Who makes the best banana bread? Your grandma, probably — but what about after her? Eater reporter Bettina Makalintal tested four popular online recipes to see which turned out the most delicious final product, while also maintaining the quick bread's ethos of "thrift and efficiency." Her top-ranked recipe certainly fits into that ideology: It calls for neither eggs nor butter, making it accessible and budget-friendly. Now you have a use for those bananas turning brown on your counter (and a Saturday morning activity).
Must Reads
Running out of iPhone storage? One sneaky app may be the culprit
New Bill Provides Free School Meals to 40K More Utah Students
Tetra Images/Getty Images
An additional 40,000 Utah elementary school students will soon qualify for free school meals, thanks to a bill approved by Gov. Spencer Cox last Tuesday. Currently, students whose family income is at or below 130% of the federal poverty level — about $40,560 for a family of four — are eligible. But when the bill, HB100, goes into effect July 1, the threshold for receiving free meals will change to 185% of the poverty level, or $57,720. Per Utah-based nonprofit The Policy Project, HB100 will allot $2.5 million from the state's education budget toward the newly free meals, although the organization is also raising private funds in case more are needed, a spokesperson told The Salt Lake Tribune. The law also states that local education agencies will be prohibitedfrom "stigmatizing students who cannot afford meals," i.e. singling out children who are receiving the free food. "I am really excited," State Rep. Tyler Clancy, who sponsored the bill, told Fox13 Salt Lake City in February when it moved to the Utah House floor. "I think you saw and got feedback from committee members, even some that have been in education, recognizing the importance that hungry kids can't learn."
Together With Timeplast
Former PepsiCo Exec Invented a Plastic That Dissolves in Water
If anyone knows a thing or two about plastic's impact on the planet, it's Manuel Rendon. The former PepsiCo executive and environmental engineer is using his 20 years of expertise to solve one of the world's biggest problems through Timeplast. Up to 450 million metric tons of plastic are wasted each year. Microplastics seep into our bodies, and mountains of bottles pile up in the ocean. But Timeplast has patented a water-soluble, time-programmable plastic that vanishes without harming the environment. Major players are already partnering with Timeplast for its patented technology — sales grew 6,000% in the first month. Now, you can invest as Timeplast scales in its $1.3 trillion plastic market, from packaging to 3D printing.
This is a paid advertisement for Timeplast's Regulation CF Offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.timeplast.com.
Sports
Parker Byrd on Playing DI Baseball With a Prosthetic Leg — "I Can Pave the Way"
Seanphillipscreative and ECU baseball
When East Carolina University baseball player Parker Byrd hit the ball in the sixth inning of a March 14 game against William & Mary, he became one of the only Division I players to get a hit with a prosthetic leg. "I got my first hit, and that was everything I've worked for," 21-year-old Byrd tells Nice News. "Just to put it in real life was amazing." The accomplishment was years in the making. When he was just a freshman in high school, Byrd was offered a scholarship to play baseball for ECU. For the next four years, he eagerly anticipated living out his family's legacy by playing for the college his parents went to, and taking the next step toward fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing for the MLB. In his senior year, he was ranked the second-best shortstop in North Carolina. Then on July 23, 2022, the summer before Byrd was set to start college, his parents got a call: Their son had been in a boating accident and was in critical condition. Thankfully, the doctors were able to save Byrd's life. But 12 days after the accident, he had to make the heartwrenching decision to allow them to amputate his right leg below the knee. His initial thoughts went to baseball, but quickly turned to the bigger picture. "That's something that no kid ever wants to hear," Byrd says, adding, "But I realized at that moment that it was more than just baseball. It was about life."Read our full interview covering Byrd's journey back to baseball.
Culture
Prehistoric Marine Gravesite Is Now an Innovative Dinosaur Museum
Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University
A whopping 66 million years ago, around 100 different marine species died in a shallow sea in what is now southern New Jersey, due to the after-effects of an asteroid that crashed off the coast of Mexico. Today, it may be "one of the world's most important fossil sites," per The New York Times, and a new museum is making its cache more accessible to the public. Ten years and $75 million in the making, the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum, anticipating 200,000 visitors a year, opened its doors last weekend. Exhibits spotlight the sea creatures that once swam beneath its floors, including a terrifying re-creation of a massive shark-like mosasaur and life-size depictions of interactions between dinos meant to "show the gritty underbelly of the dinosaur world," according to paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, the museum's executive director. There's also an environmental message behind the museum — its motto is "Discover the past, protect the future." In the "Hall of Extinction," exhibits connect the asteroid's effects to the creatures struggling with climate changes today, and kiosks offer actionable steps visitors can take to help. "We're hoping to make people fall in love with this amazing planet that we have so that they take action to protect it," Lacovara told The Times. Explore some of the exhibits.
In Other News
In June, Bruce Springsteen will drop seven "lost albums" featuring 74 never-before-released songs (read more)
This new "flexible" robot can help first responders rescue disaster victims trapped under debris (read more)
The LA Kings are hosting free youth hockey programs to welcome more Latino kids to the sport (read more)
A husband-and-wife architect duo are giving out pre-approved home plans to help Eaton fire victims rebuild (read more)
Macy the golden retriever's long-awaited meeting with a whale was "the best day of her life" — watch (read more)
Because Weekend x Nice News
Nice News' Merch Now Comes in Women's Fit Nice News' merch collab with Because Weekend just got another upgrade: The "nice and easy," "smile," and "addicted to optimism" tees are now available in women's fit! The collection is all about celebrating positivity and making every day feel like the weekend. Click below to shop the options and help usspread Nice News beyond the inbox.
With "zero savings" in the bank, New Zealand couple James and Leonie used secondhand materials to build themselves an off-grid tiny home that's surrounded by a fully regenerative, small-scale syntropic food forest — and their DIY journey was featured in a recent episode of Living Big in a Tiny House. The agriculture system, which James turned into a business as well, imitates natural ecosystems and can produce food while simultaneously boosting soil health and biodiversity. "It's this wonderful collaboration between humans and nature," he said.
Photo of the Day
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Ahead of beginning routine science operations later this month, NASA space telescope SPHEREx turned on its detectors for the first time on March 27. The telescope captured images of tens of thousands of star galaxies, and each of the six shots above depict over 100,000 detected light sources. "Our spacecraft has opened its eyes on the universe," said SPHEREx project scientist Olivier Doré in a news release. "It's performing just as it was designed to."
Beat Rising Costs With a Sam's Club Membership
Everyone's feeling the pressures of rising costs right now, but shopping at Sam's Club can help you manage your family's budget. The store is offering Plus Memberships for just $70, a $40 discount from the usual $110. Plus Members enjoy free delivery, early shopping hours, and the ability to skip checkout lines with Scan & Go. With low prices on name brands and exclusive Member's Mark products, Sam's Club helps you get more for their money.
