Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Reader's Digest

WE ADOPTED FRANNY, our crazy and lovable Boston terrier, from a local rescue at the start of summer in 2022. Two weeks later she was gone. We often leave our patio doors open to allow Franny and our pug, Olive, to visit the enclosed backyard and lie on the deck. My heart stopped when I couldn't ‹nd Franny. My wife and I sprinted to our cars to search for this missing dog. I was scanning the yards a few blocks over when my phone rang: A woman and her daughters had our dog. Franny had been jogging down the alley behind their garage when they grabbed her and called the number on her tag. I located and blocked off the gap in the fence that Franny had squeezed through, but…

Reef Madness Warming waters and pollution have reduced Florida's coral reefs by 90%. One scientist has a partial solution: king crabs. Sewage and farm runoff help produce seaweed, also known as macro algae, which smothers and crowds out reefs and blocks the sunshine that baby corals need to grow. Enter the crabs—they feast on seaweed. Marine ecologist Jason Spadaro is hoping to breed 250,000 Caribbean king crabs each year in his Florida Keys lab, then release them to dine away. According to Vox, studies show that reefs with healthy crab populations saw 85% less algae, a higher density of young corals and more fish than other reefs. Scientists, says Spadaro, have figured out how to grow corals to replenish reefs. “Now we need to help them survive.” Playtime for All…

I never realized how often I served leftovers to my family until my teenage son began claiming that my culinary specialty is “deja food.” —SUSAN MAGAW Upper Chichester, PA After a recent visit to the eye doctor who was monitoring her glaucoma and macular degeneration, my mother-in-law shared the doctor's prognosis: “He says I'm suffering from immaculate deception.” —LAURENCE REYNOLDS Ballground, GA My son refers to my closet as my “clothes pantry.” I mean, he's not wrong. —ANNA SMITH Colorado Springs, CO…

✦ Last June, a man stormed into a gas station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, demanding all the money or he'd shoot up the joint. The clerk readily handed over the loot. He then closed shop and left. Which makes sense, according to WAFB in Baton Rouge, since he'd hired the man to rob the gas station. Turns out he was tired and wanted to go home early. ✦ Three Figures, a painting on display in a Russian museum in 2022, featured three forms with blank faces. A bored museum guard knew how to bide his time. Using a ballpoint pen, he drew eyes on two of the figures. It was, says CENT, his first-and last-day on the job. ✦ An Italian court upheld a school's right to fire Cinzia Paolina De…

IF YOU'VE EVER Googled symptoms (and who hasn't?), you've probably scared yourself with a dire diagnosis, with no doctor there to vet the source and put the information in context. But we can't help ourselves. So can AI help? Natural-language tools powered by artificial intelligence are trained using books, scientific research and data from the internet. They can then generate answers to questions, write articles and mimic human conversation. Some, including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Med-PaLM, have even passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam. But that doesn't mean these tools are qualified to diagnose symptoms and dish out health advice, says Benjamin Tolchin, a neurologist and director of the Center of Clinical Ethics at Yale New Haven Health in Connecticut. The technology is new and has serious pitfalls, including gender…

If you only own one jazz album, make it Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. If you only own one music history book, make it James Kaplan's 3 Shades of Blue. The album set the standard for cool, and in his exploratory book, Kaplan demonstrates how three core artists arrived at the legendary Kind of Blue sessions: Davis, the brash and driven trumpeter; John Coltrane, the spiritual and analytical saxophonist; and Bill Evans, the delicate and introspective pianist. Kaplan reveals the trio's creative origins and their awaiting destinies in a fast-changing postwar America. —Bill Hangley Jr.…

WITH THEIR HELMETS and Super Mario backpacks securely strapped on, the elementary school students—led by some parents and teachers—whiz down the streets of Brooklyn, New York, as taxis, vans and trucks make way. Commuting to school on two wheels used to be a thing, but not so much these days. The Bike Bus, a safe-streets movement gaining traction across the United States and abroad, aims to reverse that trend. Biking in a group is a social, safe way for kids to get exercise—and it's a lot more fun than riding a yellow bus. “My legs are a little tired,” fifth grader Cai Ciaccia told the New York Times, “but I feel relaxed.”…

