Sometimes a trip to the museum can be a wonderful experience, full of great art or fascinating science. Other times, though, it can be pretty shitty.
At Italy’s Museo della Merda, though, “pretty shitty” is the whole point. The museum, whose title translates to “The Museum of Shit,” opened this Spring in the northern Italian town of Castelbosco, and sits on the grounds of an in-use dairy farm where cattle produce over 220,000 pounds of manure per day. Inspired by his fecal wealth, farm owner Gianantonio Locatelli created the museum with partners Luca Cipelletti, Gaspare Luigi Marcone and Massimo Valsecchi, in order to educate the public on the history of, uses for, and complex cultural relationship with—what else?—Poop.
[…] brings together biomechanics and environmental art, the agricultural landscape, the system of digesters that turn manure into energy, and the ground floor of the late-medieval castle of Castelbosco – kept warm thanks to the heat exchange of the engines that generate . Home to a series of installations in continuous evolution, dedicated to transformation, the ability to transmute natural substances and re-establish a healthier relationship between man and nature. Themes that were once the stuff of alchemists, and which are now at the basis of a project that does away with cultural norms and pre-concepts.
Featuring both art, as well as more scientifically-focused installations, the museum celebrated its grand opening this past week with an off-site exhibit at Milan’s Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology.
Back on the farm, Locatelli not only celebrates poop as the basis for his foray into museology, but also puts to good use the tons of fecal fallout from his dairy cows, by refining the manure into methane, crop fertilizer, and even construction material.
This short, Italian-language newscast gives a sense (thankfully, not scent) of what the museum is like:
Commander Reid Wiseman’s photo, taken from Artemis II as it pushed away from Earth and races toward the Moon, reveals the majestic blue planet we all call home. NASA released the image shortly after liftoff, instantly turning it into one of the defining visuals of the mission so far.
It’s been more than 50 years since man last traveled to the moon on Apollo 17 in 1972. For younger generations, the Artemis II flyby and the eventual Artemis IV landing, might be the first time space exploration feels less like science and more like a shared human experience.
Artemis II has a simple yet extremely complicated mission to fly around the moon. Expected to take around 10 days, the crew of 4 will fly aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
After orbiting twice around the Earth to ensure everything is working properly, they will perform a propulsion move called the transluna injection burn. This will send the Orion 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the moon. During the rest of the journey, the crew will test emergency procedures, conduct some science experiments, evaluate the radiation shelter, and observe the Moon.
For the return leg home, the Orion spacecraft will rely on Earth’s gravity to pull them back. Orion is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10th. There, it will be picked up by the U.S. Navy.
NASA shared in their Mission Overview, “Through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before and create an enduring presence in deep space, while simultaneously preparing to land the first astronaut – an American – on Mars.”
For many Americans, this is the first time humanity has ventured this far from Earth in their lifetime. The Artemis II mission feels less like a run-of-the-mill space mission and more like the return of a dream we had quietly abandoned.
A 2025 study in Frontiers showed that experiencing awe about space can make people feel more like “science people,” sparking their curiosity about learning more science in the future. During the total 2024 solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks the sun, people remained in awe and felt inspired even 6 months later.
Nature Reviews Psychology shared a 2024 study that showed experiencing awe can make people feel smaller in a good way. Individuals become less focused on themselves and more connected to the world. Awe has a positive influence upon thinking, motivation, social interactions, and well-being.
This most recent mission by NASA proves that humanity can still commit to projects bigger than the daily news cycle. Some achievements are worth pursuing not for immediate gratification, but because they expand the young minds that will shape our future.
Image from Artemis II window looking back to Earth. Image Credit: NASA
People are inspired to talk about Artemis II
A Reddit post, First photo taken from Artemis commander Reid Wiseman had people excitedly sharing on the momentous achievement. Several people seemed inspired, others tried to be funny, and many seemed appreciative of the experience itself. These are a small collection of thoughts from the comments:
“In outer space you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it.’
“You think any astronaut at one point did the finger pinchy thing where they’re crushing the planet?”
“Unlike watching from near-Earth orbit, this image has not been seen by human eyes in over fifty years. Mankind is able to do great things, when we all work together!”
“Lot of water/earth in front of me on that photo”
“That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives.”
“HELLO WORLD !!!”
