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The first meteor shower in over months will unfold in the late-April sky. Plus, early risers will get to catch the crescent moon bunching up with three planets before sunrise.

Warmer spring weather is drawing more people outdoors, even after dark, to stargaze following the frigid nights of winter. April promises to be an exciting month for skywatchers, featuring a variety of celestial events, including the first meteor shower in more than three months.

Full Pink Moon: April 12-13

The first full moon of astronomical spring will shine brightly in the April sky during the second weekend of the month. It’s associated with the changing flora that arrives with the warming season.

April’s full moon is commonly called the Pink Moon — not because the moon changes color but because of the wild ground phlox, one of the first flowers to blossom in the spring across eastern North America. The plant features pink and purple petals.

Alternate nicknames for April’s full moon include the Frog Moon, the Sugar Maker Moon and the Breaking Ice Moon.

Lyrid meteor shower: April 21-22

Shooting stars will return to the night sky as the Lyrid meteor shower peaks on the night of Monday, April 21, into the early hours of Tuesday, April 22. This will be just the second moderate meteor shower of 2025, following the Quadrantids, which peaked on Jan. 3.

Up to 20 meteors per hour may be visible on peak night, with the best views expected during the second half of the night.

The next meteor shower after the Lyrids will be the Eta Aquarids, which will peak on the night of May 4 into the early morning of May 5.

Crescent moon cuddles up with Venus, Saturn, and Mercury: April 25

Early risers will be treated to a striking celestial display as four planets and the moon align in the eastern sky before sunrise on Friday, April 25.

Venus will shine brightly at the top of the formation, with Saturn appearing dimmer below and to the right, near the crescent moon. Mercury will be the most difficult to spot, sitting very low on the horizon in the pre-dawn sky.

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Pink phlox wildflowers growing in a grassy field. (Johnathan Kana/Getty Images)

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CLIMATEWIRE | Top Wall Street institutions are preparing for a severe future of global warming that blows past the temperature limits agreed to by more than 190 nations a decade ago, industry documents show.

The big banks’ acknowledgment that the world is likely to fail at preventing warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels is spelled out in obscure reports for clients, investors, and trade association members. Most were published after the reelection of President Donald Trump, who is seeking to repeal federal policies that support clean energy while turbocharging the production of oil, gas, and coal — the main sources of global warming.

The recent reports — from Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and the Institute of International Finance — show that Wall Street has determined the temperature goal is effectively dead and describe how top financial institutions plan to continue operating profitably as temperatures and damages soar.

“We now expect a 3°C world,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote earlier this month, citing “recent setbacks to global decarbonization efforts.”

The stunning conclusion indicates that the bank believes the planet is hurtling toward a future in which severe droughts and harvest failures become widespread, sea-level rise is measured in feet rather than inches and tropical regions experience episodes of extreme heat and humidity for weeks at a time that would bring deadly risks to people who work outdoors.

The global Paris Agreement, from which the U.S. is withdrawing under Trump, aims to limit average temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Scientists have warned that permanently exceeding 1.5 degrees — a threshold the world breached for the first time last year — could lead to increasingly severe climate impacts, such as the demise of coral reef ecosystems that hundreds of millions of people rely on for food and storm surge protection.

Morgan Stanley’s climate forecast was tucked into a mundane research report on the future of air conditioning stocks, which it provided to clients on March 17. A 3 degree warming scenario, the analysts determined, could more than double the growth rate of the $235 billion cooling market every year, from 3 percent to 7 percent until 2030.

“The political environment has changed, so some of them are conforming to that,” Gautam Jain, a former investment banker who is now a senior research scholar at Columbia University, said of Wall Street’s increasingly dire climate projections. “But mostly it is a rational business decision.”

The new warming estimates come as heat-trapping gases continue to rise globally and as international commitments to limit the burning of oil, gas, and coal, that’s responsible for the bulk of emissions, have stalled. Meanwhile, megabanks like Wells Fargo are backsliding on their previous climate pledges and exiting from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a United Nations-backed group that encouraged members to slash their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Morgan Stanley, which in October watered down its climate-related lending targets, declined to comment.

