We all know those lucky few who can settle into an airplane seat, close their eyes, and immediately doze off, despite nearly every environmental cue working against them. But what are the rest of us passengers, cramped and exhausted in the next aisle over, supposed to do? The social media sleep hacks usually aren’t all they’re cut out to be, but there are some science-backed tips for sleeping on a plane — chief among them: Board tired. Check out the advice.
— the Nice News team
Featured Story
Is Laughter Truly the Best Medicine? A Psychologist Breaks Down the Benefits
Ada daSilva/iStock
There’s a reason we crack jokes with our friends, buy tickets to comedy shows, and seek romantic partners with a solid sense of humor: It feels good to giggle. But while bursting into laughter provides temporary happiness, do those feel-good moments translate to any tangible boons for our health?
To find out, we spoke to clinical psychologist Michelle Drapkin, founder of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center. “Laughter is one of those things people assume must be good for you. And like many ideas that feel intuitively true, it has attracted plenty of enthusiastic claims and not always great science,” Drapkin tells Nice News. “But if you look at the research carefully, there are a few findings that are genuinely interesting.”
In honor of World Laughter Day, click below to learn about the benefits of cracking up, and get Drapkin’s advice on incorporating more laughter into your life.
According to Gallup research, 51% of Americans can’t think of a news source that reports the news objectively. 1440 is changing that. The daily newsletter delivers the news with an impartial point of view so you’re left with just the facts.
The 1440 team scours hundreds of sources ranging from culture and science to sports and politics, getting you caught up on the day’s most important events in five minutes. It’s the easiest and quickest way to stay informed, and it’s 100% free. Simplify your news with 1440 and sign up today.
At Oxford University, a Beloved Library Cat Comforts Distressed Students
Emma Trimble / SWNS
Meet Isambard Kitten Brunel: the beloved Oxford University library cat who keeps students company during their studies. Also known as Issy, the fluffy Siberian forest cat commutes by bus to the library at Lady Margaret Hall, one of the colleges at Oxford, alongside his owner, librarian Jamie Fishwick-Ford.
Fishwick-Ford, 43, began bringing Issy to work immediately after adopting him as a kitten six years ago. The kitty spends most of his time there relaxing in his owner’s office, only leaving when people want to pet him or when he’s taken outside for some exercise and tree climbing. Issy wears a harness and leash outside and mostly travels on Fishwick-Ford’s shoulder.
Issy also serves as an unofficial welfare animal, and is particularly favored by resident students who miss their family pets, Fishwick-Ford shared.
“It can be really tough being away from home for the first time and away from pets you’ve known all your life, and it’s a lot easier to phone up your parents if you miss them than to phone up your cats,” she said. See more pics of the kitty around campus and learn why Fishwick-Ford chose the Siberian forest cat breed specifically.
Humanity
Teens Across the US Swap Lives to Learn How to Embrace Differences
American Exchange Project
Growing up in rural Kansas can be a vastly different experience than growing up in New York City, and not just in terms of geography. In a large nation like the U.S., the population differs widely in income levels, values, ideas, ethnicities, religions, languages, you name it. What’s perhaps more interesting than what we don’t have in common, though, is what we do.
American Exchange Project, the country’s first free intercultural domestic exchange program, invites graduating high school seniors to stay with host families in communities dissimilar to their own as a way to foster empathy and combat division. And this year’s crop of participants, roughly 700 teenagers from nearly 40 states, recently got their match letters — which means they now know where they’re off to this summer.
During the first seven days of the two-week exchange, they’ll travel to another locale and immerse themselves in the culture there. Then they’ll head back home and spend the second week introducing their towns and cities to peers from other places. It’s about connecting not just with new and different areas but also with new and different people. Watch their “match day” reactions and learn more about the project.
Culture
100 Years of Route 66: In Honor of the Highway’s Centennial, Take a Drive Down Memory Lane
Ted Soqui—Corbis/Getty Images
If you’re itching to hit the pavement this summer, there’s perhaps no better year to take a spin on Route 66. In honor of the iconic highway turning 100, cities and towns across the U.S. are celebrating throughout 2026, and official national events kicked off Thursday.
Road trippers coasting along the famed thoroughfare won’t be bored: Route 66 boasts more than 250 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including diners, bridges, and historic hotels. But a century ago, it was just a patchwork of local, state, and national roadways made largely from materials like dirt, gravel, and bricks. Only 800 of its initial 2,448 miles were paved — it would take another 12 years to complete the rest.
Read our article to learn more of the history and access a guide on driving the full Chicago to Santa Monica route.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
“I can feel like a time traveler”: Meet the VHS collectors keeping ’80s and ’90s nostalgia alive
How a lucky photographer scored stunning pics of the elusive (and adorable) Cascade red fox
Before sci-fi, there was “scientifiction” — and you could read a whole magazine of it for a quarter
In her debut collection (published as Poetry Month drew to a close), Elise M. Powers meditates on the experience of womanhood and all the contradictions and complexities it contains. Her empowering pieces trace themes like grief and longing, often exploring how their intersections influence identity and positioning joy as “an act of defiance and hope.” For those craving even more verse, Powers also runs a Poem Postcard Club, sending participants a poem on an illustrated postcard every month.
Films are as cyclical as fashion these days, with throwback sequels hitting theaters the way cerulean blue reappears on runways. TheDevil Wears Prada turns 20 this year, and The Devil Wears Prada 2, which sees Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs reunite with Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly, opened Friday. In the new installment, Andy is brought on to help her former boss navigate a scandal while facing off against a luxury brand’s high-powered executive — who happens to be Miranda’s former assistant (Emily Blunt). Click above to watch the trailer.
This Week in History
Martha Jones Becomes the First Black Woman to Receive a US Patent
May 5, 1868
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
“It is well known that much nutriment is contained in corn-husks,” Martha Jones wrote in her 1868 application for a U.S. patent, going on to note that when husks are cut up before being fed to animals, less waste occurs. Little is known about Jones, but she clearly had some vested interest in agricultural efficiency: Her device removed and cut up corn husks in addition to taking off the kernels.
Jones is believed to be the first Black woman to receive a patent, but it’s not clear whether she had predecessors who weren’t properly acknowledged. “It is unknown whether other Black women before her were blocked from claiming credit for their inventions since enslaved people and free Blacks could not be citizens of the United States under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision,” per History. Learn about other early American patent holders.
Sweet Dreams Guaranteed With Quince’s Bamboo Sheet Set
This is the supersoft bedding you’ve always dreamed of. Quince’s mid-weight bamboo sheet set is made of 100% viscose from organic bamboo — one of the planet’s most resource-efficient materials. They’re silky and cooling, with a stamp of approval from experts: They were named the “Best Organic Bamboo Sheets” by SleepFoundation.org.
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