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23 incredible photos from 2016 that prove it wasn't a total dumpster fire.

2016 may have technically been 366 days long, but for some, it felt like an eternity.

There have been countless political struggles, protests, and conflicts that have left an indelible mark on our collective psyche. From the U.S. presidential election to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests to the many unfortunate deaths, this year has certainly left a permanent mark in history.

Despite these events, there have been many overlooked moments of humanity, empathy, and love.

These 23 incredible photos capture moments from this year that prove it wasn't a complete dumpster fire.

1. We celebrated love...

Photo by Mark Bugnaski/Kalamazoo Gazette /AP.

Ed and Betty Hartman renew their vows after 65 years of marriage Oct. 8 on Western Michigan University's Heritage Hall Grand Lawn to break the Guinness World Record for most vow renewals in one place. The Hartmans met at Western Michigan — Ed graduated in 1949, and Betty in 1951. A record 1,201 couples renewed their wedding vows at the ceremony.

2. ...in every way possible.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images.

Marjorie Enya (right) and rugby player Isadora Cerullo of Brazil kiss during their marriage proposal after the Women's Gold Medal Rugby Sevens match between Australia and New Zealand at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games on Aug. 8.

3. We celebrated life...

Photo by Shula Kopershtouk/AFP/Getty Images.

Yisrael Kristal in his Haifa, Israel, home on Jan. 21. Yisrael, a Holocaust survivor, may be the world's oldest man at 112, Guinness World Records said, providing he can find the documents to prove it. His family says he was born in Poland on Sept. 15, 1903, three months before the Wright brothers took the first airplane flight.

4. ...and its small triumphs.

Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images.

A refugee from Syria holds his daughter at a shelter for migrants and refugees run by the Berliner Stadtmission charity on Jan. 9 in Berlin. Fast Retailing Co., the parent company of Uniqlo, donated about 50,000 articles of clothing to help refugees in Germany stay warm through the winter. Germany took in about 1.1 million migrants and refugees in 2015 and expected about 300,000 more in 2016.

5. We mourned those we lost.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Jiffy Lube employee Ralph Nieves shows support for the Orlando, Florida, community following the shootings at the Pulse nightclub on June 16. This small but significant gesture helped the Orlando area and the country to heal from one of the worst mass shootings in American history. It showed that with all our progress, we still have much to achieve for future generations.

6. We tried to find ways to work through our differences...

Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images.

In a year full of tension over civil rights, this brief moment of calm during a protest between police officers and protesters in the early hours of Sept. 21 in Charlotte, North Carolina, showed that our right to assemble is as important as ever. The protests began the night before after a police officer fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott near UNC Charlotte.

7. ...and take a moment to reflect on our losses.

Photo by Mary Turner/Getty Images.

The Brexit vote was one of the most nerve-wracking examples of democracy in 2016. This moment of protesters awaiting the results of the vote in London on June 24 shows how important reflection can be before our expectations are subverted.

8. But we helped each other get back up again.

Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters.

Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand helps fellow competitor Abbey D'Agostino of the United States after she suffered a cramp on Aug. 16 during a women's 5,000-meter race at the Rio Olympics. This kind act proved that friendship and empathy are what the Olympics are really about.

9. We stood strong together...

Photo by Hatem Moussa/AP.

Four Palestinian friends who were injured during conflicts walk by the sea at Gaza's small fishing harbor on Oct. 24. Fighting has left thousands of people with disabilities or missing limbs in this Palestinian enclave. The heart-wrenching scars of conflict are a reminder that war is still present in our world but that we can stand tall together in its face.

10. ...for our heritage and our future.

Photo by Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune/AP.

This powerful image of Kat Eng holding 2-year-old Wiconi Suta Win Hopkins while painting a banner at the Seven Councils Camp on Aug. 18 during protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline shows that our environment and our heritage still need to be fought for.

11. We went on new adventures...

Photo by Aaron Sheldon, used with permission.

Photographer Aaron Sheldon was at the doctor's office with his son when he stumbled onto the perfect metaphor for childhood. "[Harrison] was scared to sit on the exam table because it's a little high up for a 3-year-old," Aaron recalled. "So I'm talking with him about being brave, and what types of people are brave and have to sit on exam tables. And we're talking about policemen and firemen and he said, 'Hey, how about astronauts? Are they brave?'" When Harrison had to go back for another checkup a few months later, Aaron brought his camera. And a space suit.

12. ...even if they may seem a little silly.

Photo by Michael Dwyer/AP.