BLUE IS A rescue horse saved from a kill pen, where I suspect he was abused. Horses are flight animals, but Blue was a fighter, unafraid to kick and lash out at strangers. He'd also grab anything his mouth could reach: hoses, brooms, lead ropes, clothes. He clearly had pent-up energy that needed expending. Since he already was picking up everything within reach, I taped a carrot to a paintbrush to see if he'd take it. Once he figured out I wanted him to spread paint across the canvas I was holding, we were off to the races. Soon he was waving and bowing his head to paint with little prompting, waiting until the carrot was detached to take a bite. He's completed 14 paintings, many of which I display…

SOME TRENDS HAVE their flash in the pan; others are here to linger, like dear friends hovering over a fondue pot. At its essence, fondue is rich, nutty cheese—Gruyere and Emmenthaler are classics—melted with white wine, thickened with cornstarch, and stirred until smooth. This irresistible mixture is served in an enamel pot that's kept warm over a small flame. A garlic clove is typically rubbed along the inside of the pot first to imbue all ingredients to come. The white wine is essential—and not just for flavor, explains Daniel Gritzer, senior culinary director of Serious Eats. Wine's natural acidity helps prevent cheese from clumping together when melted. His foolproof fondue is also spiked with lemon juice to help stabilize the emulsion while providing a bright foil to all that Swiss…

FROM THE BOOJ A GUIDE TO MIDWESTERN CONVERSATION WELL, HEY THERE! Come on Win, sit down. Can I getcha anything? A coffee? Glass of wine? Bagel bites from the garage fridge? You sure? OK, well, you just let me know. Welcome to this handy guide to Midwestern conversation. Whether you're looking to become a Midwesterner yourself, trying to communicate better with a middle-American loved one, preparing for a trip to the heart-land (bring a jacket!) or just brushing up on your hometown lingo, this dictionary of common phrases is for you. So take off your coat and stay awhile. “Ope! Lemme just squeeze right past ya.” Excuse me. I am already midsqueeze but have gotten close enough that I need to acknowledge our proximity. I'll come and say goodbye to…

WHILE DOG OWNERS have been able to vaccinate their pets against Lyme disease since the 1990s, the first human Lyme vaccine, LYMErix, was taken off the market by its manufacturer in 2002, after only four years. At the time, sales were low, partly because the market was small—about 20,000 cases a year in the United States— and partly because of unproven claims that the vaccine caused arthritis. Since then, cases have skyrocketed. Climate changes play a factor: ticks thrive in warm, humid environments, and their habitat is expanding. ey live in wooded areas, on the edges of forests, under tree canopies and in tall grasses. Once most common in the northeastern, midwestern and midAtlantic states, the tick—and Lyme disease—has since spread south and west. Now, almost half a million Americans…

NEW HELP FOR HEART DISEASE Since the 1950s, medical scientists have understood that high cholesterol can contribute to coronary artery disease (CAD) by clogging the arteries with plaque. More recently, they learned that chronic inflammation in the arteries is another key risk factor. Now, two large multinational clinical trials have shown that colchicine, a drug that's already used to treat other inflammatory conditions such as gout, is also useful for preventing heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death in people with CAD. When added to standard treatments such as statins, it reduced the risk of these complications by as much as 31%. The FDA recently approved low-dose colchicine for this purpose, making it the first medication that tackles cardiovascular disease by specifically targeting inflammation. You Can't Reverse Sleep Deprivation With help…

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST PATRICK FORTUNE WAS walking his dog in his Austin, Texas, neigh-borhood in December 2022 when he spotted something long and yellow down a ravine 30 feet below. He remembered that someone had posted on Nextdoor months back that a 16-foot albino python, Snow, had been taken from her owner's vehicle in her travel tote. Could this be the missing snake? “She is a big gentle giant,” the poster, Daryl Fields, wrote. “I'm sure whoever broke in my vehicle freaked out realizing it was a snake inside. Please give me a call if you hear or see anything.” When Fortune, 34, realized on that December day that he had found the missing python, he took his dog home and told his girlfriend, Raven Zimmer, 33. He wasn't…

