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The ocean covers more than 70 percent of our planet—yet there’s so much about it that we don’t yet know. Experts, in fact, believe we’ve only explored about five percent of the ocean so far—meaning that most of it remains completely unseen and undiscovered.
What we do know, however, is that the ocean is truly wise. Not only does it sustain all human and animal life on the planet, the creatures under the sea continue to give scientists insight that can transform human lives as well (just read about the amazing axolotl below to see what we mean).
A happy ocean makes for happy, healthy human beings (not to mention a healthy planet)—so this summer we’re helping our friends at Ocean Wise spread the word that no action is too small—holding a cleanup on a local shoreline, for instance. Learning about our ocean and all its wonders is another step anyone can take for conservation, so buckle in and prepare for a tidal wave of info that will blow your mind.
live coralsPhoto by QUI NGUYEN on UnsplashHealthy coral reef populations are filled with diverse sounds, thanks to the fish, snapping shrimp, and other marine life that live there. Scientists have found that playing recorded sounds of healthy reefs actually attract coral larvae, since the sounds indicate a healthy, vibrant habitat. Using this knowledge, scientists have taken recorded reef sounds, played them near degraded reefs, and in doing so, have increased the settlement rates of coral larvae, helping the coral reefs regenerate.
Photo by Talia Cohen on UnsplashHow’s this for a good time? Dolphins, particularly younger ones, have been known to seek out pufferfish to play games with them, chewing on them and passing them back and forth between each other like a hacky sack. Not only is this entertainment for the dolphins, scientists theorize that they may intentionally be trying to get the pufferfish to give off a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX)–which is a chemical they release when threatened. This chemical is highly toxic in large doses–but in small quantities, experts think that it might induce a mild, pleasurable effect in the dolphins, similar to a narcotic. Party on.
A male humpback whale breaches the water.
Photo by Thomas Kelley on UnsplashAll humpback whales can vocalize, but male humpback whales actually sing.
During mating season, scientists have observed male humpback whales making sounds that are distinctly different from other humpback calls. Unlike other sounds, these songs have a clear structure, and use small, repetitive “phrases” organized in a specific sequence—in the same way humans sing different verses during a song. Even more amazing? Male humpbacks all sing the same song together in “choruses,” in sessions that last from five minutes to several hours.
a couple of animals that are in some waterPhoto by T K on UnsplashAmong biologists, axolotls are known for their ability to regrow lost or damaged tissue. When an adult axolotl loses a limb, they can actually grow it back in just a few months time, thanks to a substance they produce called retinoic acid, which plays a large role in regenerating skin cells. (If the name sounds familiar, it’s because retinoic acid is a derivative of Vitamin A, and it’s commonly found in skin creams.) While we already know that retinoic can make our skin look fabulous, scientists are currently studying whether it could someday help human limbs regrow, similar to the axolotl’s.
green algae underwater photographyPhoto by Brian Yurasits on UnsplashThe ocean generates half of the oxygen we breathe and absorbs nearly a third of the world’s carbon emissions. Phytoplankton, the microscopic algae that float near the ocean’s surface, are a big part of the reason why. But there’s another unsung hero—kelp. Unlike phytoplankton, kelp are large seaweeds that grow in dense underwater forests along coastlines, absorbing CO2 and supporting ecosystems. Ocean Wise is helping bring back these powerful carbon sinks one kelp forest at a time.
Help us #BeOceanWise by doing one small thing for ocean conservation in your community (because just one thing can start a huge wave of positive change). Visit ocean.orgfor tips and tricks to keep our oceans healthy because no action is too small.
Frugal people open up about how they save money.
Saving money is never a bad thing. And for those looking for economical solutions for how to cut back on spending, a smart place to start is taking an inventory of your spending habits and what you buy.
In an online forum of frugal people, member TS1664 posed the question to fellow savvy financial members: "What’s something you stopped buying completely and don’t miss at all?"
They continued, "For me it’s paper towels. Switched to rags and microfiber cloths a year ago and haven’t looked back. I used to go through a roll a week without thinking, now I just toss the cloths in with regular laundry. Saves money and space."
And they ended the post with some more insight. "It made me realize how many things I was buying out of habit, not need. What things others have cut out completely that turned out to be no big deal or even better without. Could use some inspiration!"
The callout garnered some excellent real-life advice from frugal people. These are 30 things that thrifty people shared they stopped buying completely that helped save them money.
