Fat Bear Week is still over a month away, but in the meantime, we have the first-ever Fat Marmot Week. “The largest of the true hibernators, marmots bulk up all summer to survive the winter,” the website reads. “Fat Marmot Week is an opportunity to get folks excited about yellow-bellied marmots, one of our favorite alpine residents, and to share the science behind their weight gain.” The inaugural competition, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado, begins today — meet the marmot contenders and cast your vote.
Must Reads
These magical shots of the total solar eclipse took only a moment to capture but more than a year to plan
Heads up: Some rather large (but essentially harmless) striped spiders are spreading in the U.S. again — here’s what to do if you see one
Culture
The Biggest Regret of People Over 50 Might Surprise You — Take It as Your Sign to Start Packing
Stewart Watson—iStock/Getty Images Plus
The older we get the more we feel time speeding up — and that’s when those “I wish I would have” thoughts begin to creep in at an unwelcome pace. According to a recent survey, the biggest regret for people over 50 wasn’t related to saving money or even keeping in touch with old friends: It was simply not having traveled more.
Commissioned by Icelandair (in headlines recently for seeking the world’s worst photographer to win a trip to the country), the poll recruited 2,000 people to share where they wished they’d visited but never had. The three locations that came out on top? New Zealand, Japan, and Australia.
Among the other experiences participants over 50 would like to have prioritized more were taking spontaneous trips without overthinking it (21%), going to bucket list destinations (17%), and saying “yes” to adventures rather than focusing on work (14%). Read the article to learn the top 10 destinations and the top 20 things people over 50 wish they’d experienced.
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Arborists Work to Save an Oak Tree That Stood Through a Revolutionary War Battle
SavATree
Across the street from a park in Eutawville, South Carolina, stands an oak tree that is three centuries old. It has survived hurricanes, a lightning strike, and one of the last major battles of the Revolutionary War fought in the Carolinas. “It’s a living relic,” Garrison Marcoux, a historian with the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust, told South Carolina Public Radio. “It’s unbelievable to think about.”
Now, the Eutaw Springs Witness Tree is in the thick of a battle to save its own life: Arborists with SavATree have started a multiphase restoration effort to improve soil conditions, remove dead wood, and install new support and lightning protection systems. The team is also taking off chains and a cable that previously helped the oak survive the lightning strike but are now compromising its health.
“Working on something like this isn’t an opportunity that comes around very often,” Aron Landsaw, one of the arborists on the project, told Garden & Gun. “I’ll do anything I can to save this tree.” See more pics of the tree, which has a canopy that extends half the length of a football field and a trunk that’s 6 feet in diameter.
Tech
Some McDonald’s Experimented With an App to Help Employees Make Their Shifts — And It’s Working
Chainarong Prasertthai—iStock/Getty Images Plus
Last year, a franchise of seven McDonald’s restaurants in Washington, D.C., piloted a new approach to curb worker absenteeism: giving employees financial support through an app to help them handle emergencies that might have prevented them from reporting to their shifts, such as car trouble or childcare falling through.
Called Escalate, the app lets users request Uber vouchers or Visa gift cards to, for example, call a car when the bus is running late or pay neighbors to watch children in a pinch. All the requests, the vast majority of which are for Ubers, are kept confidential so bosses don’t know who asked for what services.
According to the app’s founders, the safety net helps employees keep their paychecks and jobs, and saves employers from absenteeism-related costs like overtime for fill-in staff. So far, it’s estimated Escalate has saved the seven McDonald’s $35,000 per month while costing about $3,500 per month (for both the app itself and the vouchers). Once the initial pilot period ended, the franchise opted to continue using it.
“Having that app, and having our employees make it to work, has been crazy beneficial for us,” Imani Ford, who operates the franchise with her mother, told NPR. Her mom, Mary Hopkins-Navies, added that she hopes other locations will follow suit: “We could all benefit from it. It really does show a culture of care when you go that far, you go that extra step.”
In Other News
Americans’ alcohol consumption remains at historically low levels, according to a new Gallup survey (read more)
Some U.S. universities will accept tuition payments via PayPal and Venmo to give families more flexibility (read more)
Latin America’s first fully solar-powered train glides through a 10,000-year-old canyon (read more)
“Welcome to the jungle.” Meet the new-to-us snake named in honor of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash (read more)
Ethel Caterham, the world’s oldest living person, celebrated her 117th birthday on Friday (read more)
Something We Love
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Inspiring Story
A world away
A mobile library in Syria invites children to step into a world of books, art supplies, and peace. “For these children, the arrival of the bus is an extraordinary event,” said Sarah al-Khatib, a volunteer teacher with the Mobile Cultural Bus project, which operates two buses that have visited dozens of villages and neighborhoods. “Many have spent years living in a state of tension and fear because of the war and the shelling of their towns by the former Syrian regime. But when we arrive, we see the atmosphere shift completely; laughter and joy reclaim the space.”
Photo of the Day
Fabrice COFFRINI—AFP/Getty Images
Say cheese! Last week, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis won the men’s pole vault at the Wanda Diamond League event in Lausanne, Switzerland, clearing just over 20 feet. “I’m tired! But I feel really good, I feel really happy,” said the 26-year-old Swede. “That was such an amazing competition, everybody jumped so well, so I felt like I really had to step it up. I’m glad I jumped really well.” What better way to celebrate than noshing on a wedge of gouda?
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