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WHY YOUR BEST IDEAS COME TO YOU IN THE SHOWER

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

In today’s newsletter, we find inspiration in unlikely places, learn about one of the easiest and most effective ways to fight climate change, witness the deadly crisis striking Scottish seabirds, discover miles of new passages underground ... and eat a pawpaw—North America’s largest fruit.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ELIZABETH CECIL, THE NEW YORK TIMES VIA REDUX

The water is streaming down on you. The dog is gliding along on the leash. Whether you’re in the shower or out for a walk, you often may seem to get a great idea, or come up with a long-sought solution to a problem.

Science has figured out why. Latest research says these breakthroughs occur during brain activity while “an individual is resting or performing habitual tasks that don’t require much attention,” Stacey Colino writes for Nat Geo. “It’s decidedly associated with mind-wandering,” psychological scientist Jonathan Schooler tells us.

Read the full story here.

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RACHEL BIGSBY

In Scotland, a bird flu crisis threatens thousands of seabirds (Pictured above, the northern gannets’ colorful plumage; right, gannet carcasses at Hermaness National Nature Reserve.)

See: Amazing images of America as we redefine ‘nature’ and ‘conservation’

To the clouds: 9 epic train trips

To the moon: All about NASA’s soon-launching Artemis program

And finally: Henry VIII’s wives take center stage

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIO TAMA, GETTY IMAGES

Global warming game changer? The newly signed $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act includes a first-ever fee for organizations that spew methane gas—one of the biggest contributors to global warming—beginning in 2024. The law doesn’t address the cow in the room—agriculture, another big methane producer. Still, “I think this is huge and transformational progress,” Environmental Defense Fund’s Dan Grossman tells Nat Geo. (Pictured above, oil wells, a source of methane leakage, pump in McKittrick, California.)

CURBING COW BURPS

PHOTO OF THE DAY

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBBIE SHONE, @SHONEPHOTO

New cave passages: Photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Robbie Shone knows his way around caves. In fact, he once had to climb for his life out of a flooding cave in the country of Georgia. In this post on our Instagram page, Shone shows a team of British explorers discovering a network of passages that spread for many miles within Mount Benarat, in Malaysian Borneo. Researchers here are attempting to reconstruct the tropical climate, going far back in time.

PHOTOGRAPHER ESCAPES WITH HIS LIFE

IN A FEW WORDS

QUOTE

To allow yourself to play with another person is no small risk. It means allowing yourself to be open, to be exposed, to be hurt.

Gabrielle Zevin

Novelist: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

From: The immersive novel Tomorrow is a winner for gamers and n00bs alike

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY JONATHAN PALMER, KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY

A banana crossed with a pineapple and a mango? The pawpaw (pictured above) is America’s largest fruit. The creamy fruit tastes like these tropical treats, with notes of vanilla. Despite its delicious flavors, most Americans have never heard of it, Nat Geo reports. Try some for yourself this peak pawpaw season, from now to mid-October.

GIMME YOUR PAWPAW!

Correction: In yesterday’s newsletter, we had the right direction but the wrong departure and arrival points for the particular Amtrak Zephyr in the image. The eastbound train was headed from San Francisco to Chicago. Thanks to readers Betsy Carr, Wallace Gibson, and Kevin Christiano for keeping us on our toes.

We hope you liked today’s newsletter. This was edited and curated by Heather Kim, Allie Yang, Anne Kim-Dannibale, Sydney Combs, and David Beard. Have an idea for us? Write us! Not enough Nat Geo? Read yesterday’s newsletter.

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