Today we’re sharing a dose of wisdom from morning TV’s favorite former host, Hoda Kotb. The 61-year-old recently posted a video about five things she wishes she knew in her 30s, though we think her advice is applicable to people of all ages. Our personal favorite morsel: “A belly flop doesn’t mean it’s over, it means you gotta get back up.” Watch the video.
This news about brain health is a breath of fresh air
Tech
Begone, Laundry Pile! Clothes-Folding Robot Unveiled at CES
LG Electronics
Nothing says “nice” quite like the prospect of never folding laundry again. At the CES tech conference this week, LG unveiled a robot that folds and stacks your laundry and tackles other everyday chores, such as unloading the dishwasher and fetching items from the fridge. Called LG CLOiD, the wheeled home robot (which wouldn’t be out of place in Wall-E) has AI-powered arms, five-fingered hands, and a head unit that can communicate with humans via “facial expressions.” The machine has been trained on tens of thousands of hours of household task data to pick up on common routines — but speed is not quite its forte yet, as you can see in this video. The machine is part of LG’s vision for a “Zero Labor Home.” Steve Baek, president of the LG Home Appliance Solution Company, explained in a statement that the goal is to make “housework a thing of the past so that customers can spend more time on the things that really matter.” See other cool gadgets showcased at the event throughout this week — and some quirky ones, too.
Together With Oricle
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Common Vaccines May Have Unexpected Bonus Benefits
andreswd/iStock
Getting common vaccines — such as those for shingles and the flu — may have benefits that go beyond protecting against their intended viruses. In a recent meta-analysis of 21 studies involving more than 104 million participants, researchers found that the shingles vaccine was linked to a 24% reduced risk of dementia. Pneumonia, flu, and Tdap inoculations were also associated with lower dementia and Alzheimer’s risks. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Findings from studies going back 25 years show that flu vaccines are correlated with reduced odds of having a heart attack or stroke, The New York Times reports. More recently, a 2025 Danish paper associated the RSV vaccine with fewer instances of hospitalization due to cardiovascular issues. Although nothing is conclusive, doctors have theories about these bonus benefits, which seem to be particularly impactful for older adults. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Helen Chu explained that vaccines reduce the inflammation caused by getting a virus, which, in turn, may lower the risk of other diseases or adverse health events: “If you prevent the infection, you prevent this other damage.” Take a deeper dive into the findings.
Culture
Want to Live Longer? Stay in School, Study Finds
LawrenceSawyer/iStock
There’s a lot of talk about how to put yourself in a better position to live longer. One less-talked-about method is to stay in school, according to research that found additional years of schooling is associated with reduced mortality risk. In the study, published last February, researchers analyzed data from more than 3,100 U.S. counties between 2000 and 2019. They found life expectancy for college-educated individuals ranges from 75.2 to 93.9 years, versus 57.9 to 90.1 years for those without higher ed diplomas — another tick for the “pro” column in the broader conversation about whether a college degree is worth it. “Educational disparities in life expectancy are large, widespread, and increasing, both nationally and in most counties throughout the USA,” the study authors wrote. “Further research is needed to determine how both more equitable access to higher education and efforts to mitigate barriers to good health facing people with lower levels of education might result in better health and longer lives.”
Global Good
🇨🇩 Rare twin mountain gorillas were born at a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (read more)
🇫🇷 The world is your oyster: A French startup is turning used shells into perfect paving stones (read more)
🇨🇦 Perogies pinched by volunteers are helping keep the doors open for a Ukrainian church in Canada (read more)
🇦🇺 The Sydney Festival’s 50th edition launched yesterday, a milestone for Australia’s largest arts event (read more)
🇮🇳 A beloved children’s book inspired the design of a new food market in India (read more)
Inspiring Story
Pinch me moment
A Philadelphia Eagles game took an emotional turn when a father-son duo received special sideline passes as part of a random giveaway. Serendipitously, the dad, Jimbo McGrail, is somewhat of a leader in the wider team community — he runs a “Deaf Philadelphia Eagles Fans” Facebook page — so he was the perfect pick. Watch him savor the special moment.
Photo of the Day
Wang Song-Xinhua/Getty Images
Contestants have been hard at work this week carving ephemeral works of art for the 28th International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin, the capital of China’s Heilongjiang province and site of an annual winter festival. Check out more pics.
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Up This Weekend
Jupiter at Opposition: In the wee hours of Saturday (around 4 a.m. ET), Earth will fly between the sun and Jupiter, making this weekend a good time to spot our solar system’s largest planet
World Athletics Cross Country Championships: The 46th edition of the biennial event is being held tomorrow in Tallahassee, Florida, where Jacob Kiplimo, the half-marathon world record holder, will defend his title in the senior men’s race
Golden Globes: Awards season is in full swing, with the Golden Globes airing Sunday night on CBS with Nikki Glaser as host — revisit the nominees
The Nice News merch collaboration with Because Weekend is all about celebrating optimism and making every day feel like the weekend. To help us spread that ethos beyond the inbox, shop our collection of T-shirts and sweatshirts here.
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Quote of the Day
“If you don’t know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he’s just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It’s one world, pal. We’re all neighbors.”
