CNN TRAVEL

In the shadow of Notre Dame, just steps from the water’s edge, a centuries-old tradition continues — one book at a time.

For nearly 500 years, Paris’ bouquinistes — the iconic second-hand booksellers lining the banks of the Seine — have been part of the city’s cultural heartbeat. Now, facing competition from online retailers, rising digital distractions, and even the 2024 Olympic Games, they’re doing what they’ve always done: adapting, connecting, and persisting.

“This is my life. It’s not just a job,” said 76-year-old Sylvia Brui, who sells old books from a stall on Quai de Conti. “We sell things that we love.”

Brui is one of around 230 licensed bouquinistes whose green metal boxes stretch for three kilometers along the river, forming what is arguably the world’s largest open-air bookstore. From vintage paperbacks to rare engravings, stamps, and old postcards, the stalls are a haven for collectors, students, and curious passersby.

The tradition dates back to 1550, when a few vendors first set up on Île de la Cité. It grew quickly after the 1606 construction of the Pont Neuf, which offered a rare expanse of open space in the dense medieval city. By the early 1900s, Paris standardized the look of the stalls — low, hinged boxes painted "wagon green" to preserve views of the Seine. Today, bouquinistes operate rent-free but under strict city oversight: a five-year permit, minimum four days a week of operation (weather permitting), and a catalog focused on second-hand books and printed collectibles.

"You must show your commitment to books," said Jérôme Callais, president of the Association Culturelle des Bouquinistes de Paris. “It’s not surprising that the majority of booksellers are over 50 — about 80% of them.”

But the new generation is starting to make its mark.

Six years ago, 35-year-old Camille Goudeau opened her own stall on Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville, specializing in science fiction and fantasy. She aims to draw in new readers with low prices and a casual vibe.

“I deal in inexpensive second-hand books to encourage people who don’t read, or read very little, to read again,” she said.

Goudeau tells the story of a woman in her thirties who once bought her first book — The Old Man and the Sea — from Goudeau’s stall. “Later, she read Joyce. Now she goes to bookstores,” Brui added.

Ozan Yigitkeskin, 52, joined the bouquiniste ranks more recently, after a career in online bookselling and journalism. His first job? Selling books from a bicycle in Istanbul at age 15. Now, he sells multilingual titles on the Seine. “I know how fragile small bookshops can be,” he said. “That’s a problem I won’t have here.”

Despite the challenges — long hours outdoors, exposure to the elements, modest incomes — most bouquinistes wouldn’t trade the job for anything.

“I don’t like being stuck indoors,” said Goudeau. “And I find it hard to work for someone else. Being a bookseller allows me to be completely independent.”

The human connection is key, she added. “It’s a very direct way of connecting with people. The stalls are a refuge for some — it’s their daily walk, their only daily interaction.”

That sense of community resonates with customers, too. Literature student Laura Contreras, 26, visits the stalls regularly to hunt for philosophical texts. “There’s historic value; each item has its own story,” she said. Fellow visitor Marie-Samuelle Klein, 23, loves the tactile experience: “I like books when they’re old — their smell. There’s something symbolic about it, knowing that many people have read it before me.”

Not even the Paris Olympics could dislodge the bouquinistes. When city organizers proposed temporarily removing the stalls for the 2024 opening ceremony on the Seine, a public backlash forced them to back down.

Callais said the episode proved how deeply Parisians value the stalls. “Here there is eye-to-eye communication between human beings,” he said. “We provide an oasis of humanity and culture.”

Each year, concerns about the future of the bouquinistes resurface. But as Goudeau put it, “People always say, ‘Oh my God, it’s terrible, the booksellers are dying out.’ But in fact, we’re still here. And I hope we’ll be here for a long time to come.”

How a Historic Paris Book Market is Thriving Amid Digital Age Challenges

People

Scott Lee was running out of time.

The Colorado man, who has battled the rare autoimmune disease Goodpasture syndrome for two decades, had already endured more than most: a coma, failed transplants, multiple surgeries, and years of dialysis. But just before the holidays, he received what he calls a “Christmas miracle” — a life-saving kidney transplant.

“I was down to my last couple of hours,” Lee told CBS affiliate KKTV. “They had already brought a chaplain in on the phone.”

