Have you been enjoying the About Art section in our Monday newsletters? Good news, if so: There's more where that came from. A longtime advocate for access to art, Heidi Zuckerman has officially launched About Art — a new site dedicated to living more artfully. Through thoughtful reflections on works of art, conversations with artists and curators, itineraries for experiencing art on your own, and more, Zuckerman shows how art can bring joy, meaning, and connection into your everyday life. Sign up here and look out for more Nice News art reflections on Mondays.
Must Reads
A global trial revealed that an immunotherapy drug "significantly" lowers the chance of certain cancers spreading or returning
New Banksy on the block: Check out the street artist's latest piece
Environment
Formerly Trafficked Gorillas Get a Second Chance in Breakthrough Reintroduction to the Wild
Photo by GRACE
Gorillas are making headlines again — this time, not for sparking a viral debate over who would win a fight between 100 men and one gorilla, but for a historic conservation success story. Four female eastern lowland gorillas are roaming free in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking the largest reintroduction of the subspecies in history, the conservation organization Re:wild announced last week. The ape reintroduction breakthrough was long in the making for the primates, named Isangi, Lulingu, Mapendo, and Ndjingala. As babies, they were rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and taken to Congo's Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center, or GRACE. Following years of rehab, they were deemed ready for the wild last fall and airlifted to the park, where they were kept in a fenced enclosure before being released in December. "It happened much quicker than we all anticipated," Katie Fawcett, executive and science director for GRACE Gorillas, told CNN, explaining that a male silverback named Mwasa courted the females from behind the fence, helping move things along. She continued: "We really pride ourselves on every decision being gorilla led. After three days of attention directed at the magnificent Mwasa … the decision was made: 'Let's go for it.' The fence was cut so they could come out." To date, the four females have shown no clinical signs of stress. On the contrary, Fawcett said they've settled in with their new family group and are looking "amazing," with thick coats and full stomachs. See footage of the gorillas.
Why Curiosity Expert Scott Shigeoka Suggests Creating a "Powerful Questions List"
vongsasiripat/Getty Images
When Nice News first interviewed Scott Shigeoka about curiosity in 2023, he was on the cusp of publishing his book on the subject,Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. As we gear up to welcome the author to our third Nice News Book Club meeting, we had a few more questions for him — and he offered up a few as well. Shigeoka has been busy of late: He took his ideas to the TED stage in November, and in March, he partnered with the Eames Institute to launch The Curious 100, a celebration of 100 visionaries who are harnessing curiosity to solve the world's pressing problems. Since Seek's release, he's also seen a lot of real-world application of the book's concepts. "As an author, it's so delicious to hear all of the ways readers are using deep curiosity in their relationships, work, and lives," Shigeoka tells Nice News. One of the ways he encourages people to start doing that is to create a "Powerful Questions List" in their Notes app or a journal. Read our recent Q&A to learn more about how to foster deep curiosity (and avoid "predatory curiosity"), including nine questionsfrom his own Powerful Questions List. And if you haven't already, sign up here for our upcoming Book Club discussion with Shigeoka on Monday, June 9 — it's free, and reading the book beforehand isn't required!
Science
For South Korea's Iconic Female Free Divers, Aquatic Abilities Are in the DNA: Study
Serhat Akkan/Anadolu via Getty Images
About 50 miles off the coast of South Korea, a group of women — some of them in their 80s — start many days by free diving into frigid waters to collect conch, sea urchin, abalone, octopus, and other ocean dwellers for their communities to eat. Jeju Island's Haenyeo, or "women of the sea," are remarkable, and according to a new study, their aquatic abilities are in their DNA. Per Oceanographic Magazine, the tradition began in the 17th century, when the men who hadn't been conscripted into the army were taxed heavily on their incomes, while women earners were exempt. Today, the Haenyeo begin training at age 10 and continue diving their entire lives, even while pregnant. Intrigued by the women's adeptness, researchers sought to determine whether their prowess is learned or innate. An international team of scientists conducted a genomic analysis of 30 Haenyeo, 30 non-Haenyeo women from Jeju, and 31 women from Seoul, with an average age of 65. They found that the island residents, divers and non-divers, were genetically distinct from the mainland group, with an increased prevalence of variants linked to cold tolerance and decreased blood pressure. "The Haenyeo are amazing, and their incredible ability is written in their genes," geneticist and study co-author Melissa Ilardo said in a news release. "The fact that women are diving through their pregnancy, which is a really tough thing to do, has actually influenced an entire island's people." Watch the women of the sea free diving.
In Other News
Single-use vapes were banned in the U.K. yesterday to help protect the environment and children's health (read more)
Shaking off a prolonged battle, Taylor Swift bought back the rights to her masters "with no strings attached" (read more)
A trailblazing study found that regular exercise may lower the risk of colon cancer recurrence and death (read more)
MLB is backing women's sports, providingsupport for a fledgling softball league set to debut Saturday (read more)
Have you met Australia's quokkas? The tiny kangaroo relatives have been dubbed "the world's happiest animals" (read more)
Inspiring Story
Life's a party
If you're looking for one way (of the many) to celebrate Pride Month, consider tuning in to ABC this Friday to watch the documentary Late to the Party: Coming Out Later in Life. As the title suggests, the film follows older adults living their truth, including a man who came out as gay when he was 90 years old. Its subjects are proof that no matter your age, you're not alone.
Photo of the Day
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
Phones up! Last Thursday, New Yorkers flocked to Times Square to catch a peek (and a pic) of an urban astrological phenomenon: Manhattanhenge. It's a rare moment when the sun aligns in just the right way with the city's grid, illuminating the concrete jungle for a pretty stellar golden hour photo. If you missed it, rest assured, the next one is just over a month away.
Data Is the New Oil and Mode Mobile Is Cashing In
The big data gold rush is here,but the company that stands to profit the most may not be Palantir. A new disruption to smartphones gives users a share in the data profits, already facilitating $325 million in earnings and generating $60 million in revenue. Mode Mobile is gearing up for a possible Nasdaq listing (stock ticker: $MODE), and pre-IPO shares are available at only $0.30/share. It's a $1 trillion industry, and Mode's EarnPhone is now being distributed by Walmart and Best Buy.*
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About Art
Installation view, Ugo Rondinone, soul, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Maag Areal, Zurich, 2013. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Stefan Altenburger
"Soul" by Ugo Rondinone, 2013 "Stick-to-itiveness" is now included in the dictionary. It's about perseverance — whether we're born with it or learn it. It's about continuing to show up and doing what matters, even when you don't feel like it, and especially when the world is yelling that you don't matter, that you're crazy, that who you think you are and what you have to say don't matter. I've been thinking a lot about what matters and why I care so much when someone feels what I think doesn't matter. Why do we keep having to learn, again and again, that we get to choose what we care about? Today, as I listened to Erin Brockovich tell her story on Rich Roll's podcast, I was reminded that thinking differently is beautiful, and whatever we think, feel, and care about is valid and matters. It is our responsibility to amplify what we care about. There is no special reward for conformity of thought or action, but there is an internal reward for expressing the uniqueness of who we are. Ugo Rondinone made a series of stone figures in a variety of sizes for his exhibition Soul in 2013. Each one is different, but they have a visual uniformity, as if they're all from the same humanity. When you look closely, though, their heads sit slightly differently on their bodies, their legs are longer or shorter, their torsos are thin or thick. They are us. And we are them. Interested in adding a little more art to your day and learning how to live artfully? Sign up for the About Art newsletter.
Written by Heidi Zuckerman
Heidi is the CEO and director of the Orange County Museum of Art and author of Why Art Matters: The Bearable Lightness of Being.
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