Thomas Thwaites accepts the Ig Nobel prize in biology from economics Nobel laureate Eric Maskin at Harvard University on Sept. 22. Thwaites, of the United Kingdom, won for creating prosthetic extensions of his limbs that allowed him to move like a goat.

13. We'll get there any way we can...

Photo by Richard Vogel/AP.

Ivory McCloud maneuvers his horse, Diamond, down a street in Compton, California, on Aug. 7. Although best known as the birthplace of gangsta rap and the hometown of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams, Compton has a long and vibrant equestrian history.

14. ...and cherish the moments we have together.

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

A family embraces at the U.S.-Mexico border fence during an "Opening the Door of Hope" event on April 30 in San Diego. Five families, with some members living in Mexico and others in the United States, were permitted to meet and embrace for three minutes each at a door in the fence, which the U.S. Border Patrol opened to celebrate Mexican Children's Day. It was only the third time the fence, which separates San Diego from Tijuana, had been opened for families to briefly reunite. The event was planned by the immigrant advocacy group Border Angels.

15. We vowed to always stand up for our rights...

Photo by Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images.

Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa protests the Ethiopian government's crackdown on political dissent by crossing his arms over his head at the finish line of the men's marathon at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 21.

16. ...no matter what obstacles are in our way...

Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.

"My family and friends have continuously pushed me to face adversities and succeed despite them. I am not afraid of failure and push myself to try to be the best at everything," Nagla Bedir, who is Muslim and works as a social studies teacher, told the Andalou Agency during an interview about hate speech and Islamophobia ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Oct. 29. These issues were major dividing lines during the election, and Bedir was one of many who spoke out about the real struggles they dealt with every day this year.

17. ...to put our best foot forward...

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

These models walking the runway during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 12 were the first to wear hijab at the event. This moment showcased the importance of respecting each others' beliefs and traditions. The designer, Anniesa Hasibuan, received a standing ovation at the event for her stunning work.

18. ...soak in those triumphs...

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

Ibtihaj Muhammad of the United States celebrates during the women's saber team semifinal against Russia on Aug. 13 at the Rio Olympics. She was the first American Olympic athlete to wear the hijab during competition, and despite being knocked out during the competition, her performance left a powerful mark.

19. ...but always be mindful of the progress that's yet to be made.

Photo by Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images.

Activists from Abaad (Dimensions), a resource center for gender equality, dress as brides and wear injury patches during a protest in Beirut on Dec. 6 against a law that shields rapists from prosecution on the condition that they marry their victim.

20. We try to hang with our pals...

Photo by Mike Groll/AP.

Jim Kowalczik plays with Jimbo, a 1,500-pound Kodiak bear, at the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, New York, on Sept. 7. Our complicated relationship with the natural world had many ups and downs this year. This quiet moment between two friends shows the importance of compassion between us and the animal world.

21. ...stretch our legs...

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Maja, a 40-year-old elephant, checks out a bakery on July 1 in Berlin. Maja performs daily at Circus Busch, and circus workers take her on walks among the nearby apartment buildings to vacant lots, where she likes to eat the grass. City authorities sanction the outings and federal regulations reportedly encourage activities for elephants to stimulate the animals' cognitive awareness.

22. ...and our arms too.

Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images.

A Sumatran orangutan plays at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme's rehabilitation center in Kuta Mbelin, North Sumatra, Indonesia on Nov. 11. The orangutans in Indonesia are on the verge of extinction as a result of deforestation and poaching.

23. Together, we can hope for a better new year.

Photo by Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images.

A woman adds a sticky note to the art piece "Subway Therapy" at the Union Square station in New York on Nov. 17. This powerful display of compassion and empathy helped a city to heal after a divisive presidential election. It offered New Yorkers a collective outlet to reflect and move forward together in the new year.

Pop Culture

Airbnb host finds unexpected benefits from not charging guests a cleaning fee

Host Rachel Boice went for a more "honest" approach with her listings—and saw major perks because of it.

@rachelrboice/TikTok

Many frustrated Airbnb customers have complained that the separate cleaning fee is a nuisance.

Airbnb defines its notorious cleaning fee as a “one-time charge” set by the host that helps them arrange anything from carpet shampoo to replenishing supplies to hiring an outside cleaning service—all in the name of ensuring guests have a “clean and tidy space.”

But as many frustrated Airbnb customers will tell you, this feature is viewed as more of a nuisance than a convenience. According to NerdWallet, the general price for a cleaning fee is around $75, but can vary greatly between listings, with some units having cleaning fees that are higher than the nightly rate (all while sometimes still being asked to do certain chores before checking out). And often none of these fees show up in the total price until right before the booking confirmation, leaving many travelers feeling confused and taken advantage of.