Lee’s condition had deteriorated to the point where only a kidney from a living donor could save him. But the odds were steep. With less than a 1% chance of finding a match, and neither of his two sons viable as donors, hope was slipping away fast.

That’s when a longtime friend from church, Julie McVicker, stepped in.

“I had to try,” McVicker said. She wasn’t a match, but she found another way to help. By donating her kidney to someone else through a paired donation program, McVicker earned Lee a living donor voucher — giving him priority access to a compatible kidney.

“She gave up a body part for me, and in turn I got a body part from somebody else,” Lee said. “It was literally a Christmas miracle.”

Lee recently underwent a successful transplant and is now recovering. He’s grateful for the extra time — especially with his granddaughters.

“I’m so happy that I get to watch my granddaughters grow up,” he said. “I was worried I wasn’t going to get to.”

His story is one of unrelenting struggle. Diagnosed in 2005 at age 37, Lee has lived with Goodpasture syndrome, a rare condition where the immune system attacks the kidneys and lungs. According to the Mayo Clinic, the disorder causes the body to produce antibodies that mistakenly target collagen in those organs, leading to inflammation and, if untreated, organ failure.

In 2020, after six years on the transplant list, Lee finally received a kidney — only for it to be removed a month later due to complications. He contracted COVID-19 during recovery, and doctors later found the kidney was covered in fungus.

The next two years were brutal. He fought off the infection while undergoing a string of operations that included partial amputation of his right foot, a total hip replacement, arterial bypass surgery, and the placement of tubes and drains throughout his body. “I lost the front half of my foot, then it went to my hip, lost my hip,” he said.

Through it all, he never gave up — and neither did his family. A construction worker and outdoorsman at heart, Lee credits his wife for being his rock.

“My wife is an absolute angel for all she has done for me and the things she has sacrificed,” he wrote on his National Kidney Registry profile.

Now, with a new kidney and a fresh lease on life, Lee is focused on recovery, gratitude — and staying close to McVicker.

“We are supposed to take care of each other,” he said. “When you have that opportunity, you need to do it. I was lucky I got to. And now she’s part of the family whether she likes it or not. She’s stuck with us.”

Colorado Man Receives 'Christmas Miracle Kidney' After Autoimmune Disease Left Him Near Death

A toddler’s in-flight clean-up mission has captured hearts across the internet — and changed one mom’s entire perspective on flying.

Lydia Bakker, just 2 ½ years old, went viral after helping out a Delta Air Lines crew during a recent flight to visit family for Thanksgiving. What started as a nervous travel day turned into an unforgettable experience, thanks to one kind flight attendant and a curious toddler eager for a job.

“Our Delta flight attendant noticed our toddler needed a job, now all she talks about is ‘I picked [up] all the garbage,’” Lydia’s mom, Becca Bakker, wrote in a TikTok post that quickly racked up views. In the video, Lydia is seen confidently walking down the aisle of a Delta jet, bag in hand, politely asking passengers if they had any trash.

Flight attendant Terry Grant can be heard gently guiding her. “Turn to the other side,” she says. “Say, ‘trash, please.’”

The response online was immediate. Viewers praised Lydia’s “lil smirk” and the confidence she showed. Even Delta’s official TikTok chimed in: “Teamwork makes the dream work, even at 30,000 ft 😉👏.”

Becca, a self-described nervous flyer, said she boarded the flight from Minnesota with a bit of anxiety. She and her husband Jordan had packed plenty of toys and distractions for their toddler. But once they took their seats near the back of the plane, something unexpected happened — Lydia and Grant hit it off.

“They connected immediately,” Becca told PEOPLE. “Throughout the flight, Terry kept checking on us and chatting with Lydia. She even gave her a pair of Delta wings.”

Grant, who’s worked as a flight attendant for nearly four decades, said Lydia reminded her of her own daughter, who now works as a TV anchor.

“I would use the word captivating to describe your daughter,” Grant told Becca. “She hugged me with her heart, and she kept pulling me back to her every time I walked by. She would just captivate me.”

It wasn’t the first time Grant had asked a child to help clean up, but it had been a while. Lydia, she said, was more than happy to jump in.

“She was so brave,” Grant said. “You could see how proud she was.”

Passengers quickly got into the spirit too. Some even tore their trash into smaller pieces just to give Lydia more to collect.

