ruins that inspired Bram Stoker's iconic horror novel "Dracula" are organizing the world's largest gathering of vampires -- or just people dressed as them -- to celebrate the 125th anniversary of its release. Whitby Abbey features throughout the book, and today, what's left of the 7th century monastery still sits proudly in North Yorkshire, UK. Stoker visited the site in 1890 and even picked up the name of his villain from a local public library there. (Dracula, you may know, gets his name from Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian ruler who also went by the family name Vlad Dracula.) On May 26, the abbey will be attempting to break the world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as vampires. Admission will be free for anyone donning "traditional vampire fancy dress" as part of the attempt. Also, for anyone planning a wedding in the near future, "traditional vampire fancy dress" would make a fantastically festive dress code. Just saying. |
Coffee, tea or peer pressure?
Now THIS is a dream! At Tokyo's "Manuscript Writing Cafe," writers can get unlimited coffee, tea and time to reach their deadline, along with a healthy side of nagging and other anti-procrastination techniques. Customers enter, write down their names, writing goals and the time they plan to finish. They can also ask for progress checks as they work. "Mild" check-ins involve just asking them if they have finished as they pay, and "normal" check-ins happen every hour. What's "hard," you ask? Silent pressure -- and possibly judgment? -- in the form of staff looming frequently behind them. Owner Takuya Kawai, who's a writer himself, says he hopes the strict rules help people focus. Not the cafe we want, necessarily, but definitely the cafe we need! (And if you want this service for free, I recommend marrying someone or getting a roommate, and then driving them crazy with 11th-hour writing sessions.) |
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Hmm ... does something seem a little off about that penguin? A three-foot-tall robot roams among the throngs of emperor penguins in Antarctica's Atka Bay, but it's not here to blend in. It's here to keep an eye on threatened penguin populations in a way that doesn't disrupt their delicate ecosystem. The unmanned and remote-controlled ground vehicle, called ECHO, recognizes and monitors penguins that have been microchipped by researchers. This means as little human interaction as possible, which is important for keeping the colony safe. Microchipping the penguins allows researchers to determine where the penguins go when they dive off the sea ice, and understand their foraging strategies. By tracking and studying penguin behavior over time, the researchers can observe how they adapt as their environment shifts due to climate change. |
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The 2022 awards for Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year are in, and they are as delectable to look at as the food probably is to eat. This year's top winner is Indian photographer Debdatta Chakraborty, who captured this magical image on Khayam Chowk, a street in Srinagar in far northern India. The kebabs coming together amid clouds of fragrant smoke and spices are wazwan kebabs, a popular Kashmiri street food. The awards, put on by the Pink Lady apple brand, are designed to show "how food touches every aspect of our lives." Other images honored this year include scenes of vineyard prunings in France, and yards of noodles string up like silk in China. |
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At the College of Adaptive Arts in San Jose, California, adults with special needs can have a college experience full of intellectual inquiry and discovery, just like they deserve. Traditionally, adults with intellectual disabilities who might not thrive at typical colleges don't have a lot of higher education options after high school. DeAnna Pursai, one of the co-founders of CAA, wanted to change that. Her sister Angel has Down syndrome, and it was painful for the pair to see Angel's potential go untapped once she was mandated out of school at 22 due to federal laws. At the College of Adaptive Arts, students can pursue 10 majors, including business, theater, music, dance, and health and wellness. Pursai hopes someday every higher learning institution will have similarly accessible programs in place. "There are adults out there everywhere who are languishing because they've been sidelined because traditional college is not for them," Pursai said. "But when you give them a safe space, it's an unbelievable transformation." |
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You must think that something is happening to you. That life has not forgotten you. That it holds you in its hand. It will not let you fall.
- Ranier Maria Rilke, in "Letters to a Young Poet," 1929 |
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Don't you love fascinating facts that you can spring on unsuspecting friends and family during a random lull in conversation? Me too! Here's one: When some species of fish mate, their activity causes the Earth's waters to move as much as a major storm does. Not only that, their frantic lovemaking may help circulate oxygen and nutrients and redistribute the temperature of the water, supporting the healthy functioning of the ocean ecosystem. At least, that's the conclusion of a new study conducted on anchovies in Ría de Pontevedra, a coastal inlet in northeastern Spain. Good job, little ones! Go forth and prosper. |
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Rec of the week Brought to you by CNN Underscored |
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Shameless animal video There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now. |
Did you know raccoons have great problem-solving skills? Did you know they can unlock doors? Does that scare you? After watching this, you can say "yes" to all three! (Click here to view) |
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A newsletter for the good in life |
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