Must Reads

• Brush up on your retail etiquette before you hit the mall this holiday season

​

• Does your pup need to don a sweater in the cold? Here's how to tell if you should bundle them up

Humanity

What 38M Obituaries Reveal About How Americans Define a Life Well Lived

This article was written by Stylianos Syropoulos, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University; David Markowitz, an associate professor of communication at Michigan State University; and Kyle Fiore Law, a postdoctoral research scholar in sustainability at Arizona State University, for The Conversation.
​
​Obituaries preserve what families most want remembered about the people they cherish most. Across time, they also reveal the values each era chose to honor.
​
In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we analyzed 38 million obituaries of Americans published from 1998 to 2024. We identified the values families most often highlight, and how those values shift across generations, regions, and major historical events.
​
Specifically, working with psychologists Liane Young and Thomas Mazzuchi, we examined the language used on Legacy.com, an online platform where families often post obituaries and share memories of loved ones.
​
During their lifetime, most people tend to be guided by a small set of broad values like caring for others, honoring tradition, keeping loved ones safe, and seeking personal growth. To understand how these values showed up in remembrance, we used text-analysis tools built on curated lists of everyday words people use when talking about those themes.
​
By analyzing the words that appeared again and again in memorials, we could see which values communities chose to emphasize when looking back on the lives of their loved ones, and how those patterns changed over time. Learn which words showed up most often.​

Together With AARE

A New Kind of Property Ownership Is Emerging

One of the biggest real estate resets in 15 years is underway: $4.7 trillion worth of commercial property loans are about to mature. Building owners can't refinance at today's high interest rates, so they're selling at discounts as high as 40%. As this window opens, AARE is making it easier than ever to participate in the $6 trillion commercial real estate market.
​
With more than $2.75 billion in real estate transactions and a footprint across 26 states, the company's REIT strategy is to buy these discounted properties and then pay out up to 100% of their income to investors in dividends.* Get up to 15% bonus stock by investing in AARE today.​

This is a paid advertisement for AARE Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.aare.com/.
​
*These statements reflect management's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Culture

The Homework Assignment Sending Kids Into the Real World Sans Parents

Many kids would much rather play on their phones than do arithmetic after school, but homework is an arguably useful method of helping them learn — and not just what's in their textbooks. One specific assignment may be key to getting them away from screens while also fostering self-reliance, confidence, and resilience.
​
The nonprofit Let Grow is dedicated to promoting childhood independence. It was founded by Lenore Skenazy, author of the book Free-Range Kids, and its integration into school curricula is simple. "The Let Grow Experience is when teachers give kids a homework assignment that just says: 'Go home and do something new on your own, with your parents' permission, but without your parents,'" Skenazy told Good Good Good.
​
The idea is that when adults witness the effect an independent activity has on their child, they realize they can loosen the reins and give youngsters room to explore the world on their own. And as concern over the mental health repercussions of smartphone use grows, doing so without checking in incessantly via text is imperative.
​
"We got to get brave enough to send our kids to the canned food aisle or to the park before their voice changes," Skenazy joked in an April TED Talk, adding: "'I did it myself' is the original anxiety buster." Watch the full talk.​

Environment

6,000-Year-Old Conch Shells Likely Served as Instruments, Communication Tools: Listen

How do you know what a 6,000-year-old conch shell sounds like? Blow into it, of course. That's the scientific method archeologists with the University of Barcelona employed to discern what ancient shells from Spain's Catalonia region were used for. And the powerful sounds that resulted indicate they may have served as both musical instruments and tools for long-distance communication.
​
Twelve conch shells dating to the Neolithic period were the subjects of the new study. Other research has suggested similar shells were used as instruments due to the fact that tops of their spiral structures were removed. But no acoustical testing had been done on these specific specimens, which were found previously and housed at a museum.
​
So Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Miquel López-Garcia (who also happens to be a professional trumpet player) decided to carefully play eight of the shells to see what they could glean. They found that the noises produced reached above 100 decibels — about as loud as a car horn — and the tone and pitch could be adjusted based on mouth placement.
​
"Our study reveals that Neolithic people used conch shells not only as musical instruments, but also as powerful tools for communication, reshaping how we understand sound, space, and social connection in early prehistoric communities," Díaz-Andreu said in a news release. Have a listen.​

In Other News

1. Humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, a new study suggests (read more)
   ​
2. A novel drug reduced breast cancer recurrence risk by 30% in trial patients, compared to the standard therapy (read more)
   ​
3. The oldest supernova ever observed was captured on camera by the James Webb Space Telescope (read more)
   ​
4. WNBA star A'ja Wilson won the 2025 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award (read more)
   ​
5. "Better luck seeing a unicorn": An exceedingly elusive Canadian lynx was filmed sauntering off into the woods (read more)

Something We Love

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
​
​I spent over a month on the waiting list to take this book out from my local library — and it was well worth the wait. The novel from Angela Flournoy, published in September, plays with time and perspective in such a satisfying (and sometimes heartwrenching) way, following five Black women as they navigate friendship, young adulthood, grief, and so much more.
​
​– Ally Mauch, Associate Editor

Inspiring Story

Standing in for Santa

Waking up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning to find a stack of presents under the tree is part of what makes the holiday so special for kids — but not all who celebrate get to experience that joy. That's why a youth residential treatment center in Atlanta has launched a campaign to ensure the children and teens in its care will be greeted with gifts on Dec. 25. Meet some of the kids and learn how to help.​

Photo of the Day

A very happy 100th birthday to Dick Van Dyke! The beloved entertainer celebrates his centennial today, and the tributes are pouring in. In American Masters — Starring Dick Van Dyke, which aired last night on PBS, 77-year-old Ted Danson called the veteran performer his "hero" and explained that his "basic kindness" came through on every episode of the 1960s sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show: "He gave people a laugh. He uplifted people, and he did it in such an elegant, funny, extraordinary way."

Master a New Language With Babbel

Learning a new language is easier than ever with Babbel — and the brand's 55% off sale makes now the perfect time to start. Get access to 14 languages and learn via short, 10-minute lessons from more than 150 experts. Tools like speech recognition and review sessions make learning fit naturally into your day, leaving you feeling more capable, connected, and inspired with each lesson.

Please support our sponsors! They help us keep Nice News free. ♡

Odds & Ends

🦒 That's one big baby​
​
😋 Is chop suey set to make a comeback?
​
🎶 Four album reissues to add to your wish list
​
✍️ An heirloom hunter's heartfelt find​

Quote of the Day

"There are as many ways to love as there are to walk a forest."

– MARIA POPOVA