“It was like everything came together in this magical synchronicity that caused this wonderful moment to happen,” Grant said. “It was perfectly orchestrated without it being rehearsed. It was just authentic and pure.”

For Becca, the moment did more than just go viral — it reshaped how she sees flying.

“This experience completely changed my perspective,” she said. “It’s not such a scary thing for me anymore. The flight home was a completely different experience because of Terry and Lydia. I learned it’s a space where community can be built and exciting memories can be shared with a whole cabin of people.”

As for Lydia? She’s still proudly talking about her job in the sky.

Toddler Steals Hearts by Joining Delta Crew on Holiday Flight

The National Climate

Abu Dhabi is making it easier for pet lovers to bring their furry companions along for a night out.

In a move aimed at boosting tourism and inclusivity, the Emirate has amended its public health legislation to allow companion animals — such as cats and dogs — at restaurants and hotels that hold tourism licences. The announcement was made by the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) on Thursday.

Previously, pets were prohibited from dining venues across the capital, with exceptions made only for certified service animals. The revised rules mark a significant shift in policy and will now give establishments the option to welcome pets, provided certain conditions are met.

According to the Abu Dhabi Media Office, participating venues must offer designated areas for animals, preferably in outdoor settings like balconies or patios. If pets are permitted indoors, businesses must ensure those areas meet public health and safety standards, protect the welfare of animals, and maintain the comfort of other guests.

“Hotels and restaurants with tourism licenses in the Emirate can now welcome owners and their companion animals, defined as pets that would usually accompany their owners outside their homes,” the statement read. The regulations stress that it’s up to each venue to decide whether they want to participate.

The move is part of a broader effort to position Abu Dhabi as a “world-leading destination,” said Fahad Ali Alshehhi, acting executive director of the Municipal Services Operations Support Sector at DMT.

Pet-friendly initiatives have been slowly gaining traction in the capital. Back in 2021, the W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island became the city’s first luxury hotel to officially allow pets during guest stays. Under that program, animals weighing up to 18kg could accompany their owners in the hotel lobby and private suites, although they remained off-limits in restaurants, bars, and pool areas.

With the new policy, more venues will be free to adopt similar practices — and may go even further by allowing pets into designated dining spaces.

The change aligns Abu Dhabi with a growing global trend toward pet-friendly travel and hospitality, appealing to both local residents and international tourists who don’t want to leave their animals behind.

Hotels and restaurants choosing to opt in will need to update their internal policies and prepare designated zones that are safe and comfortable for both animals and other patrons.

Ultimately, the updated legislation gives venues the flexibility to define their own boundaries — and gives animal lovers a new reason to explore the city, with pets in tow.

Abu Dhabi Hotels And Restaurants Welcome Cats And Dogs Under New Tourism Rules

Science Daily

A massive cosmic filament made up of hundreds of galaxies is doing something few have ever seen before: it’s rotating.

That’s the finding of an international research team led by the University of Oxford, who identified one of the largest known rotating structures in the universe — a razor-thin strand of galaxies embedded within a larger filament stretching some 50 million light years across. Their work was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The discovery adds a new twist to our understanding of how galaxies spin and evolve, and how their motion may be shaped by the vast, thread-like structures they’re embedded in.

Cosmic filaments are the largest structures in the universe. They act as enormous highways of dark matter and gas, funneling material into galaxies and linking them together across millions of light years. This newly identified filament, located about 140 million light years from Earth, contains a particularly curious feature: a narrow chain of 14 hydrogen-rich galaxies, all arranged in a structure just 117,000 light years wide but 5.5 million light years long.

But it’s not just the shape that caught astronomers’ attention — it’s the motion. Many of these galaxies appear to be spinning in the same direction as the filament itself. Even more striking, the filament seems to be rotating as a whole, with galaxies on one side moving in the opposite direction of those on the other.

“You can liken it to the teacups ride at a theme park,” said Dr. Lyla Jung, a physicist at the University of Oxford and co-lead author of the study. “Each galaxy is like a spinning teacup, but the whole platform — the cosmic filament — is rotating too.”

Researchers estimate the filament’s rotation speed at around 110 kilometers per second. The dense central region spans about 50 kiloparsecs, or 163,000 light years. This kind of large-scale rotation is rare, and its combination with aligned galaxy spin makes the structure especially valuable for understanding how galaxies acquire angular momentum.

