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The heartwarming way some veterans are coping with what they saw at war is surprising: horses.

'It gives you a break from always living in the past.'

Going to war changes people.

It's undeniable. We welcome back veterans with gratitude for their service, but what happens when the fanfare dies down and they try to shift back into a "normal" daily life?

For many, the transition is incredibly difficult and made even worse by post-traumatic stress disorder.


This table, which documents the types of stressors experienced in 2003 across various combat zones and military branches, is a staggering reminder of just how much terrible stuff our veterans have witnessed.

Chart info via Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD.

Luckily there are ways to make life better for some of our returning veterans, like spending time with magnificent creatures.

A program in New Jersey could serve as a model for helping veterans and other traumatized people (like at-risk youth and bereaved children) to cope with the world around them again. It's called Spring Reins of Life, and it pairs up people with horses during therapy sessions that calm veterans' nerves and teaches them to connect and communicate again.

Michael Otto Steiger is a U.S. Marine who had been deployed to Iraq in 2005.

Michael Otto Steiger chokes up talking about how Spring Reins of Life helps him:

"I know we all have our different coping mechanisms for dealing with our symptoms of PTSD, and being out here I don't feel like a person with PTSD. I just feel … I guess average or normal."

See more about how the program works:

The program is accredited by the Equine Growth and Learning Association; known as EAGALA, it's a nonprofit that deals with horse-assisted psychotherapy. According to the organization, 90% of donations is spent directly on programming thanks to support from volunteers.

Go beyond just thanking a veteran — help heal them.

Regardless of how differently everyone feels about the necessity of war, it's easy to agree that veterans deserve services like this when they return. Peace of mind and a chance at a happy life is the least we can do.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

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A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

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Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

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via PamTina_/Twitter

Pam's little brother is so sweet.

Pam has a little brother, who recently learned that he is actually her half-brother.

Of course, half-siblings are still very much siblings, but Pam's brother doesn't quite grasp the concept yet and seems upset about having to part with 50% of his sister.

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Jennifer Garner's Ziploc care package.

Homelessness has been on the increase in America since 2016 and the numbers exploded in 2020. On a single night in January 2020, there were more than 580,000 individuals who were without a home.

There are many reasons for the increase in homelessness and one of the leading causes is a lack of affordable housing across the country. Housing prices have been on a steady increase and, according to PBS, we are about 7 million units short of affordable housing in the country.

So what can the average person do about this human tragedy taking place in America’s streets? Some people who would like to help don’t feel comfortable giving money to homeless people, although experts in the field say that most of the time it is OK.

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