Make It Rain Money GIF by A Little Late With Lilly SinghGiphy
"Dryer sheets." Super-Examination594
"Starbucks - bought an espresso machine, took some time to learn how to dial it in and pull a proper shot. It’s been 4+ Years and don’t miss it one bit." Fox_137
"Makeup! Used to wear it every day and buy tons of it to try new products and such. Now I only wear it for special occasions. It works great — even just a little bit of makeup really pops when you hardly ever wear any." VerschwendeMeineZeit
"Soda. Too expensive now. Pre-pandemic, sometimes Kroger would have a sale (4) 12-packs for $10." NotJimIrsay
"Cigarettes 😊." rickety_picket
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"Bottled water." WorriedPermission872
"Most fast food but especially McDonald's and bk. When I paid $20 for two adults' meals, it stopped making sense, and I'll cook better burgers and better sides fries at home for less." diegothengineer
"Cable tv subscription." nombreusuario
"Pizza delivery service. Frozen meals are just as unhealthy, but much cheaper." The_Keri2
"We started our pizza making journey by buying dough (under $2) at trader joe's. it really lowered the barrier to entry. once we kind of perfected the bake etc, we started playing with dough recipes until we found one we loved. it sounds painful but it was a good learning experience and fun to do together." suddenlymary
christmas sniffs GIF by TargetGiphy
"I stopped buying scented candles. I used to grab them all the time on impulse, but they’re expensive, don’t last that long, and honestly gave me headaches half the time. Now I just open a window or boil some citrus peels with cloves if I want the place to smell nice." HollisWhitten
"Cigarettes and nicotine pouches! Been smoke free since august 2021 and pouch free since July 2024 :)." HueLord3000
"Amazon Prime. We stopped paying for the privilege of shopping and making money for Bozo. Now, we just put stuff in the cart until there is enough for free shipping. I don’t miss Prime, I never found anything on Prime video I wanted to watch once that wasn’t a rental. We live in a rural village, so online is cheaper than driving 25 to 50 miles to a store." cwsjr2323
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"Lottery tickets." evissamnoisis
"Hair color. I’ve embraced the gray!" phishinfordory
"I’ll add sandwich bread. I started making my own. It costs just over $1 for me to make a small loaf that’s just enough for the 2 of us for a week. Plus no additives or preservatives." BeerWench13TheOrig
"Books. I go to the library." Significant-Emu1855
Dog Glasses GIF by County of Los AngelesGiphy
"Broth. Have an ongoing 'broth bag' going in the freezer. Once I run out of frozen broth cubes, I make another round." Colorfulplaid123
"New clothes from shops! I'm now a charity shop and Vinted gal, my clothes are so much better quality and I spend less." CorinaPhoto
"Bidet toilet seat is cheap, easy to install, much easier and faster to use, and most importantly will keep you far cleaner while not wasting any toilet paper." hopopo
"Menstrual products. Bought a menstrual cup back in 2016 and have not looked back." simply-misc
"Chip clips. I buy cheap old wooden clothespins! Works great and if they break, no biggie. It’s $2 for 24. I also use clear shower caps for dishes I have no lids for or it’s something that can’t have a lid, like deviled eggs. I use the shower caps. Much cheaper than those bowl covers they sell 8-12 in a pack for $1.25. Those bowl covers are kind of pricey and you get 1 large and 2 mediums and a bunch of tiny ones!!" Florida1974
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"Alcohol." Fit_Artichoke_523
"Baked beans in the can, I literally keep everything on hand to make it so it was an excess purchase. Instant rice packs, I make regular rice, 20 minutes is not that long 😆 We keep getting gifted napkins but we don’t purchase them." Miss_Pouncealot
"Soap in a pump bottle. Switched to bars (Costco). So much value, less trash and plastic, and a better experience. Why did we invent pump bottle soap??" thebiglebowskiisfine
Actress Sierra McClain launches new devotional with Glorify app.
Actress Sierra McClain’s Hollywood career has come full-circle with her personal faith journey. In McClain’s role as Grace Ryder on FOX’s 9-1-1: Lone Star, her character left her former life and family to serve a higher calling with Mercy Ships, the global nonprofit delivering free, life-changing medical care to underserved communities via hospital ships.
And now, McClain has partnered with Mercy Ships in her real life to help write and narrate a seven-day devotional series called Moments of Purpose through the Glorify app, which launched on June 23.
“It feels unconventional,” says McClain. “My relationship with God has become something incredibly personal and very real.”