The team used data from the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, which tracked hydrogen gas — a key indicator of star-forming activity and cosmic motion. That data came from the MIGHTEE survey, a deep-sky study led by Oxford astrophysicist Professor Matt Jarvis. It was combined with optical observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), providing a detailed map of the filament and its galaxies.

“These kinds of studies can only be achieved by large groups with diverse skillsets,” said Jarvis. “This really demonstrates the power of combining data from different observatories to obtain greater insights into how large structures and galaxies form in the universe.”

The filament appears to be relatively young and "dynamically cold," meaning it hasn’t yet been disturbed by violent gravitational interactions. Most of its galaxies are still rich in hydrogen, which means they’re actively forming stars or preparing to.

That makes the filament not just a curiosity, but a sort of fossil record of how cosmic flows shape galaxy growth.

“This filament is a fossil record of cosmic flows,” said co-lead author Dr. Madalina Tudorache, who is affiliated with both Oxford and the University of Cambridge. “It helps us piece together how galaxies acquire their spin and grow over time.”

The findings also have practical implications. Galaxy spin alignments like the ones observed here can interfere with upcoming cosmology surveys, such as the European Space Agency’s Euclid mission and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Understanding the mechanics behind these alignments could help refine those measurements.

Researchers from universities and observatories across the UK and South Africa contributed to the study, including the University of the Western Cape, Rhodes University, and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The discovery provides an unusually clear window into how galaxies interact with the cosmic web that connects them — and how even on the grandest scales, the universe is still spinning.

Astronomers Discover One Of The Universe’s Largest Spinning Structures

CTV News

A simple note taped to a bike rack stopped Brooklyn artist Rusty Zimmerman in his tracks. It read, “Just a daily reminder that you are amazing and the world is a better place with you in it. Xoxo Charlie.”

Zimmerman didn’t know who Charlie was, but the message stuck with him.

“I had to leave it for as many people to find as possible,” he said. “I’ve never met this Charlie, but I think that Charlie’s right. I think that one good deed does ripple out and it can inspire other people to do the same.”

He wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Jessica Ruth Shepard, a health coach, stumbled on a similar note along Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. It was a tough time in her life, and the words landed with unexpected force.

“It was so, so well received,” she said. “Little does anyone really know what anyone’s really, really going through.”

Dozens of notes kept appearing in random places across New York: on subways, buses, street corners, and sidewalks near landmarks like Prospect Park and Rockefeller Center. Each one signed, simply, “Charlie.”

So who was behind it?

Twelve-year-old Charlie Simon, a Brooklyn middle school student with a roll of tape and a stack of affirmation cards.

Charlie’s project started as a school assignment. Her class had been tasked with creating TED-style talks on a social issue of their choice. She chose loneliness — especially how it intersects with social media — and decided to try something small but tangible: handwritten messages of encouragement, left for strangers.

Her inspiration came from a note she once found herself at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “I almost started crying because I was so happy and I’m so glad I opened it,” she said.

That moment planted the seed for what would become a city-wide effort. With help from her 9-year-old sister Eleanor, Charlie began spreading positive messages in places where strangers might stumble upon them when they needed them most.

“I’m really proud of her for doing this,” Eleanor said. “Because that shows that she’s a good person. She wants people to feel good, too.”

Each card included an email address, inviting recipients to share their reactions. Charlie’s parents, Dan Simon and Erin McElwain, said they were stunned by what came back.

“Some were just funny pictures, just saying we saw it and thanks so much,” Dan said. “And then there were other ones that were like really personal notes. What it showed is people in the city can be struggling and having a really hard time.”

“It reignites how you feel about this city of so many people,” Erin added. “And it shows you that we’re actually a small community.”

Even more surprising was how the project spread. Dozens of people wrote back to say they had chosen not to keep the note, but instead left it behind for someone else to find — continuing the chain of kindness.

“So many people were like, ‘I’m leaving this here for the next person who needs it,’” Charlie said. “And that was really amazing.”

Her teacher later invited her to deliver the talk again, this time to her entire middle school.

“Just the smallest action can create such a big effect,” Charlie said.

What began as a class assignment ended up touching lives across New York. A handwritten note, a few kind words, and a twelve-year-old who believed they could make a difference — together proving that even in a busy city of millions, one small gesture can stop someone in their tracks.

