The week's good news: January 24, 2019

(Image credit: Andriy Popov / Alamy Stock Photo)

Jump to category:

1. Researchers find an easy way to lower blood pressure: Think of a loved one
2. Navy medic reunites with abandoned baby he rescued 66 years ago
3. Iowa Lottery has special treat for man with winning ticket
4. Nonprofit founded by 10-year-old delivers 8,000 bikes to people around the world
5. Middle school choir surprises director by serenading him at his wedding rehearsal

published 24 January 2019

1. Researchers find an easy way to lower blood pressure: Think of a loved one

Looking for a quick way to lower your blood pressure? Researchers suggest you close your eyes, and think of someone you love. As part of a new study published in the journal Psychophysiology, 120 undergraduate students in committed relationships were split into three groups. All students to put their feet in ice water for four minutes, but in group one, the participants' partners were present; in group two, they were told to think simply about their partner; and in group three, they were told to reflect on their day. Researchers found the blood pressure of participants in the first two groups was lower than of those who were told to think about their day. The participants whose partners were in the room also reported that they were in less physical pain. The researchers say the results suggest that loving relationships may act as a "buffer" against stress responses.

For three months during the Korean War, 1,000 sailors aboard the USS Point Cruz doted on a tiny passenger: a baby rescued from a trash can in Seoul. While on a walk in 1953, Navy medic Norm Van Sloun of Minnesota and a few other sailors heard a cry, and found the baby, left for dead. He was brought on board, and a crib was made and a sick bay was transformed into a nursery. They named him George, and sailors lined up to see him during his visiting hours. Van Sloun, 88, always wondered what happened to George, and his daughter finally found him online. Now named Dan Keenen, he was adopted by a Navy surgeon in Spokane, and is married with two sons. They recently reconnected via video chat, with Keenen telling Van Sloun, if it hadn't been for the sailors, "I literally wouldn't be here today."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

After buying some lottery scratchers earlier this month, Tyler Heep found himself with a winning ticket. Sure, it was only for $1, but the Des Moines, Iowa, man still thought that was something worth celebrating. It turns out, the Iowa Lottery agreed. Heep went to lottery headquarters to cash in his winning ticket, and asked for one of the large novelty checks that are given to people who win jackpots. "They decided to treat me like a million dollar winner," Heep told WHO-TV. "The guy came down the stairs and they took me into the back room where the camera was with the Iowa Lottery logo. Sure enough they wrote me the $1 check and had me hold it up and took the picture."

During a 2005 trip to southern Africa with his mother, 10-year-old Winston Duncan was inspired to start a nonprofit that, 14 years later, is still going strong. Duncan met kids with holes in their shoes who walked miles to school, and wanted to make it easier for them to get around. Along with his mother, Dixie, he launched Wheels for Africa. People from his hometown of Arlington, Virginia, and the surrounding area donate bicycles, and after they are fixed up, the bikes are sent to people in need, mostly in Africa. Over the last 14 years, more than 8,000 bikes have been donated. This month, Duncan, his mom, and a group of volunteers went to Puerto Rico for the first time, where 400 bikes and helmets were given to people still reeling from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Now 24, Duncan is a graduate of Bard College and working at a political consulting firm.

These were definitely the best kind of wedding crashers. When choral students at Hingham Middle School in Hingham, Massachusetts, found out their choir director, Christopher Landis, was getting married, they came up with a fitting way to celebrate: They would surprise him with an impromptu performance of The Beatles classic "All You Need is Love" at his wedding rehearsal brunch. More than 50 kids signed up for the surprise serenade and attended four weekend practices. Well-rehearsed, they left school early on Dec. 21 and traveled 30 miles to the brunch. Landis was shocked when the students started filing into the room, and began to cry when he realized they were there to sing. "It was so wonderful for the kids to see him with his family and his close friends, and they saw him as a person, not just their teacher," parent Joy Foraste told The Patriot Ledger.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.