McClain and her family lived in Atlanta in her early years, where her dad worked at a church. “We went [to church] every Wednesday and Sunday, we went to Bible study and then service. It was beautiful, I loved it,” she shares.
Her family soon moved to Los Angeles, where McClain’s career was further established with roles on FOX’s series Empire, Netflix’s Mindhunter, and later her pivotal role as Grace Ryder on FOX’s 9-1-1: Lone Star in 2020. During her time on 9-1-1: Lone Star, McClain says she had a “spiritual epiphany."
“That’s what this whole journey felt like. Certain things took a backseat, and I talk about it in this devotional series. I was working on Lonestar, and everything was moving [professionally]–but spiritually, everything kind of stopped. And I realized, ‘Wait a second? What’s happening?’ And the realization hit that I had been on autopilot.”
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
McClain shares it was then that that God started working in her heart as her work began slowing down. “My surroundings became a mirror through my family members and having to sit with myself–to understand what was happening in my soul. I felt stuck.”
McClain soon embarked on a healing journey that “reshaped my entire understanding and perspective and relationship with God.”
She dug deep, finally taking her pain regarding relationships and family to God. I said, ‘God I don’t know where to go from here. I’m upset, I’m in pain.’ And then He would talk to me and give me direction, or things to do in little moments.”
The journey inspired her new devotional series. McClain was approached by Mercy Ships who saw her role as Grace transpire on TV, and quickly dove into creating the devotional.
Photo of Mercy Ships vessel The Global Mercy. Mercy Ships - Photo Credit Jose Pablo
“It poured out of me,” she explains about the writing process. “I had so much to say and so much to pull from. And so much I’m actually living. It was cathartic for me.”
The devotional covers themes of calling, identity, stillness, and choosing God over performance.
“My goal was to make this as real and as personal and as connected as possible. I wanted it to speak to anybody from wherever they are in their life–whether things are spinning, whether nothing’s moving,” says McClain.
With the devotional’s release, McClain is eager for people to experience it.
“I'm excited for people to listen to it and to see how it impacts them. This devotional details my own experience of discovering what my purpose was and what it can be and what it can turn into. The possibilities are much more endless than we realize,” she says, referring to Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
A woman having a panic attack at work.
Imagine being someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, and having to leave work because you had a panic attack. On top of the incredible suffering that comes with a panic attack, you have to return to work and confront the fact that you had to leave your job because of mental distress.
Panic attacks can have a range of psychological and physical symptoms, including trembling, shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea, a racing heart, and feelings of impending doom. So, it's understandable that someone would have to leave their job if they were experiencing one. Of course, there should be no shame in suffering a panic attack, but far too many people are looking to judge those who suffer from them and those who suffer often feel shame and embarrassment when they happen. That’s why the following story is so beautiful.
A woman suffering from anxiety.via Canva/Photos
A person on Reddit shared an incredibly kind note that their partner received from their boss after leaving work due to a panic attack. “My partner, who has major anxiety and depressive disorders, had a panic attack at work last week, was super embarrassed, and had to leave early. They got this card from their boss a few days later,” they wrote on the MadeMeSmile forum. “It made me cry a little, honestly. I'm so thankful that they have such an understanding employer.”
They also shared a picture of the card.
Here’s what the card said:
Dear [redacted],
Thank you for being you. Thank you for sharing your art, your kindness, your joy & your light with everyone you interact with.
I wanted to remind you of your incredible strength. You show up, you do your best every day & it shows. You are appreciated by so many people. I see you [deleted] and I know the world can seem like a chaotic & scary place but keep remembering who you are! People may have lied to you & you may have believed them when they told you these lies — but the truth is you are STRONG. You are beautiful. You are POWERFUL. You are WORTHY. You are kind, smart, funny, focused, hardworking, incredibly talented & a light in this world. Don't let anyone make you forget. The world needs what you have to offer.
Love,
[Redacted]
Commenters on Reddit thought the card was incredible and that the world would be a better place if everyone had a boss as compassionate as this.
"That is a great boss with strong, empathetic leadership skills," the most popular commenter wrote. "My boss is like this, and it’s why my loyalty is to her and not the owner of the company I work for. True leadership at its best!" another added.
A woman writing a greeting card.via Canva/Photos
The card was so incredible because, in a professional setting, people aren’t usually required to go out of their way to express such heartfelt emotions. This boss going out of her way to let their struggling employee know that they were worthy and that they showed strength in the face of their incredible anxiety was a show of encouraging leadership and kindness. This had to be incredibly empowering for someone who felt ashamed of having to leave work because of their mental health. When they came back to their job, instead of being called out for having mental health problems, they were singled out for being “strong,” “powerful,” and “worthy.”