“Flat-earthers gonna be upset. Lol”
“That beautiful silver line of the atmosphere the shines across the border of the globe is so surreal. Literally looks like a magic border in fantasy novels…”
From right to left, NASA astronauts Christina Koch, mission specialist; Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Image Credit: NASA
10 days to bring our astronauts home
NASA’s 4 astronauts are only beginning the long journey that carries hope, wonder, and promise of future space discoveries. Mission specialist Christina Koch, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and fellow astronaut Jermey Hansen are already gathering information that can lead to eventual Moon landings and even a trip to Mars.
Weisman’s photo so beautifully captures the fragile yet powerful planet we live on. It’s a spectacular image that highlights so much of a planet most of us will see far too little of in our lifetimes. Mission specialist Koch expressed the effect of witnessing Earth from space, saying,
“… you see the Earth as it exists with the whole universe in the background. You see the thin blue line of the atmosphere, and then when you’re on the dark side of the Earth, you actually see this very thin green line that shows you where the atmosphere is. What you realize is every single person that you know is sustained and inside of that green line and everything else outside of it is completely inhospitable. You don’t see borders, you don’t see religious lines, you don’t see political boundaries. All you see is Earth and you see that we are way more alike than we are different.”
As Americans have become more tribal, isolated, and downright lonely, the need for quality friendships is at an all-time high. Yet, some of the most important relationships begin when we aren’t looking for them. Sometimes something seemingly insignificant, like a simple hobby or a mutual love, slowly grows into a real connection.
Dr. Arthur Brooks shared his insights into friendships on the Mighty Pursuit podcast. He explains that there are three types of friendships, and the one that matters most is a useless friendship.
Aristotle believed friendship was the secret to happiness
(Discussion begins at 1 hour into the video.) Brooks traces the value and importance of friendship back to the famous philosopher Aristotle. He explains that Aristotle believed the ultimate secret behind a happy life was friends. Brooks says, “In the Nicomachean Ethics, he [Aristotle] said there’s three levels of friendship that bring more happiness. And if you get stuck at lower levels, it’s going to be a problem for your life.”
The first type of friendship is transactional. These are people with whom you do business or have a casual acquaintance. You don’t really know them on a personal level. The relationship is friendly, but if business or a reason for interacting stops, so does the friendship.
Brooks describes transactional friendships, saying, “There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just incomplete.” He continues, “If that’s all you have you’re going to be hopelessly lonely.”
The second type is friendships of beauty. They are chosen out of admiration. These are people we want to be around. Brooks describes it as, “You’re magnetic. It could be because of your physical beauty, your sense of humor, your intelligence, or your success.”
Relationships built on admiration are better than transactional, but Brooks warns, “If that beauty goes away, so does that friendship.”
Aristotle described the friendship that brings the most satisfaction as Atelic, meaning it has no specific end or goal. Brooks calls it “Useless. It’s cosmically, beautifully useless. And so if you want to be happier, you need more useless people you just love.”
Describing the characteristics of this type of friend, Brooks shares, “you’re walking together, shoulder to shoulder, into the future and looking at something you both love mutually.” He continues, “There’s always a third love in these perfect friendships.”
Examples offered by Brooks might be a couple loving their children or best friends who love a sports franchise. Brooks says, “It can be dumb, or it can be cosmic. But the whole point is that third love is the glue that makes that, that useless relationship beautiful and perfect to you.”
Research supports Aristotle’s belief that having a friendship without an agenda makes for a richer and happier life. A 2023 study in Frontiers found that friendships valued for the stimulating companionship and shared activities predicted higher well-being, life satisfaction, and personal growth. Best friends aren’t based on networking or usefulness.
A 2024 study in the National Library of Medicine found that high-quality best friendships lowered loneliness and boosted self-esteem. Meaningful relationships can begin with a shared love, but over time, become a part of who the friends actually are.
A 2022 study at Cornell University revealed that repeated physical proximity and similar interests strongly increased the likelihood of friendship formation regardless of background or social differences. Activities like walks, hobbies, sports, and creative interests offered a shared space where even unlikely friendships grow.
Brooks suggests the most important friends come from connecting over the smallest things. They don’t happen because we need them; more so, they exist for their own sake. These “useless friendships” are grounded in mutual joy and common loves. They may seem small or incidental at first, but the Atelic relationship shapes our happiness the most.
