Must Reads

• The world's only dark sky airport is a destination in itself

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• James Van Der Beek, the Dawson's Creek heartthrob, died yesterday at 48 — listen to his moving reflections on his cancer battle

Sports

Buon Appetito, Olympians! Pasta Has Met Its Moment in Italy

There's perhaps no better place to be an Olympian than Italy, at least from a food perspective. It's common knowledge that athletes often rely on pasta as a carbohydrate-rich staple for performance and training, making Italy especially well-suited to the demands of elite sport.
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"I'm a pasta girl, so I'm hyped," Mystique Ro, a 31-year-old American skeleton racer, told The New York Times. "Spaghetti is my go-to. Then there's gnocchi. I'm also a fettuccine person." Ro is in good company, as the outlet reports roughly 1,300 pounds of pasta are being served each day across the three cafeterias in the athletes' villages.
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​Pastas of all kinds are on offer — there's even a "limited-edition" noodle shape made to look like the Olympic rings. And for dessert? A chocolate lava cake that's gone viral. You deserve it, Olympians.

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Humanity

A Place to "Dream Together": Kristen Stewart Is Reimagining a Shuttered LA Theater

In a bit of a plot twist, actor-director Kristen Stewart has stepped into yet another cinematic role: the new owner of the Highland Theatre. The historic venue in Los Angeles' Highland Park neighborhood shuttered in 2024, just shy of its 100th birthday.
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"I didn't realize I was looking for a theater until this place came to my attention. Then it was like a gunshot went off and the race was on. I ran toward it with everything I had," Stewart told Architectural Digest. "I'm fascinated by broken-down old theaters. I always want to see what mysteries they hold."
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​The Highland Theatre is indeed quite broken down. It operated as a neighborhood cinema for decades, but went dormant around the pandemic and struggled to rebound. Stewart plans to honor the theater's old bones while reimagining it as a "space to gather and scheme and dream together."
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"I think there's a way to bring the building back to life in a way that embraces its history but also brings something new to the neighborhood and something new to the whole LA film community," she added. "That's the point — new ideas."

Environment

It's a Beautiful Day in the Agrihood: Meet the Communities Built Around Farms

In a housing development in Encinitas, California, residents who walk out their front doors will see the usual houses, apartments, and shops — plus something less typical: rows of crops and fruit trees. This is an agrihood, a working farm surrounded by single or multifamily housing.
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Some residential neighborhoods are designed with cars, malls, or golf courses in mind, but an agrihood (like Fox Point Farms, pictured) integrates a working farm at the heart of the community's design. The farm provides a mix of practical and aesthetic benefits — from easing heat and capturing rainwater to offering storybook-like views and providing a refreshing opportunity for human connection.
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The concept also addresses biodiversity and food security by growing hyper-local produce, with one 2016 study showing that Los Angeles could satisfy roughly a third of its vegetable needs by converting vacant lots into gardens. "It's incredible what we could do with what we have, and what we could do even more with intentional planning," Catherine Brinkley, a social scientist who studies urban agriculture at the University of California, Davis, told Grist. Explore agrihoods.​

In Other News

1. A brain-training game could help prevent dementia for up to 20 years, a new study found (read more)
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2. "Lowriders" Forever Stamps, celebrating 1940s-era Mexican American car culture, will debut next month (read more)
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3. Earth's largest hydrogen reservoir, with up to 45 times more of the element than all oceans, may be in its core (read more)
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4. A gray wolf was seen in Los Angeles County for the first time in nearly a century, a milestone for the species (read more)
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5. Attention, stargazers: A rare planetary parade is occurring throughout this month, peaking on the 28th (read more)

Inspiring Story

You've got (Loveland) mail

Loveland, Colorado, is certainly living up to its name. The town, also known as "Sweetheart City," spreads a little extra love around Valentine's Day by tasking volunteers with hand-stamping over 100,000 letters with a special cachet before remailing them worldwide. "I think there's lots of love in the world, and we just need to continue to express it," volunteer Edna Pelzmann said. "This is one way to do it."

Eyes on Milano Cortina

This may be the first time you're hearing about Jordan Stolz, but it's very likely not going to be the last. The 21-year-old speed skating prodigy from Wisconsin already has one gold medal under his belt this Winter Games — he won the 1,000-meter race yesterday and set the Olympic world record — and still has three other events to go.
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If things go as he hopes, he could become the second American to win more than two golds at a single Winter Games — following in the footsteps of Eric Heiden, who won five speed skating gold medals in 1980. But like a true Olympian, Stolz is concentrating on one thing at a time. "I try not to think about the pressure too much," he told The Guardian this week. "Once you get to the line, it's the same thing you've been doing for years. Everything around you is just noise."

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Odds & Ends

🌋 An ice volcano is New York's latest snowy spectacle
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🍫 Olympic medals for chocolate lovers, no athleticism required
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⏱️ How real-world factors influence retirement timing*
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💌 Too cute: A vintage machine that dispenses love notes
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​*Indicates a Nice News brand partnership or affiliate

Quote of the Day

"Winning doesn't always mean you get the prize. Sometimes you get progress, and that counts."

– STACEY ABRAMS