An Exercise in Futility My best friend has always been competitive. Once, while we used adjacent ellipticals, I set mine to age 99 and 999 pounds so the display showed I was burning three times more calories than she was. She rode that machine like a bronco, trying to match me, until I gave in and told her what I'd done. Now we both mess with the settings to amuse each other. —S.C. Metamora, IL The Dairy Queen's Jester We live next to a Dairy Queen that, naturally, we frequent. My sister-in-law told us that if we saved enough of the little red spoons that come with the ice cream treats, we'd get a free Blizzard. I saved and saved, but when I went to redeem my spoon collection, the…

Nita Prose's debut novel, The Maid, introduced Molly Gray, a bright, awkward hotel maid with an impeccable memory. In The Mystery Guest, Prose returns with another murder mystery at the Regency Grand. A reclusive author—with a long shadow that stretches into Gray's past—has died minutes after being served tea by a new maid. These employees are the eyes and ears of a hotel— they're also the hands with access to means and room keys. But is a maid really the culprit? You don't have to read the first book to understand and get caught up in this Cluelike page-turner sequel. —Leandra Beabout…

The more you engage, the more you learn about different ways that people believe and worship, the more you can sit next to anyone and be a neighbor. —Jennifer Garner, ACTOR, IN ALLURE The things that we experience when we're sitting at a table with people that we love are the things that keep us alive. —Dan Pelosi, CHEF, IN HEALTHY It's important to know when to stop taking feedback to heart. There's more reward in taking a risk than in listening to naysayers who don't understand the mission. —Misty Copeland, BALLERINA, IN REAL SIMPLE There's nothing wrong with being afraid of somebody. Just never be intimidated. —Mike Tyson, BOXER, IN GQ I don't read for comfort. Comfort I source elsewhere. I read only to learn something and to be delighted by it. -Richard…

1. chintzy (24) adj. ('chint-see) A cheap B tasty C cute 2. quashed (20) v. (kwahsht) A planted B suppressed C sliced 3. jonquil (23) n. ('jahng-kwl) A narcissus flower B sailing skiff C lively party 4. macaque (20) n. (muh-'kak) A flowering shrub B ornament C monkey 5. vexedly (21) adv. ('vek-suhd-lee) A with fear B with irritation C with ignorance 6. kumquat (22) n. ('kuhm-kwaht) A type of bee B leg exercise C small citrus fruit 7. quaffed (23) v. (kwahft) A drank freely B sprinted C slept soundly 8. hypoxic (24) adj. (high-'pahk-sik) A full of energy B flame-retardant C oxygen-deficient 9. jumbuck (24) n. ('juhm-buhk) A keepsake B sheep C urn 10. klezmer (22) n. ('klehz-muhr) A Peruvian blown glass B Turkish stew C Jewish folk music 11. blowzed (22) adj. (blaowzd) A bloated B disheveled C tired 12. mazedly (22) adv. ('may-zed-lee) A with confusion B with wonder C with hope 13. squiffy (25) adj. ('skwi-fee) A excited B drunk C soft 14. quetzal…

Word Power ANSWERS 1. chintzy (A) cheap Ben's chintzy bedding, curtains and pillows made his room feel like a cheap motel. 2. quashed (B) suppressed The appeals panel quashed the conviction. 3. jonquil (A) narcissus flower Unlike yellow daffodils, jonquils have more than one flower per stem. 4. macaque (C) monkey Some 200 Barbary macaques live on the Mediterranean peninsula of Gibraltar. 5. vexedly (B) with irritation Still angry at her brother, Evie vexedly tossed her toys into the box. 6. kumquat (C) small citrus fruit A kumquat is about the size of an olive, with a sweet rind and tart flesh. 7. quaffed (A) drank freely The pubgoers quaffed their drinks like desert plants in a downpour. 8. hypoxic (C) oxygen-deficient Fertilizer in runoff causes streams to be hypoxic, unable to sustain life. 9. jumbuck (B) sheep The…

