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 February 4, 2023

Just a friendly reminder: It's less than two weeks until Valentine's Day! Just a hint, so you don't end up grabbing a box of candy from the drugstore on the afternoon of the 14th. If you need a touching gift idea, the San Antonio Zoo is offering their annual Valentine's Day special: For a mere $10, they will name a cockroach whatever you want, and then feed it to an animal. For the less entomologically inclined, you can also pick a vegetable or even a rat. Yes, it's designed so that you can stick it to an ex, but who knows, maybe some of you out there will find it romantic. I personally would be thrilled to be the namesake of some animal's snack time. 

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Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

United in victory
The athletes in the Single Leg Amputee Sports Association in Sierra Leone are an incredible embodiment of strength: Strength through injury, through war and through division. The organization was started by pastor Mambud Samai in 2001 after he returned home toward the end of Sierra Leone’s deadly civil war, which lasted from 1991 to 2002. During those dark years, 50,000 people were killed and thousands lost limbs during brutal terror campaigns. When Samai met other amputees and was introduced to adaptive soccer, he saw an opportunity for those like him who were struggling to find purpose and passion after their injuries. Players have represented their country in international tournaments, and give back to their communities. In addition to all the good they do, Samai says SLASA athletes are also ambassadors for peace.

Brother, brother
It's going to be quite a week for Donna Kelce, who's the first mother to have two sons play against each other in the Super Bowl. Her sons, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason, will meet on Super Bowl Sunday, but Mater Kelce's not nervous. Yes, someone's going to be sad and lose Thanksgiving bragging rights, she said, but "this is just going to be pure joy." She has her wardrobe down, too: She's gained some fame of her own for the half-and-half jersey she’s been sporting ahead of the big game. People are even petitioning to have Kelce involved in the Super Bowl festivities. 

The Kelce boys (because you know that's how their mama sees them even though they're grown men who collectively outweigh a mid-sized sedan) aren't the only history-making duo this year. When the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes and the Eagles' Jalen Hurts meet on the field, it will be the first time both Super Bowl teams will have Black starting quarterbacks. 

Sorry, the fish did it 
You know that saying that if you let a bunch of monkeys type for eternity, they'd produce the complete works of Shakespeare? This is kind of like that, except the monkeys are fish and the Shakespeare is just a bunch of online chaos. A Japanese YouTuber known as Mutekimaru runs a popular channel featuring videos of groups of tetra fish that “play” video games. Mutekimaru had previously installed sophisticated motion detection tracking software in fish tanks, enabling the fish to remotely control a Nintendo Switch console. But the setup led to an unexpected turn of events during a recent session when Mutekimaru was streaming (or playing live) a game of Pokémon. When the YouTuber stepped away after technical difficulties, the fish carried on swimming and seemingly continued to control the console remotely from their tank. They reportedly changed the name of one of their owners' gaming accounts, triggered automatic emails, downloaded an image and even managed to briefly expose Mutekimaru's credit card information. So next time you're on the hook for some internet indiscretion, your excuse is already made: The fish did it! 

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You gotta see this

This piece of art is going to live on the moon -- forever. Well, about as close to forever as you can get. Created by Dubai-based artist and philanthropist Sacha Jafri, the piece is entitled "We Rise Together -- By the Light of the Moon." The heart motif is etched on a gold alloy that was developed over two years to withstand the extreme environment on the lunar surface while keeping the artwork intact. It is scheduled to fly into space on a United Launch Alliance rocket in March. 

Wanna get away?

The roads and skies of Xi'an and other cities in China will be alight in color when Lunar New Year's celebrations come to a close on February 5. The Lantern Festival, or Yuan Xiao Jie in Mandarin Chinese, is a final event in the weeks-long celebration, when people light lanterns to symbolize driving out darkness and bringing hope to the coming year. Unsurprisingly, the romantic notion of a lantern-lit night has inspired many a poem over the years. Frankly, more poems should be written about another Lantern Festival necessity: sweet, glutinous rice balls, referred to as tangyuan. 

Rec of the week

Brought to you by CNN Underscored

Shameless animal video

There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.

Is it cute that crows are so smart they can solve puzzles, or is it a harbinger of a not-so-far-away time when the animals rise up and make us answer for our crimes? It's up to you! (Click here to view) 

Made with love by CNN's 5 Things team. 

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