Student's Notes Spark Citywide 'Ripples Of Kindness' Effect; Meet The Mysterious Author Behind Them

Some students at the University of Washington just got a life-changing surprise — and it came with a price tag of around $50 million.

The university announced that an anonymous donor has given a massive gift to support its Medical Laboratory Science Program. The donation will cover tuition for all in-state students during their senior-year clinical rotations, which typically cost between $4,000 and $5,000.

“I was shocked at first, and it took a second for me to process that they are going to pay our tuition,” said Jasmine Wertz, a 30-year-old senior in the program. “And then I felt a lot of relief.”

The gift comes at a critical time. As hospitals, clinics, and public health agencies across the U.S. face growing demands for diagnostic services, the people behind the lab tests — medical laboratory scientists — are more essential than ever. But few people realize it.

“Some people don’t even know we exist, or they think it’s robots or something,” Dr. Geoff Baird told the Seattle Times.

Medical laboratory scientists are often the invisible backbone of the healthcare system, analyzing blood samples, performing diagnostic tests, and ensuring that physicians have the data they need to make decisions. Students in the program go on to work in clinical labs, research institutions, and even academia.

“It's very hard to find time between studying and doing rotations to be able to hold a job,” Wertz explained. Clinical rotations require students to commit to full-time hours, making part-time work nearly impossible.

Jennifer Wang, another student in the program, said she and her classmates had no idea what was coming when they were told to attend the donor announcement event and to “dress properly.” “We thought we were going to be in trouble,” she said.

Instead, they learned their tuition would be completely covered.

The donation doesn’t just cover current students. It also lays the foundation for expansion. UW plans to grow the program from its current capacity of 70 students to 100 over the next decade. That’s a major step forward for a state facing an ongoing shortage of qualified lab professionals.

According to the university, Washington has only two programs offering bachelor’s degrees in medical laboratory science — and demand is growing fast.

“This donor’s selfless generosity will allow us to reduce the debt burden for our students and attract more young people to the field,” said Dr. Tim Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine. “Our region has the skilled laboratory workforce that is so critical to high-quality, timely patient care.”

Dellit also had a message for the students: “You are the glue, in many ways, of our entire health system.”

“You are the unsung heroes,” he added. “You work behind the scenes that allow all of the health care machinery to work.”

The funding is also in line with a broader goal at UW to make healthcare education more accessible.

“This extraordinary gift advances one of our highest priorities: making a UW education accessible and debt-free and enabling students who are passionate about healthcare to pursue their goals,” said UW President Robert J. Jones. “Its profound impact on student success will lead to more trained healthcare professionals and better health for all Washington residents.”

Wertz, reflecting on the news, shared her gratitude.

“Just thinking of the gift they’ve given to so many people. Thank you for acknowledging our major and our career as a viable source of healthcare,” she said.

The donor’s identity remains a mystery, but their impact is likely to ripple through Washington’s healthcare system for years to come.

An Anonymous Donor Just Covered Students' Tuition With a $50M Gift

Euro News

A good book, a quiet corner, and uninterrupted time to relax—once a luxury, now a travel trend.

Reading retreats, where holidaymakers head to tranquil locations to unplug and read, are emerging as one of 2025’s biggest wellness travel movements. And for many women juggling families, careers, and the mental load of daily life, it’s proving to be the perfect escape.

Far from a silent solo affair, these book-centric getaways combine self-care with community. Guests gather in beautiful locations, spend hours immersed in novels, and come together to share food, drinks, and literary conversations—no pressure, no deadlines, no distractions.

“There is nothing better than a group of excited readers making recommendations together,” says Emma Donaldson, who runs Boutique Book Breaks in the UK. She created the retreats after noticing a gap in the market for trips where guests could read uninterrupted—no chores, no guilt.

Her formula? Enough quiet downtime to get lost in a book, balanced with optional activities like author chats or bibliotherapy sessions. The idea is to make reading feel indulgent and restorative, not something squeezed into the end of a busy day.

Donaldson says her retreats are especially popular with women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s—many of whom are mothers, partners, and professionals who rarely get time just for themselves. “The common factor is women who are looking to carve out a bit of time for themselves and their mental health,” she says. “To enjoy a hobby, guilt-free, and be around others who are equally excited about good stories.”