Mindfulness meditation is a process of noticing difficult thoughts and feelings rather than shutting them out. – Photo credit: Marco VDM/E+ via Getty Images
Yuval Hadash J. David Creswell magine being asked to sit alone in a quiet room for 15 minutes with nothing to do – no phone, no music, no external distraction. In a well-known 2014 study, many participants found that task so challenging that they chose to press a button to give themselves an unpleasant electric shock instead…
magine being asked to sit alone in a quiet room for 15 minutes with nothing to do – no phone, no music, no external distraction. In a well-known 2014 study, many participants found that task so challenging that they chose to press a button to give themselves an unpleasant electric shock instead of continuing to sit with their thoughts and sensations.
Because being with their own thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations can be so difficult, people often turn away from them. Smartphones offer constant distraction from boredom or stress, allowing users to disengage from their present-moment sensations and thoughts with a quick swipe or tap.
But avoiding unpleasant internal experience can backfire. Studies show that doing so is associated with a range of mental health problems, including anxiety and depression.
Mindfulness is a mental state that people can learn to cultivate through training. When people are mindful, they direct their attention toward their moment-to-moment bodily sensations, emotions and thoughts, and they meet those experiences with an attitude of curiosity and open acceptance.
Mindfulness can be cultivated through “mindful moments” in daily life, moments in which people intentionally stay present with what they do, hear, see or feel. However, formal mindfulness meditation involves sustained practice that systematically trains attention and acceptance. Our research shows that training acceptance during mindfulness meditation can substantially improve your emotional well-being.
This doesn’t mean they were doing it wrong. Turning your attention inward can feel challenging. Often, it brings you into contact with experiences that you normally try to push away, such as feeling bored, uncomfortable or agitated. However, we’ve also found that facing difficult experiences during mindfulness training can have positive effects.
In these studies, we have found that acceptance is the critical driver. When acceptance is removed from mindfulness training, these benefits largely disappear.
The power of learning to accept experience
A key part of mindfulness practice involves turning toward difficult experiences, such as like stress, boredom and pain, rather than seeking distractions or pushing those experiences away. It means noticing feelings and thoughts as they arise, sensing how they show up in the body, and approaching them with an attitude of acceptance rather than judgment or resistance.
A helpful way to think about this comes from the “two arrows” metaphor, which is rooted in East Asian Buddhist traditions. It teaches that there are two types of suffering, which can be likened to being struck by two arrows.
The first arrow is the unavoidable unpleasant experience that comes with being human – for example, feeling exhausted after a poor night’s sleep. The second arrow is how we react to that unpleasantness: tensing up, resisting it, replaying it in our mind, criticizing ourselves or trying to escape it. Often this second arrow adds more suffering than the original unpleasant experience.
In mindfulness practice, the goal is not to stop having unpleasant sensations and feelings. Instead, mindfulness helps people accept the unavoidable difficulties of that first arrow and to soften the second arrow by letting go of struggle with those experiences and reactions that make them worse.
For example, let yourself feel bored without immediately reaching for distraction. Acknowledge anxiety, sadness or grief with openness, instead of trying to suppress those feelings or fueling them with harsh self-criticism.
Practicing mindfulness in everyday life
One way to cultivate this attitude is to treat thoughts, emotions and sensations as guests in your inner landscape. Instead of fighting them or clinging to them, notice when they arise. Acknowledge and welcome them, and when they naturally change, let them go. Some people find it helpful to imagine holding a difficult feeling as they would a crying baby, with a touch that’s steady, supportive and kind.
If you want to try this in daily life, the next time you feel a challenging experience, pause and open to the experience for a moment. Notice what you are feeling. Where does it show up in your body – a tightness in the chest or heaviness in the stomach? Can you allow it to be there, even briefly, without trying to fix it or distract yourself from it?
Then observe what happens. Does the challenging experience change over time in any way? Do your reactions shift or soften with repeated practice? Remember that a brief practice is unlikely to produce instant relief, and expecting quick results can actually make it harder to stay open to your experience as it is.
Rather, our findings suggest that meaningful change comes through consistent, ongoing practice. Every small step matters. Over time, brief moments of responding to stress or discomfort with mindfulness can reshape how you relate to challenges and provide greater resilience and ease.
In the study where people chose electric shocks over sitting alone with their thoughts, being with their inner experience felt almost intolerable. Mindfulness offers a different path: not escaping that experience but learning to stay with it. In doing so, what once felt unbearable can become something you can meet with greater emotional balance and well-being.
