Reader's Digest (April 2021)

128 pages. Volume 119, number 698. Features: *Lost and found, an ocean away: Bobbing along the currents, a surfboard traverses the globe, setting off an amazing turn of events *Jane Goodall: The renowned primatologist’s favourite childhood toy was a chimpanzee, inspiring her life’s mission *How to keep your heart young: You may already know about exercise and diet, but here heart specialists explain 22 lesser-known ways to protect your ticker *Pistachio, the Happy Nut: There are plenty of reasons to smile about this versatile, highly nutritious nut *Don’t go into the volcano: A young bride must get her injured husband to medical help after a trip to a jungle crater goes badly wrong *A history of hoaxes: The inner joker in most of humanity is always keen to come out and play, and not only on April Fool’s Day *Next-door strangers: My neighbours seemed far away, until I reached out *The vacuum cleaner: From dust-blowing bellows to horse-drawn carts, this useful household appliance has undergone many developments *Fine-tune your metabolism: Simple fixes to stave off metabolic decline and keep your body running seamlessly. If trees could talk: These watchful sentinels of the forest have strong opinions they’d like us to hear *Harp seal nursery: Fluffy white seal pups spend their first few weeks of life atop precarious floating ice *The jump: To conquer her phobia of heights, the author pushes herself to the edge and jumps out of a plane. A very personal story about tackling fear with science.