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The Week in Good News: The World’s Oldest Barber, Fruit That Communicates, Squirrels

Anthony Mancinelli is the world’s oldest working barber.Credit...Andrew Seng for The New York Times

Sometimes it seems as if we’re living under a constant barrage of heavy news. But it isn’t all bad out there. This feature is meant to send you into the weekend with a smile, or at least a lighter heart. Want to get The Week in Good News by email? Sign up here.

Here are seven great things we wrote about this week:

Anthony Mancinelli, 107, has a few tricks to his longevity: Don’t drink or smoke, put in a satisfying day’s work, and “eat thin spaghetti, so I don’t get fat.”

He has been working in barbershops since he was 11. (Warren Harding was in the White House.) He works 40-hour weeks, has all his teeth and is not on any medication.

“I only go to the doctor because people tell me to, but even he can’t understand it,” Mr. Mancinelli said. “I tell him I have no aches, no pains, no nothing. Nothing hurts me.” Read more »

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Some plants in Madagascar may have evolved to bear fruit that can be seen by lemurs even though they are red-green colorblind.Credit...Andy Davies/Science Source

Plants can’t talk.

But new research suggests that, over millions of years of natural selection, some have developed ways to communicate with animals through their fruit. Traits have evolved to match different animals’ sensory capacities or physical abilities, sending the message “choose me.”

When those animals spread the seeds, it furthers the plants’ survival as a species.

“When I first learned that plants, in a way, behaved — that they were actually communicating information to animals — my mind exploded,” said Kim Valenta, co-author of a study investigating the relationship between fruit color and animal vision. Read more »

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Lella Lombardi in 1974. She was the last woman to start a Formula One race, in 1976.Credit...Keystone, via Getty Images

Motorsports remain dominated by men, not only behind the wheel but also in the pit lane, garage, workshop and laboratory. A female driver has not started a Formula One race since Lella Lombardi in 1976.

W Series, a new international motorsport series for women, begins next May, with the goal of finding the first female Formula One champion.

“Until now, motor racing has been the only sport in which there were no separate series for women,” said Catherine Bond Muir, a British sports lawyer and corporate financier, who thought of the idea while on maternity leave three years ago.

The W Series will be free and aims to guide girls and women into engineering and science careers. Read more »

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Handbags, briefcases and ties can be checked out of a library in a program conceived by Michelle Lee, a young adult librarian.Credit...Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The New York Times

One of the many employment barriers for young or low-income job seekers is how to show up to an interview dressed for the part.

Business attire can be expensive. So the New York Public Library has decided to offer free handbags, briefcases and ties that can be checked out for up to three weeks as part of a pilot program at a branch on the Upper West Side.

Michelle Lee, a young adult librarian, had the idea during one of her twice-yearly job hunt talks for teenagers. Read more »

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Willie Nelson, a therapeutic miniature horse, and a volunteer at a children’s hospital in Akron, Ohio.Credit...Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal, via Associated Press

If you fly on Alaska Airlines, there’s a chance — if a small one — that you’ll find yourself next to a miniature horse. They’re now allowed as service animals onboard. (Cats and dogs were already approved.)

Despite the logistical difficulties, some people prefer these horses to other service animals: They’re sturdy, live long lives and have been known to guide those who are blind. “They can perform functions like lifting, carrying, pulling, pushing. A dog or a horse is either going to pick stuff up for you or it’s going to guide you,” said Eric Lipp, the executive director of Open Doors Organization, a nonprofit that supports travelers with disabilities.

For now, it’s not common: “I can only name three people I know in the United States that use them,” Mr. Lipp said. Read more »

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Bavarian youth go clubbing in dirndls and lederhosen.Credit...Ksenia Kuleshova for The New York Times

In some places, teenage fashion changes by the week.

But every October in Bavaria, the southeastern German state, there's a universal outfit among young people that goes back more than a century. The dirndl, a low-cut, tightly laced traditional dress, and lederhosen, its male counterpart of knee-length deer leather pants, are worn by those of all ages celebrating Oktoberfest.

They were once considered a dusty uniform for older, more conservative Germans, and were at various times a political statement. Today, people of all political persuasions wear them. The outfits fill dance floors and beer halls.

“Ten years ago, we rarely saw a dirndl in the disco,” said Dierk Beyer, a nightclub manager. “Now it’s normal.” Read more »

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A squirrel in Central Park, one of many. (We’ll soon know how many.)Credit...Vincent Tullo for The New York Times

How do you count all the squirrels in an 840-acre park?

Those involved in what purports to be the first-ever comprehensive Central Park squirrel census are about to find out. For two weeks, volunteers will fan the park to learn more about the Eastern gray squirrel.

Squirrel sighters don’t simply count: They also chart activities (running, chasing, jumping, eating, foraging), coat color (gray, black, cinnamon, white), and vocalizations, known to squirrel scientists as kuks, quaas and moans. Read more »

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A rotund bear catching a fish in Katmai National Park in southern Alaska. The National Park Service there started Fat Bear Week in 2015 to educate non-Alaskans about Katmai’s wildlife.Credit...Mark Meyer for The New York Times

What would you like to see here? Email us at goodnews@nytimes.com. You can enjoy more of this feature at nytimes.com/goodnews.

Follow Melina Delkic on Twitter: @MelinaDelkic.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: The Week in Good News. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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