Megan Christopher, founder of Ladies Who Lit, agrees. Her online book club now runs retreats where women can completely unwind—no meal planning, no laundry, no decision fatigue.

“Women revel in the opportunity to not make any decisions and just have it all done for them,” she says. “It’s not often as a woman you get that opportunity.”

The retreats have a social aspect, but no one is required to perform. In fact, Christopher says the change in environment often brings out a different side of her guests. She recalls a retreat in France where the group’s discussion of Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess led to a passionate and respectful debate on race and politics.

“It was wonderful to see everyone so engaged and fostering a judgement-free space,” she says.

That sense of safety and openness is a theme echoed by Guinevere de la Mare, co-founder of the Silent Book Club. Her retreats include a daily hour of silent group reading—books in hand, no one talking, just a shared sense of presence. And while the trips are open to all, so far, every guest has been a woman.

“There’s a unique level of openness that women bring to a group with the psychological safety that comes from stepping outside of the patriarchy,” she says.

Reading, at its core, is solitary. But these retreats reframe it as an experience that’s shared, even celebrated. And they’ve gone global—from rainy afternoons in English manors to breezy mornings on Mediterranean sailboats.

In Costa Rica, de la Mare’s group rode horses to waterfalls and soaked in volcanic hot springs between reading sessions. In Hawaii, they cruised at sunset and made leis. In England’s New Forest, Donaldson’s upcoming 2026 retreat at Burley Manor will include author interviews and “book bedazzling” sessions. Christopher’s next trips will take guests to Seville for poolside reading under olive trees, and sailing around Greek islands with books in hand.

The success of these retreats comes down to simplicity. A peaceful place, a good story, and no pressure to be anything other than yourself.

For a generation of women used to doing it all, a few days of doing nothing—except reading—is proving to be exactly what they need.

Reading Retreats Are the New Wellness Getaway—and Women Are Booking in Droves

ABCNews

Put a headset on an 85-year-old in assisted living, and in minutes they can be floating over mountains in a hang glider, drifting in a hot-air balloon, or swimming alongside dolphins.

That is the pitch, and the promise, behind a growing push to bring virtual reality into senior living communities, where residents often have fewer chances to travel, and where loneliness can be a daily problem.

At The Terraces, a retirement community in Los Gatos in California’s Silicon Valley, staff regularly line up residents in their 80s and 90s for group VR sessions. The headsets take them to Europe, down into ocean depths, or into other immersive scenes, all while they sit together in the same room.

Earlier this year, residents at The Terraces paddled their arms from their chairs while watching a 3D program that put them underwater with dolphins. “We got to go underwater and didn't even have to hold our breath!” said Ginny Baird, 81, after the session.

Other experiences can feel intense. During a virtual hot-air balloon ride, one resident gasped, “Oh my God!” Another shuddered, “It's hard to watch!”

The sessions at The Terraces use programming curated by Rendever, a privately owned company based in Somerville, Massachusetts. Rendever says it has placed its platform in 800 retirement communities across the United States and Canada, turning a technology often associated with solo entertainment into a group activity meant to spark conversation.

The company also sells VR as a way to help residents reconnect with the places that shaped them. It can “virtually take older adults back to the places where they grew up as children,” the report said, which for some can mean seeing a hometown for the first time in decades.

Sue Livingstone, 84, said a virtual trip back to her childhood neighbourhood in the Queens borough of New York City convinced her that the headsets can do more than offer a quick thrill. Livingstone can still get out more often than many residents, but she said the value lies in what the images stir up.

“It isn't just about being able to see it again, it's about all the memories that it brings back,” she said.

Livingstone also sees VR as a way to nudge more reserved residents into trying something new. “There are a few people living here who never really leave their comfort zones. But if you could entice them to come down to try out a headset, they might find that they really enjoy it,” she said.

Staff say the social part matters as much as the scenery. Adrian Marshall, The Terraces’ community life director, said curiosity spreads quickly once residents start talking about what they saw.

“It turns into a conversation starter for them. It really does connect people,” Marshall said of Rendever’s VR programming. “It helps create a human bridge that makes them realize they share certain similarities and interests. It turns the artificial world into reality.”

Rendever now wants to take its approach beyond senior living facilities. The company recently received a National Institutes of Health grant worth nearly $4.5m to study ways to reduce social isolation among seniors living at home and among their caregivers.

