Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, appeared together at a public event on Thursday, for the first time since their sudden return to Britain. They met again in the city that witnessed their first joint official appearance 9 years ago.
Harry and Meghan surprised the King and other members of the royal family when they moved from California to England two months ago, accompanied by their two children, Prince Archie (7 years old) and Princess Lilibet (5 years old).
In their first joint public appearance since their return, the couple visited the city of Nottingham in central England, which they visited in 2017 shortly after announcing their intention to marry.
The couple began their visit by heading to a recording studio run by a charitable organization concerned with youth and the local community, which received support worth 1.1 million pounds ($1.46 million), which Harry announced last year. Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have become among the most controversial figures in Britain since they gave up their royal duties and moved to California in 2020, before they directed sharp criticism at the prince’s family and the royal institution itself. Opinion polls show that the majority of Britons view them negatively, while young people seem more sympathetic to them.
The location of their new home is kept secret due to security concerns, and they do not reside in a royal residence. The couple also had to transfer their two children to a new school shortly after the start of the school year due to security concerns, while a spokesman for them denounced the actions of “some European paparazzi” for interfering in their privacy.
In the midst of the pressures of daily life and negative feelings that may make a person lose his sense of joy, regaining joy does not require making major changes or waiting for exceptional events, as some simple methods can make a difference in the psychological state, and help enhance hope, increase passion, and a sense of the value of life.
The American New York Times newspaper reviewed a number of these methods, citing psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University, Kelly McGonigal, which are: Recover your happy memories and share them with others. A simple way to restore the feeling of joy is to reach out to close people, ask them about a memory that made them feel truly happy, and then share the special memories with them. McGonigal explains that a simple question about the situation in which a person felt the happiest may reveal influential experiences that he had not previously talked about, and give the conversation greater depth.
Look for “small moments of joy.” Happiness does not always come from major events. It may lie in simple daily details that we do not give enough attention to, such as complimenting someone on their clothes, helping someone reach an item on a high shelf inside a store, or exchanging a friendly smile with a passing person. McGonigal advises practicing noticing these small moments, which she describes as “flashes of joy.”
Greet others warmly. Saying hello may seem mundane, but it can be an effective way to enhance human connection and feel good about life. According to a study that included more than 60,000 people, greeting others warmly is associated with a higher level of life satisfaction for the person who initiates the greeting as well.
Encourage others. A person can enhance his feeling of happiness by encouraging others and celebrating their achievements, even if he does not have a personal relationship with them. McGonigal explains that supporting others gives a person the opportunity to practice what is known as positive empathy.
Scientists have discovered a fossil of a crow-sized bird that lived in China about 150 million years ago, and had atrophied wings that may have made it a runner, not a pilot, in a discovery that paints a more complex picture of the evolution of aviation in its early stages. According to Reuters, this new Jurassic species, known as Utsornis yangyuanensis, represents one of the oldest known birds.
Paleontologist Min Wang, of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that "Youtsornis" challenges the traditional model that the body structure of birds evolved almost exclusively under the influence of selective pressures for flight. The almost complete fossil was extracted from the ground in Fujian Province, southeastern China.
The Utsornis bird, which is estimated to weigh about 1.8 pounds (800 grams), combines anatomical features of birds and dinosaurs. His front limbs were complete wings, but they were very small compared to the rest of his body, and did not allow him to fly powerfully. It also had slender skull bones and a pelvis similar to those of birds. In contrast, Utsornis had a sickle-shaped claw on its flexible second finger, similar to what carnivorous dinosaurs had. Wang believes that “Utsornis” likely shared a common ancestor with “Archeopteryx” that lived earlier in the Jurassic period.
For his part, paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh, Steve Brusati, said that “Utsornis” appears to be an actual member of the evolutionary line of birds, but it is a strange bird, as its skeleton looks like a Frankenstein’s monster, in reference to the mixture of avian and dinosaurian features.