Gen X reveals their retirement plan, it's not found in financial news
Retirement is something just about everyone looks forward to once they cruise into middle age. Daydreams about spending your days on the beach sipping a frozen drink under a cabana while the sound of the waves washes away any left over worries. Sounds lovely, doesn't it, but not everyone gets to live that retirement dream. "Feel good" videos of strangers helping an elderly stranger retire through a GoFundMe campaign cycle through the social media sphere ever three to five business months.
But Gen X has a plan that they consider foolproof. The children of baby boomers don't have company pensions to fall back on as a whole like many from previous generations so they've had to come up with something on their own. Currently, financial analysts explain that in order to retire someone needs to have 10-12 years of their annual income stacked in their bank account before they hit the retirement button. That means if you currently make $100,000 per year, you should have over $1 million in the bank but people also need to account for cost of living increases.
Couple enjoys a serene sail on a sunny day.Photo credit: Canva
Saving for retirement starts early for those in the position to save, since experts advise that people should already have up to four times their annual salary in savings by the time they're 40 years old. Many in Gen X don't have 4 to 6 times their annual income in their account, in fact a large sector of this generation are still living paycheck to paycheck with little money in their savings accounts. This reality plays into the tongue-in-cheek but very serious Gen X retirement plan and it's not one you'll find in the finance section of a newspaper or magazine. Simply put, Gen X plans to die.
We're not talking about they are all planning to drink special Kool-aid or anything, they just plan to work until their body's give out and they die. The sentiment is something that people joked about on social media often using a viral sound attached to a video of a woman walking to her desk.
Floating in bliss on a sunny pool day.Photo credit: Canva
"So I am obviously Gen X and my retirement plan is to pass away, so I'm not sure how many other Gen X people have that as their retirement goal but I know that I will be working one day and fall over dead," the woman says.
The comment section on the video was full of people agreeing that they had the same retirement plan with a few exceptions, like the person that writes, "Norway prison is by far the best that I have looked at for retirement."
In another video that uses the same sound, the Corrbette Pasko asks, "are you trying to tell me there's a different option, because I don't understand what that would be. They don't want to give me money when I'm alive and working, if I stop working who's going to give me...like what do you think I'm going to do, buy a boat? With what? I tried planting a money tree in the back and it...okay, I didn't put any seeds in the ground. I just yelled and screamed and cried a bunch and stomped and I thought maybe, but no."
Upworthy spoke with Gen Xer John S. Blake about the retirement plan for their generation and why they think many are not prepared. They explain, "First, I can't only speak for my own personal experiences. For me, schools didn't teach financial awareness: banking, investments, etc. Also, our economy was so easy to navigate because, by the time I was 16, I could work one full-time job, at minimum wage, and still afford an apartment. People were given free health insurance, without having to pay into it, as part of their employment packages. Mass layoffs, high unemployment rates, and job scarcity wasn't a thing. If you needed money, you could get a job in hours. Not months. HOURS!"
Blake also shares that many in Gen X had a rough start with the epidemics of drugs, AIDS and high incarceration rates as the government attempted to crack down on drug users. According to Blake this left a lot of mothers as sole providers for their families which left little room for any at home financial education, which only later contributed the issues some face now. But Blake isn't without hope, while they admit if they had all of the answers they'd be retired, the Gen Xer says he follows specific social media accounts for financial advice.
"There are so many social media profiles that teach sincere financial awareness. One of my favorites is @Vivian "Your Rich BFF". She breaks down financial literacy in a way that is palatable for those of us, like me, who still understand very little. Plus for those of us who feel guilty and ashamed to finally put ourselves first, I would suggest looking into Dr. Raquel Martin Phd. She's been helping me, one podcast and TikTok post at a time, to allow myself some grace," Blake tells Upworthy.
While there jokes being made about not being able to retire, with Dawn Renee saying she will need to die and have her funeral during her lunch break because she can't afford to do it any other time, experts try to calm fears. They suggest that you can still retire by downsizing your home, tightening your budget to spend as little as possible, and retire gradually. Thrivenet reports that 30% of Americans plan to take the gradual retirement route while 5% of Americans don't plan to retire at all, pretty sure Gen X is most of that 5 percent.
No matter if you have $20 in savings or $200K, retirement is likely on your mind and Gen Xers are here to let you know that you're not alone if you plan to continue working for the rest of your life.