WHERE, OH WHERE? (page 32) B. Belleview, Missouri BRAIN GAMES (pages 107-108) Labyrinth Big Subtraction 44. Subtracting 276 from 1000 … 000 gives 999 … 999724, where all the missing digits are 9s. If N is the number of 9s, then we can say 9N + 7 + 2 + 4 = 373. That simplifies to 9N = 360. Dividing both sides by 9 gives N = 40. There are 40 nines followed by 7, 2 and 4, so the original number had 43 zeros and started with a 1, for a total of 44 digits. All to Pieces Both would be made of 100 pieces. The colored segments show that each addition contributes the same number of pieces. Unreliable AIs Blue: Convotronic. Red: Voxbot. Green: TalkBuddy. Yellow: PrattlePro. TalkBuddy is…

JAMESON LOBB, A 24-year-old investment banker from Toronto, was just one week into his new job on Wall Street. Over the past month, he'd been settling in to the New York City apartment he was sharing with his college buddy, an artificial intelligence engineer named Raphael Jafri. Now, on Oct. 4, 2021, the two were squeezing in a lunchtime workout on Pier 15, overlooking the East River, when Lobb froze. “Somebody's in the water,” he said. Before Jafri could respond, Lobb climbed over the rail at the edge of the pier and leaped into the cold, polluted water without taking the time to remove his shoes. What Lobb had heard was an alarmed fisherman shouting from Pier 16, nearly 50 yards away, “Help! He's in the water!” And what he'd…

Wear light colors, ideally long pants, socks and closed-toed shoes. Tuck your pants into your socks, and your shirt into your pants. Look for repellant clothing, such as shirts and pants treated with the insecticide permethrin. Spray yourself with repellent that contains 30% DEET or 20% icaridin (also known as picaridin). Landscape your yard to make it inhospitable for ticks. Try tick tubes (Family Handyman recommends Thermacell), which can prevent mice from picking up ticks and carrying them into your home. Check yourself for ticks, including your scalp, your groin, the backs of your knees and behind your ears. Dry your clothes on high heat for at least 15 minutes as soon as you get inside, even before washing them. Stick to trails and avoid walking through tall grass.…

HOLLY LILLARD WENT outside just to wash the windows. She didn't go out that day to help save a pet—or a person. But that's what happened when she found a lost cat named Tucker and closed a 600-mile gap to return him to his owner, Jamie McCall. Tucker's adventure began in early November 2022, when McCall, 64, spent the night in a hotel in the tiny town of Cleveland, Tennessee. The retired electrician was driving from Florida to Michigan to visit a sick relative. Her budget was tight, and her head was full of questions. In the previous two years, McCall had lost her husband to cancer, and their 21-year-old grandson to violence. And a workplace accident had left McCall partially disabled and unable to work. “I'm still looking for…

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!” He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms,…

Wearing all black and sitting on a tufted white ottoman in her sunlit living room, Sarah Robichaud is teaching a routine inspired by modern ballet to 80students on Zoom. The Bolshoi-trained dancer spreads her arms wide in exaggerated movements to a slow cover of The Proclaimers’ “I'm Gonna Be (500Miles)” as her students get into the groove. “We're just going to start with a gentle, gentle sway, back and forth,” Robichaud says to the group. “I want you to think that there's a thread attached to your wrist and someone's pulling that thread from side to side.” Many of her students are seated as well. More than half of them have Parkinson's disease and typically movement can be diffcult, but when they try to mirror her fluid and graceful movements,…

Stanford-trained engineer Wayne Kalayjian's fascinating account explains how modern engineering and architecture owes its foundation to an unexpected counterpart: religion. The dome in St. Peter's Basilica, designed by Michelangelo in the mid-1500s, became plagued by cracks. In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV implored three mathematicians to fix it. By the book's end, you'll wonder why Roger Joseph Boscovich, François Jacquier and Thomas Le Seur aren't household names alongside Michelangelo. —CF…