As the Winter Paralympics begin to wind down ahead of tomorrow's closing ceremony, we want to honor some of the stars behind the scenes of the competition: the service dogs. From Pickle, the guide dog for British Paralympian Hester Poole, to Gigi, who assists Australian Navy vet and Para skier Taryn Dickens, meet some of the pups who help the athletes day in and out.
How Craft-Cations Are Helping Travelers Cultivate Creativity and Community
SolStock/iStock
Have you ever felt like you needed a vacation after your vacation? Between organized tours and detailed itineraries, trips that are jam-packed with activities can often leave us feeling more exhausted than refreshed. But a recent travel trend offers a slower-paced alternative, The Wall Street Journal reports: craft retreats (or craft-cations), which emphasize community and creativity. On a craft retreat, you may spend your days practicing traditional calligraphy in Italy, learning pottery in Morocco, or trying your hand at block-printing in Finland — but the common thread in these trips is that you'll be slowing down and using your hands. Many also include accommodations and prepared meals using local ingredients, providing an opportunity to bond with fellow travelers beyond the workshops. In addition to leaving participants with their cups filled, these retreats may give them a new perspective. The craft-cations that health-tech advisor Jenn Buechel has participated in, for example, helped her reconsider how she wanted to spend her time, and she ultimately decided to pursue a degree in library science. "I got advice from women in their 30s and advice from women in their 70s," she told the Journal. "A tribe of women carried me through this change in my life."
Together With Quince
The Only Swimsuit You Need for the Warm Days Ahead
Now that winter is (mostly) behind us, it's time to look ahead to warmer days. Whether you're planning a Euro summer, a lake getaway, or a spa staycation, the Quince Italian Cami One-Piece Swimsuit is your ultimate travel companion. This timeless suit is a triple threat: designed to last, crafted from Italian fabric, and thoughtfully made with recycled materials. The moderate backside coverage and compressive fabric offer a secure and comfortable fit. It also features UPF 50 sun protection, adjustable straps, and a shelf bra with removable cups for extra support. Choose from classic colors like black and navy, or make a statement in cherry or teal blue. Quince's expertly crafted swimsuits are designed to resist fading, pilling, and snagging, so you'll be wearing them for years to come.
Neuroscientist Creates At-Home Brain Stimulation Device to Ease PMS Symptoms
Samphire Neuroscience
Women's medicine has long been understudied and underfunded, resulting in a dearth of knowledge around effective treatments for all kinds of symptoms, not least in the realm of menstrual health. Neuroscientist Emilė Radytė confronted this inequity while working with brain stimulation for patients with depression, recognizing that it could also be applied for PMS symptoms — but wasn't. "I realized that women had been left behind," she tells Nice News in an email. "The technology being offered to them had been around for more than 50 years. Why couldn't modern neurostimulation be used for cyclical mood and pain, too?" So Radytė, who holds degrees from Oxford and Harvard, co-founded Samphire Neuroscience to focus on how non-invasive neurotechnology can treat women's health issues. The company's flagship U.S. product is a drug-free, hormone-free wearable device (think: high-tech headband) designed to be worn for 20 minutes a day. Called Lutea, it delivers gentle transcranial stimulation to support regions of the brain linked to mood, pain, and focus. "Most people don't think of the menstrual cycle as a brain experience … but it is!" Radytė explains, adding: "Hormonal shifts can disrupt how the brain regulates emotions and pain, which is why symptoms like discomfort show up during PMS, menstruation, and perimenopause." Learn more about the science behind Lutea.
Science
Bumblebee Queens Can Breathe Underwater for a Week, Study Says
Lucas Borg-Darveau/University of Ottawa
Bumblebee queens have an important job. Typically the only one of their kind in a nest, they're in charge of laying eggs in the spring to populate their colonies — and in order to do that, they often need to survive in soaked soil from rain and melted snow as they hibernate underground during winter. In a recent study, scientists discovered how queen bees may do this: They can live submerged in water for at least a week by breathing underwater. In 2024, researchers found that after submerging queen bees in tubes filled with water and soil and keeping them in a lab fridge for one week, around 90% of them lived. To test why they lived, their new study involved submerging queens in water for eight days, and then analyzing the H2O. The results? They learned that the bees had survived in part by extracting oxygen from the water and releasing carbon dioxide — a technique used by aquatic insects. "To my knowledge, this is the first study that shows a terrestrial insect like a bumblebee being able to get their oxygen out of water," environmental physiologist Jon Harrison, who wasn't involved in the study, told Smithsonian magazine. The team found that the bees also likely avoided drowning by both dropping their metabolic rates and employing anaerobic metabolism, a process that produces lactate to fuel cells when oxygen isn't present. "To me, the whole combination of strategies is the most fascinating aspect of this study," said study co-author Charles Darveau.
In Other News
An interactive, online 3D portal allows users to explore and better understand 56 human organs (read more)
The most remote lighthouse in California is now open to visitors after being largely abandoned for 50 years (read more)
Bam Adebayo scored the second-highest number of points in a single NBA game this week (read more)
One Book, One Coast: Learn how to join the largest book club on the West Coast, which launched this month (read more)
This tiny warty frogfish at a Chicago aquariumis the first to be raised from egg to fish in a controlled setting (read more)
Inspiring Story
The sounds of extra support
Several years ago, instructional coach Kirsten Chansky observed that some young students in her Maine school district were falling behind in phonemic awareness: a key skill for learning to read and spell. So the educator created Sounds of Success, a program that teaches children to break words apart and put them back together based on their sounds — and it's now being used in six school districts in the state.
Eyes on Milano Cortina
Matteo Arnoul/Getty Images
There's plenty to see during the final two days of the Winter Paralympics: The wheelchair curling mixed team gold medal game is taking place today along with multiple women's alpine skiing events. Then on Sunday, the winners of the Para ice hockey competition will be crowned. Check out the full lineup.
Daily Health Digital: Why Getting Up From Chairs Gets Harder Each Year
If standing up from chairs means rocking forward or pushing off with your hands, the problem may not be "wear and tear." Harvard-linked research points to "joint drought" — when joints dry out from within, losing the fluid that lets you move freely. A Boston doctor's approach targets this root cause directly. Read the article to see how it works.
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