Betting on potentially catastrophic global warming is both an acknowledgment of the current emissions trajectory and a politically savvy move in the second Trump era, according to Jain.

“Nobody wants to be seen as going against,” the administration’s pro-fossil-fuel energy policy, he said. “These banks are businesses, so they have to look at the risk that they have in their portfolio and the opportunities that they see in the most likely environment.”

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Food & Wine readers love soup. It’s one of the most saved category of dishes on MyRecipes, our online recipe box where you can save and discover thousands of recipes from Food & Wine and other trusted sites like Southern Living and EatingWell.

New to MyRecipes? Click here to create a free account, or simply tap the heart icon at the top right of this page to start saving your favorite recipes. If you already have an account, just log in and click ‘Search’ on the right-hand side of the page. You can search by ingredient, cuisine, meal type, or any keyword — your saved Food & Wine recipes will always appear first.

Here’s a look at some of the soup recipes our readers have been cooking lately, from brothy to creamy, including classic chicken and vegetarian options.

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Photo:  Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Priscilla Montiel

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The Bible maps a world of ancient places that have transformed dramatically over thousands of years. Time has reshaped these lands as empires rose and fell, languages evolved, and borders shifted. Names changed, yet the geography remains. This guide connects the dots between biblical sites and their modern counterparts, offering a bridge between sacred texts and today’s maps.

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Everyone dies, but what actually transpires during that process is a deep mystery that scientists are only beginning to seriously investigate. Increasingly, near-death experiences, or NDEs, are part of that growing field.

An incredible 5 to 10 percent of the general population reports memories of an NDE. Oftentimes, people’s recollections are similar: perceiving separation from the body and viewing it from above, passing through a tunnel and seeing a light, encountering deceased loved ones or compassionate entities, and being overcome by ineffable wisdom and a feeling of profound peacefulness. Many people describe these memories in crisp detail and say that they felt “more real than real.”

How a person’s faltering consciousness produces such fantastical experiences is unknown. But scientists have been piecing together hypotheses, constructed from interviews with survivors, studies in animals, and experiments in which people were given certain psychedelic drugs. Now one of the preeminent research groups investigating NDEs has published what it describes as the first comprehensive neuroscientific model for the phenomena.

“We found a very robust explanation for the generation of such a rich experience while a person is really in crisis,” says Charlotte Martial, a neuroscientist at the University of Liège in Belgium and co-lead author of the findings, published this week in Nature Reviews Neurology.

Martial and her colleagues’ model lays out a step-by-step hypothesis for the conditions that give rise to NDEs. They also propose an evolutionary theory for why these experiences occur.

To create the model, the authors undertook an exhaustive review of all the studies they could find on NDEs, which ranged from neuroscientific investigations to spiritual perspectives. They also included research on ecstatic seizures, psychedelics and the dying brain. Additional clues came from studies that showed that individuals who have certain predispositions are more likely to experience NDEs. This includes prolific daydreamers, as well as those with a propensity for rapid eye movement (REM) sleep intrusion, which occurs when REM sleep bleeds into wakefulness or non-REM sleep.

NDEs themselves are triggered by a precipitating event, such as a cardiac arrest, that causes a cascade of physiological stress. The authors propose that certain networks of neurons go into overdrive to produce high levels of specific neurotransmitters in the drastically altered brain environment. The researchers investigated several of those systems and hypothesized ways that they may contribute to distinct mental experiences as the person approaches death.

The fact that people can clearly remember NDEs, the authors write, is likely because of the activity of three main neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, which is involved in memory, learning and attention; noradrenaline, which plays a key role in the fight-or-flight response, as well as attention, focus and memory; and glutamate, another learning and memory aid that is also responsible for orchestrating overall brain function by instructing neurons to communicate with one another.