However, some hosts are opting to build cleaning fees into the overall price of their listings, mimicking the strategy of traditional hotels.

Rachel Boice runs two Airbnb properties in Georgia with her husband Parker—one being this fancy glass plane tiny house (seen below) that promises a perfect glamping experience.

@rachelrboice Welcome to The Tiny Glass House 🤎 #airbnbfinds #exploregeorgia #travelbucketlist #tinyhouse #glampingnotcamping #atlantageorgia #fyp ♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim

Like most Airbnb hosts, the Boice’s listing showed a nightly rate and separate cleaning fee. According to her interview with Insider, the original prices broke down to $89 nightly, and $40 for the cleaning fee.

But after noticing the negative response the separate fee got from potential customers, Rachel told Insider that she began charging a nightly rate that included the cleaning fee, totaling to $129 a night.

It’s a marketing strategy that more and more hosts are attempting in order to generate more bookings (people do love feeling like they’re getting a great deal) but Boice argued that the trend will also become more mainstream since the current Airbnb model “doesn’t feel honest.”

"We stay in Airbnbs a lot. I pretty much always pay a cleaning fee," Boice told Insider. "You're like: 'Why am I paying all of this money? This should just be built in for the cost.'"

Since combining costs, Rachel began noticing another unexpected perk beyond customer satisfaction: guests actually left her property cleaner than before they were charged a cleaning fee. Her hypothesis was that they assumed she would be handling the cleaning herself.

"I guess they're thinking, 'I'm not paying someone to clean this, so I'll leave it clean,'" she said.

This discovery echoes a similar anecdote given by another Airbnb host, who told NerdWallet guests who knew they were paying a cleaning fee would “sometimes leave the place looking like it’s been lived in and uncleaned for months.” So, it appears to be that being more transparent and lumping all fees into one overall price makes for a happier (and more considerate) customer.

These days, it’s hard to not be embittered by deceptive junk fees, which can seem to appear anywhere without warning—surprise overdraft charges, surcharges on credit cards, the never convenience “convenience charge” when purchasing event tickets. Junk fees are so rampant that certain measures are being taken to try to eliminate them outright in favor of more honest business approaches.

Speaking of a more honest approach—as of December 2022, AirBnb began updating its app and website so that guests can see a full price breakdown that shows a nightly rate, a cleaning fee, Airbnb service fee, discounts, and taxes before confirming their booking.

Guests can also activate a toggle function before searching for a destination, so that full prices will appear in search results—avoiding unwanted financial surprises.

This article originally appeared on 11.08.23

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Joy

People over 30 are sharing their biggest regrets so we can all learn from them

Here are 13 of the most powerful responses.

via Anete Lusina/Pexels

A woman realizes that she has some pretty big regrets in life.

After the age of 30, people begin to judge the decisions they’ve made in the past based on their newfound perspective on life. This is a time when many of us pause and take stock of where we are versus where we imagined we'd be. As careers, relationships and personal aspirations begin to unfold, so do the realizations of things we may have done wrong. But it's also time for a type of self-reflection that can empower us to make more informed decisions in the future.

There probably isn’t one person alive over the age of 30 who doesn’t have at least one major regret. The key is to use that regret to your advantage by learning from it and not making the same mistake twice.

Regrets can also be helpful to others as a warning of some of the pitfalls in life to avoid.

A Redditor who goes by noThefakedevesh recently posed a question to the AskReddit subforum: “People above 30, what's your biggest regret in life?” The question was a great excuse for people to share their regrets and how they overcame the mistakes they made in the past. The list of regrets is also a wonderful way for younger people to avoid things that will give them regrets later in life.

One of the most powerful themes repeated in the post was people’s regret for caring too much about other people’s opinions and trying to be people-pleasers. Many people also regretted not taking more risks in life, especially when they were younger.

Here are 13 of the most powerful regrets people 30 and over shared on Reddit.

