An underwater subway, an out-of-this world photo and more zoo babies

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 September 14, 2024

I was in Ocean City, Maryland, recently and got to do one of my very favorite things: Scream all of my sins and frustrations into the deafening, crashing waves of the ocean. I highly recommend this! It is cleansing. If you're so inclined, it's very much like prayer. I've done it on the rocky shores of Reykjavik in Iceland, screaming into the blistering wind. After his father died, my husband found solace alongside an uninhabited stretch of a New Mexico highway, where he emptied his lungs into the open air. It's good to do these things because while life may be beautiful, it's not perfect, and you deserve to release whatever is weighing on your heart. The Earth will take it and never judge. Practical tip: If you don't have a windy mountaintop or howling storm at hand, put on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and scream whatever you want to get off your chest into a pillow. (I say headphones because I personally find it easier when even I don't have to hear what I say.) I promise, the pillow won't mind. 

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Our favorites this week

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

A perfect little potato
My social media timelines have been blessed with an onslaught of information about Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. I'm not the only one — Moo Deng has gone viral on TikTok and zoo staff have reported a huge influx of visitors interested in seeing the two-month-old calf for themselves. Is it the tiny teeth? The little hippo antics? The way she looks so offended when her handler keeps having to pick her up? While all zoo babies are precious and perfect, pygmy hippos are endangered, so having a new one in the world is something to celebrate. Also, her name means "bouncy pig" in Thai. Can you imagine anything cuter? 

Full-body comedy
"Disability" is such a complex term, because people who live with disabilities often develop gifts far beyond the abilities of others. (See also: Any person competing in the Paralympics.) Take Terry Crews. You may not know this, but Terry Crews has lived with sensorineural hearing loss for years. (I also have this kind of hearing loss, so hard-of-hearing gang, I see you!) Has that kept him from being a gifted comedic actor? Quite the contrary. Crews uses his body to convey humor, whether that be through his legendary Old Spice commercials or as the suave assassin Lovedahl in "Killer's Game," and it's a skill he organically picked up while navigating his hearing loss by looking at people and watching their mannerisms. "I found that it helped me as an actor in order to mirror people and to look at facial expressions and to know what people are feeling and learn how to emote with your body, as opposed to what you're saying," he says. "It's kind of wild because I wear hearing aids and I've always had a problem with hearing ... I read lips and I watch people and by doing that, though, it's made me a better actor."

Read the whole story here. 

Why did the fish ride the subway? 
Old subway cars in Atlanta have found a new life underwater. At the end of last year, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) dumped two old railcars off Georgia's coast as part of a program to develop reef habitats and marine wildlife with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Reef Project. All hazardous materials were removed and they were inspected by the Coast Guard to make sure they were safe to submerge. In August, the DNR Coastal Resources Division made its first dive to check on the cars and were pleased to see the site teeming with curious fish and sea turtles. They even discovered soft coral beginning to grow. Subway cars aren't the only unusual objects scuba divers and anglers can find in what's known as Artificial Reef L about 23 nautical miles east of Ossabaw Island. There are also US Army M-60 battle tanks, barges, tugboats and even New York City subway cars. Man, imagine what the fish think. 

Read the whole story here.  

You gotta see this

There are cool eclipse photos, and then there is THIS cool eclipse photo. This photo depicting distorted shadows of the moon's surface created by an eclipse took the top prize in the  Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Photographer Ryan Imperio captured the image during the 2023 annular eclipse. The phenomenon is known as Bailey's beads. "Baily's beads are formed when sunlight shines through the valleys and craters of the Moon's surface, breaking the eclipse's well-known ring pattern, and are only visible when the Moon either enters or exits an eclipse," read a statement from the competition. "These are a challenge to capture due to their brevity and the precise timing needed."

Read the whole story here. 

This week on the 5 Good Things podcast, a woman biked 700 miles ride to raise awareness about substance abuse in memory of her brother. Scientists have figured out a way to turn banana waste into denim and clean energy for rural communities in Pakistan. Plus, a stay-at-home mom in Michigan dresses up like a clown to pick up trash and her neighbors love her message. Listen to the latest episode here! 

Heroes among us

Elisia Manuel's experience as a foster parent and adoptive mother led her to start her nonprofit, Three Precious Miracles, a volunteer-run organization that supports vulnerable Native American youth and their families. Manuel, who says she is Apache and Mexican, and her husband, Tecumseh, an enrolled member of Gila River Indian Community, became licensed foster parents in 2012 with his tribe in Arizona. Across the state, Native American children are overrepresented in the foster care system, while there is a shortage of Native American foster parents. As the couple got more involved with families in their community, Manuel started collecting basic necessities to help out. That eventually revealed a need to give kids opportunities to connect with their heritage. Now, Manuel and her organization provide programming and cultural events for more than 800 Native American children and their families every year; things like bead working classes, educational workshops and a tribal quilting program. Ultimately, she says her work is about building safe, positive, and culturally sensitive homes for all Native American children, no matter who is caring for them. 

Read the whole story here. 

Rec of the week

Shameless animal video

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

Ying Ying, a giant panda in Hong Kong, gave birth to tiny, tiny panda twins in August. We talked about it in The Good Stuff, but now it's important you see them in video form. They're just so, sooo tiny. (Click here to view) 

Made with love by CNN's 5 Things team. 

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