Beyond the triad of chemical culprits, the researchers linked the calm, peaceful feeling that characterizes many NDEs with activation of 5-HT1A receptors by serotonin, as well as with transient rises in endorphins—the body’s natural pain relievers and mood enhancers—and GABA, a neurotransmitter that reduces neurons’ activity. For the vivid hallucinations that oftentimes accompany NDEs, the team pointed to serotonin’s hyperactivation of 5-HT2A receptors. Dopamine likewise contributes to the altered visual experience and lends a sense of realism.

The new model calls into question a prior hypothesis that a yet-undiscovered, naturally occurring chemical in the brain plays a role in inducing NDEs by blocking the same receptors that the synthetic drug ketamine binds to. Those receptors, however, are essential for memory formation, so if they were blocked, people should not be able to recall NDEs with such clarity, says Nicolas Lejeune, senior author of the new study and a neurorehabilitation clinician and researcher at the University Hospital of Liège. “Instead of assuming the existence of an unknown neurochemical, we propose that NDEs arise from disruptions that naturally occur in response to life-threatening events,” he says.

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You’re doing fine at work. You’re working remotely, hitting your targets, and keeping things moving—but fine doesn’t really feel fulfilling.

Poor performance management, lack of visibility, repetitive routines, and restricted growth opportunities can result in feelings of frustration, stagnation, and boredom. Maybe you have a boss who doesn’t see your potential. Maybe there’s lots to do, but none of it excites you.

In an uncertain economy where layoffs loom and job opportunities feel scarce, the idea of making a career move might not feel realistic or like something you even want to pursue. And when you work remotely, there might be fewer opportunities for spontaneous career-focused conversations or organic networking opportunities where you can chat, observe, and learn. If it doesn’t feel like there’s a promotion on your horizon or immediate opportunities for growth, how do you stay motivated? What should you do if it feels like there’s nothing to look forward to?

The good news is you have more control over your career than you might think. Here are five options to reignite your motivation at work—no matter how remote you are.

Create your own mini performance review.

If you’ve been at your company for a while and have been through at least one performance review cycle, now’s a good time to go back and revisit it. In my work as a career coach, I’ve observed that most people file away their reviews and only revisit them when the next one is due. However, past conversations could hold clues about what you could be doing right now to invest in your growth.

What themes came up in your last performance review? What are your core strengths? What goals did you share in that conversation but haven’t acted on? What constructive feedback did you receive?

Goals or suggestions from your last review can serve as a springboard for thinking about specific, actionable goals to pursue in the next few months. You can also reflect on any changes in your role, team, or the company since that last performance conversation. In addition, if your company has shifted priorities since your last review, consider what you could explore to match those new needs.

Sometimes your previous performance review feedback may not give you the clarity or direction you need. I’ve coached professionals who found themselves out of sync with their supervisor’s assessment, received vague feedback, or had their review led by someone who’s no longer on the team. In these cases, it can be valuable to build relationships with senior leaders and trusted peers who can offer constructive insights on areas for growth and opportunity.

Completing your own mini performance review using past reviews and feedback from trusted peers doesn’t just mean looking back; it provides the opportunity to examine the present. Consider the next three to six months and ask yourself: What would you love to accomplish?

Seek a stretch assignment.

When you proactively seek out a stretch assignment, chances are your manager or teammates will see it as a win-win opportunity. Taking on a project that interests you and challenges you in new ways will expand your skills and has the potential to reignite your engagement. In addition, it can position you as a forward-thinking collaborator.

Think about what’s important to your leadership right now. What initiatives or priorities have they shared during all-staffs or town hall meetings? Does your company utilize cross-functional teams for internal initiatives or community programs that you could contribute to? Even in a remote environment, there may be more opportunities to collaborate across teams than you might realize.

What are your team’s or department’s objectives for this fiscal year? Where are there opportunities for you to support or add value? After surveying the landscape for opportunities, suggest ways you can contribute. Or, if you’re not sure where you could add the most value, ask your manager if there’s something they need help with. Expressing interest may open a door you didn’t know existed.

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