Researchers have been studying VR and older adults for years, and the evidence so far points to potential benefits when programs are used thoughtfully. Some studies have found VR shown in a limited, guided format can help older adults maintain and improve cognitive function, strengthen memory, and support social connection with family members and peers in care facilities.

Experts also stress that VR should sit alongside other activities, not replace them.

“There is always a risk of too much screen time," said Katherine “Kate” Dupuis, a neuropsychologist and professor who studies aging issues at Sheridan College in Canada. “But if you use it cautiously, with meaning and purpose, it can be very helpful. It can be an opportunity for the elderly to engage with someone and share a sense of wonder.”

One reason VR may work better than other consumer tech, researchers say, is that it can feel simpler than a smartphone. Pallabi Bhowmick, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who studies VR use with older adults, said headsets can remove the friction of small screens and complex menus.

“The stereotypes that older adults aren’t willing to try new technology needs to change because they are willing and want to adapt to technologies that are meaningful to them,” Bhowmick said. "Besides helping them to relieve stress, be entertained and connect with other people, there is an intergenerational aspect that might help them build their relationships with younger people who find out they use VR and say, ‘Grandpa is cool!’"

For Rendever CEO Kyle Rand, the idea started at home. He said his interest grew out of watching his grandmother face the emotional and mental strain that can come with aging. That interest eventually led him to cofound Rendever in 2016, after he studied neuroengineering at Duke University.

“What really fascinates me about humans is just how much our brain depends on social connection and how much we learn from others,” Rand said. He described how shared sessions can turn into real relationships: “A group of elderly residents who don't really know each other that well can come together, spend 30 minutes in a VR experience together and then find themselves sitting down to have lunch together while continuing a conversation about the experience.”

The market is growing enough that Rendever has competition. Another specialist, Dallas-based Mynd Immersive, also sells VR services tailored to senior living communities.

Both companies are also tied to another hope attached to VR in elder care, its possible use in dementia support. Some facilities have begun using immersive programs as one tool among many to stimulate memories and engagement for residents with cognitive decline.

At another Silicon Valley retirement community called the Forum, staff sometimes use VR for that reason. One resident, Bob Rogallo, has dementia that has left him speechless. During a session that coincided with his 83rd birthday, he took a virtual hike through Glacier National Park in Montana. The report described him nodding and smiling as he watched, seated beside his wife of 61 years.

Sallie Rogallo said the headset brought back memories of the couple’s visits to the same park during decades spent travelling across the US in a recreational vehicle.

“It made me wish I was 30 years younger so I could do it again,” she said. “This lets you get out of the same environment and either go to a new place or visit places where you have been.”

In another Forum session, Almut Schultz, 93, watched a virtual classical music performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, then appeared to reach out toward a playful puppy on screen. “That was quite a session we had there,” Schultz said, smiling after she removed the headset.

For staff and residents, those reactions are the point. Even when the body stays in the same chair, the conversation shifts. And in places where isolation can creep in quietly, a shared virtual trip can give people something immediate to talk about, and someone to talk with.

Virtual Reality is Opening Doors For Seniors To Build Closer Connections In Real Life

NBC News

Tony Hawk just dropped in — on The Nutcracker.

In a one-night-only surprise performance, the skateboarding icon traded halfpipes for pirouettes, making a cameo in the Golden State Ballet’s production of the holiday classic in San Diego.

Hawk rolled onto the stage during the opening scene outside Clara’s home, dressed in costume and casually pulling off a manual (a skateboard wheelie), all while being chased by a mock police officer. The stunt earned immediate laughs and applause from the audience.

“Sometimes you just have to say yes to things WAY outside your comfort zone, especially when your daughter thinks [it] is funny,” Hawk posted on social media after the show, crediting his daughter Kady — who filmed the performance from the audience — as the inspiration behind the idea.

This wasn’t just a cameo, it was a mashup. Later in the show, Hawk returned with pro park skater Katelyn West, and the two performed tricks on a quarterpipe right onstage. Skateboarding and classical ballet, side by side.

The show had teased the collaboration ahead of time, but the full reveal brought the house down. A crowd known for quiet appreciation of pirouettes and pas de deux erupted with cheers.

It’s hard to say what Tchaikovsky would’ve made of it, but for the San Diego audience, it was clear: the fusion of ballet and skateboarding was a holiday hit.

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