Taking a stroll at some point today? We have a recommendation for a nifty app you might want to download first. Described as a "botanist in your pocket," PictureThis can instantly identify over 10,000 plant species from a photo alone. So, if you're curious about a pretty flower popping up in a sidewalk crack, or you notice that a tree in the park has suddenly started boasting colorful blossoms, all you have to do is snap a pic to learn what you're looking at. The app is also able to diagnose problems with your own plants (like why one leaf always seems to turn yellow) and offer advice for treating them. — the Nice News team
Featured Story
OK, So Multitasking Is Impossible — What Should We Do Instead?
GraphicaArtis/Getty Images
At this point in the conversation around productivity, you may have heard that multitasking is ill-advised — nay, impossible. Numerous studies point to the entire concept being a misnomer: We don't truly multitask; we simply switch rapidly between tasks, and each time we do, something is lost. We're less efficient, we make more mistakes, and we're unable to enter a state of deep engagement. And yet, the practice is so ingrained in American culture as being positive (how many of you have written "ability to multitask" in the skills section of a job application?) that we just keep on doing it. To understand how we can make better productivity choices, we reached out to author and time management expert Oliver Burkeman. Learn what he had to say on the subject and get helpful productivity techniques at the link below.
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This Week's Top Stories
Environment
Meet the First Cougar Cubs Seen in the Michigan Wild in 100 Years
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
To see a cougar in the wild is rare, but to see a cougar cub is another level. In Michigan, for example, there hadn't been a confirmed sighting in more than 100 years. But that changed on March 6, when a resident took photographs of two cubs on the western Upper Peninsula — and didn't even know what an extraordinary moment he was documenting. "[The man] saw the two young kittens running down the road and stopped, and one of them ran under his truck," Brian Roell, a wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told MLive. "He thought they were bobcat kittens, and so he took some pictures of them, and someone else actually stopped, and they both talked about them, like, 'Oh, neat kittens.' And then they went along their day, not thinking anything of it." Biologists later confirmed the serendipitously photographed "kittens" belong to a different cat species and estimated they were between 7 and 9 weeks old. "It's pretty exciting, considering this could be the first known cougar reproduction in modern times in the western Great Lakes states," Roell shared in a press release, adding: "It's something that should be celebrated, that we have the habitat to support an elusive animal like this." Check out the other two pics the resident took.
Humanity
More Harvard Students Will Attend Tuition-Free
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
It's not too good to be true: Starting this fall, Harvard University students with family incomes of $200,000 and under will have their tuition covered, a significant jump from the previous cutoff of $85,000. Those with a family income below $100,000 will also have other fees taken care of, including housing, dining, travel costs between campus and home, and "winter gear" to help students prepare for notoriously brutal New England winters. The updated financial aid plan follows in the footsteps of other higher ed institutions that have increased income caps, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania. Harvard President Alan M. Garber said it's a bid to ensure the college experience is accessible and diverse. "Putting Harvard within financial reach for more individuals widens the array of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that all of our students encounter, fostering their intellectual and personal growth," he said in the announcement. "By bringing people of outstanding promise together to learn with and from one another, we truly realize the tremendous potential of the university." Get more details on which colleges offer tuition-free programs, and how they work.
Culture
You Can Explore Harriet Tubman's Childhood Home — From Your Own Home
Library of Congress/Getty Images
You can now get a little bit closer to seeing the world through Harriet Tubman's eyes. The Maryland Department of Transportation created a free online museum to help people learn more about where the famed Underground Railroad conductor lived in her formative teen years alongside her father, Ben Ross. Getting a glimpse at this part of Tubman's life is no small thing, as the land in Dorchester County isn't open to the public due to its remoteness and the threat of rising sea levels. So the department figured it would bring the house and its artifacts to life virtually. Digital visitors can peer through 3D models and detailed pictures of what was foundat the plot after archaeologists spent four years digging and analyzing every fragment — from broken pottery and pitchers to stone tools and teacup pieces. "The bits of broken things that were thrown away and lost, whether it's a coin or a pipe bowl, all those items come together to fill in this mosaic of their lives," archaeology project lead Julie Schablitsky told ABC affiliate WMAR. Start exploring Tubman's childhood home.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
Learn the neuroscience behind a survival strategy that's paid off for humans and other primates
Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project, is back with another volume of insight into living well. Drawing from her extensive research on happiness and habits, as well as valuable me-search, the writer discovered the "secrets" that help us manage life's many complexities. She's distilled these larger concepts into inspiring and accessible aphorisms (e.g. "Accept yourself, and expect more from yourself") — perfect mantras for navigating everything from decision paralysis and relationship woes to the overarching pursuit of happiness. Hitting shelves April 1, the book is available for preorder now, and you can listen to an audio excerpt at the link above.
This funny and fascinating Jesse Eisenberg-produced documentary starts off in 2003, following a group of Providence, Rhode Island, artists who moved into a secret alcove in their local mall. The mall infiltration started as an experiment — part artistic statement on urban development, part dare to see who could pull off living there the longest — but turned into a four-year living arrangement. Luckily for viewers, the friends brought a handheld video camera to chronicle the challenge. Check out the trailer to get a glimpse of the furnished mall apartment, and catch the movie in theaters now.
This Week in History
"OK" Officially Enters the American English Vernacular
March 23, 1839
Lambros Kazan/ iStock
If you've ever scratched your head over what IKR or TLDR meant in a text, you can imagine how some readers of the The Boston Morning Post felt when they saw the letters "OK" while perusing the news in 1839. In the mid-19th century, the cool thing to do among young educated Bostonians was purposely misspell phrases and then abbreviate those misspellings — so "no go" would become "know go" and then "KG," for example. Apparently, the Post was hot to trot when it came to the craze, with editor Charles Gordon Greene frequently inventing his own abbreviations and including them in articles. That's what he did with OK, which stood for "oll korrect," a misspelling of the then-popular affirmative "all correct." Many of Greene's abbreviations faded into oblivion, but in this case, the jokey creation took off in popularity the following year thanks to a reelection campaign for President Martin Van Buren — or as his supporters knew him, Old Kinderhook. Get the whole story.
With Masterworks, Access an Asset Class Backed by High Net Worth Investors
According to a new survey from UBS, more than 85% of high net worth investors are still maintaining confidence in one specific asset class: art. These investors felt art was a relatively safe investment compared to other traditional assets, like stocks. So how can you join the movement? Masterworks, an art investing platform, has already distributed back over $60 million in total proceeds (including principal) to investors across its 23 exits — learn more below.*
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