Sometimes you need to stop and smell the flowers — even if you’re stuck in front of a screen. At GardenLetters, you can pluck virtual flora and share heartfelt notes to the website’s public garden, or create your own private garden to share with pals only. Product designer Zoe Chin created the site to emulate “the stillness and vulnerability in writing letters and observing nature,” though she also advises: “Never forget to touch real grass.” Read the notes and write one.
— the Nice News team
Featured Story
Inside Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn — “The Beginning of Rustic Architecture in National Parks”
benedek/iStock
Nestled among towering pines and gushing geysers lies Yellowstone National Park’s most distinctive lodging, a 123-year-old hotel that marries human ingenuity with the raw beauty of nature. Old Faithful Inn is one of the world’s largest log structures in the country’s first national park. And venturing inside the seven-story lobby feels like stepping directly into the vision of architect Robert Reamer.
“It represents the beginning of rustic architecture in the national parks,” Ruth Quinn, a guide who’s been giving tours of the inn for over 30 years, told CBS News of the park’s most-requested lodging, which opens for the year on Friday. “It brought what today we call the ‘rustic style’ out into a big public building, which had not been done before.”
See photos of the interior and learn more about the hotel’s history (including the natural disasters it’s survived) at the link below.
Protecting Yourself From Data Breaches and Identity Theft
Data breaches aren’t slowing down — and AI-powered fraud is accelerating the risk. From leaked credentials to deepfake scams, your identity is more vulnerable than ever. Thankfully, NordProtect gives you a smarter layer of defense with 24/7 monitoring, real-time alerts, and comprehensive fraud support.
It works quietly in the background, but responds instantly when something’s wrong. And with up to $1 million in coverage, you’re not facing these threats alone. Stay ahead of the risks with protection built for today’s reality.
Is This How the Grand Canyon Formed? New Study Suggests Answer to Longstanding Mystery
Dean Fikar—Moment/Getty Images
How didthe Grand Canyon form? Researchers still don’t have all the answers on how or when this natural wonder of the world came to exist, but a new study published in Science adds to the body of evidence for one possible explanation: the hotly debated “lake spillover” theory.
The study suggests that, roughly 6.6 million years ago, the ancestral Colorado River spawned an ancient lake called Lake Bidahochi in northern Arizona. The researchers hypothesize that when the lake filled up over many millennia, the water began traveling west, forming the modern river’s current course and gradually creating the Grand Canyon (you can see a diagram of how it may have worked here). “It’s a simple but powerful explanation for how the Colorado River system took shape,” co-author Ryan Crow, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said in a statement.
Scientists reached this conclusion by collecting zircon-containing sandstone samples from the Bidahochi Basin east of the Grand Canyon. When they tested the zircon crystals from other Colorado River sediments, they found a close match in terms of age and composition. The study’s authors say other evidence, such as sediment accumulation and fossilized fish, also seems to support their theory.
Still, others remain skeptical of the new data — some say the theory does not fully eliminate other scenarios — so it looks like the Grand Canyon’s mysterious origin will continue to be up for deliberation.
Culture
TED2026 Was “Christmas for the Brain”: Our 5 Favorite Talks From the Conference
Ryan Lash / TED
What will it take to build a better future? According to TED2026, everyone — which is why “All of Us” was this year’s theme. The weeklong conference, held April 13-17 in Vancouver, Canada, assembled some of the world’s most inspiring thought leaders for what TED Fellow Lope Gutiérrez-Ruiz described as “Christmas for the brain.”
“TED’s mission is more important today than ever,” donor Ross Rosenberg added in a preview video for the event. “In a world that’s more and more complicated, TED points us to the future and teaches us all to be optimistic.”
We sifted through TED Talks from more than 80 of this year’s speakers to highlight a handful we found particularly thought-provoking, including Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai (pictured), science educator and YouTuber Mark Rober, and disability advocate Jessica Irwin. Scroll through our picks.
Environment
Jane Goodall Is Hopeful for Future of Conservation in Unaired Interview From Final Africa Trip
Age of Union
“The only advice I can give to young people is the advice my mother gave to me, because I can’t think of anything better,” Jane Goodall shared from her seat under a tree in Arusha, Tanzania, last July. “She said, ‘Jane, if you really want to do something like this, you’re going to have to work really hard. Take advantage of every opportunity. And if you don’t give up, I’m sure you’ll find a way.’”
We all know that Goodall did find a way — the British primatologist helped redefine humanity’s relationship with the animal kingdom, believing hope and action go hand in hand, and that both are required to heal our planet. She died Oct. 1 at age 91, but in an unaired interview from her final trip to Africa — made public in its entirety for the first time last week in honor of Earth Day — the activist offers us one more benediction for the future.
The interview is with Dax Dasilva, an entrepreneur and environmentalist with whom Goodall collaborated. The pair traveled together on Goodall’s first trip to the Amazon, becoming close friends. Dasilva, who’s now executive-producing a forthcoming documentary with the working title Just Me, Jane, got to know the real person behind the environmental icon — calling her “very funny.” Watch the full interview.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
Nearly every farmer who grows the bright red mundu chile pepper is a woman — here’s why
These two concepts “power the best careers,” an author tells graduating seniors
Are you recycling correctly? A guide to getting it right
Even in a passport picture, Joan Collins looks stunning. Due goes in part to her genetics, no doubt, but David Sharkey deserves some credit, too. The British photographer snapped a glamorous wallet-size portrait of Collins in 1979 at his London studio — where he also captured hundreds of other celebrity likenesses for passports and visas, from Muhammad Ali’s to Mick Jagger’s. From 1953-2019, Sharkey’s family business specialized in such photos, and his son Philip compiled more than 300 of them for a new book. Check out a few of the shots, courtesy of The New York Times.
Noah Kahan’s fourth studio album released Friday, featuring 17 tracks from the Grammy nominee. Kahan, who achieved commercial success by leveraging the fame his folksy pop music found on social media, is having a bit of a moment. He was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2026 last week, just two days after a documentary titled Out of Body dropped on Netflix about the singer-songwriter returning to his roots in Vermont. Watch the trailer for that, and click the link above to listen to the title song in The Great Divide.
This Week in History
First Modern-Day Loch Ness Monster Sighting Reignites Old Legend
May 2, 1933
Keystone—Stringer—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
On May 2, 1933, Scottish newspaper TheInverness Courier reported that a local couple had spotted an enormous unknown creature breaching the surface of Loch Ness, a 23-mile-long lake known for its deep, dark waters. “There, the creature disported itself, rolling and plunging for fully a minute, its body resembling that of a whale, and the water cascading and churning like a simmering cauldron,” the paper read.
Legend had it that a “fearsome-looking monster” had been lurking in the lake, a tale dating back to the Middle Ages, but this was the first documented modern-day sighting. The story sparked a media frenzy and public interest in the area began to grow. The following year, the now-infamous photo purporting to show Nessie the Loch Ness Monster was published in the Daily Mail — but was revealed to be a hoax decades later (it was a toy submarine with a sculpted head attached). Still, people have continued to report sightings, as recently as last month — check out the “official” website where you can log them.
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