1. Not being healthy

"Not taking my own health seriously." — Outlasndishness3310

"I always think of the line from 'Peggy Sue Got Married' where she asks her grandfather if he could go back and do things differently, what would he change and he says, 'I'd have taken better care of my teeth.'" — TrustAvidity

2. Fear of judgement

"The amount of time I spent anxious about being judged." — BastardWing

"When I learned to let go, it was amazing. You can't control other people's opinions. You only get to control yourself and your own attitude. What other people think of me really doesn't have much effect on my life and it's easy enough to not interact with folks who judge me." — tmp_advent_of_code

"'Never take criticism from people you wouldn't go to for advice' has helped me with this many times." — RemainingEye

3. Fear of failure

"Not putting myself out there due to fear of failure. Failing should be celebrated and encouraged as a tool to learn and grow and improve." — TheWinderousWizard

4. Not exercising

"My biggest regret is not getting into exercise earlier. I thought people only exercised to lose weight and I was convinced I was just meant to be overweight. In my 30s I discovered running and volleyball and now I’m fitter in my 40s than I was in my 20s. I wish I’d realised how much fun I could be having." — NeitherGur5003

"One of the most useful tools for me recently has been reframing exercise as movement. The word 'exercise' has a punishing connotation to me - it's a tool used to cudgel 'lazy' people. 'Movement,' however, is joyful and free-flowing. Movement can be running, lifting weights, dancing, yoga, stretching, scrubbing your bathroom, walking your dog, goofing off with your nieces and nephews, parkour, bike riding - whatever. Celebrating movement gets me to appreciate the power of my body and the pleasure of mobility. It helps me to focus on a healthier relationship with my body that emphasizes the long-term ability to inhabit and utilize this great, useful, electrified meat sack that requires nourishment and ongoing maintenance. Anyway, hope that helps you too." — BarnacledSeaWitch

5. Being a people pleaser

"This 10000000%. Can't help others if you don't take care of yourself first. Hugely with kids and parents. Parents are ineffective if they ignore their spouses and put all their energy into everything else and nothing into themselves and each other." — Slickpoison

6. Should have invested earlier

"Yes to investing. I'm close to retiring and don't have anywhere close to the amount that I'd like. I used to make fun of my brother for his frugality but it turns out I was the foolish one." — Scurtrberau

"Rule of 72- at 8% growth you’d see your money double in 9 years. Waiting a decade means you miss out on doubling that money. What’s worse is that you have a certain set number of doubling periods before retirement- 22-31, 31-40, 40-49, 49-58, 58-67 - 5 doubling periods. $1 put in at 22 is worth 25 = $32 at retirement." — Burnbabyburn11

7. Paid too much attention to parents

"I listened to my parents too much when I was younger." — Distressed_Finish

"My mother was never going to understand me or love me unconditionally, or see me as anything other than something to possess and control, and I wish I could have realized it and freed myself from her sooner." — FloraFly

8. Waiting too long to get sober

"I'm in my 40s now and pretty much drank my way through my 20s and early 30s. I got into the lifestyle of drinking with friends every day after work, then a big session Friday night and it was the norm for me, I pitied people who just went straight home from work. Now thinking of all the money I spent, the health implications, the general setting my life back by 15 years, I think I was the one that was pitiable." — Dave80

"Same. I was a casual/social drinker my entire 20s and early 30s, and I wish I was not. Life without alcohol is so much better." — Barhanita

9. Put more effort into friendships

"I wish I didn't let friendships die so easily. I'm 36 and you'd be surprised how fast you can go a decade without talking to someone you once saw every day." — NutellaBanabaBread

10. Missed opportunities with women

"Took me far too long to realise if I had just taken my shot, I most likely would have succeeded with a few of my crushes. But I am happy were I am now, but man some of those missed opportunities..." — Zeebie_

11. Smoking

"Wish I never would have touched a cigarette." — BlueStarSpecial

"This for sure, I smoked for 25 years, maybe 15 a day. At today's prices in the UK that amounts to around £82k or just over $100k." — Dave80

12. Self-loathing

"I regret the amount of time I spent hating my body. The self-loathing I had with my appearance consumed me, and now when I look back at photos of me in my twenties I just wish I could have seen how skinny I was." — Wetsummer486

13. Being a loyal employee

"Being loyal to a company and expecting to be rewarded later." — Pinkpujita

"Been job hopping every 2-3 years. New projects, more motivation, learning new stuff, most of the time with increased salary." — fr6nco

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Pop Culture

A brave fan asks Patrick Stewart a question he doesn't usually get and is given a beautiful answer

Patrick Stewart often talks about his childhood and the torment his father put him and his mother through.

Patrick Stewart often talks about his childhood and the torment his father put him and his mother through. However, how he answered this vulnerable and brave fan's question is one of the most eloquent, passionate responses about domestic violence I've ever seen.

WARNING: At 2:40, he's going to break your heart a little.

This article originally appeared on 06.26.13.

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Science

MIT’s trillion-frames-per-second camera can capture light as it travels

"There's nothing in the universe that looks fast to this camera."

Photo from YouTube video.

Photographing the path of light.

A new camera developed at MIT can photograph a trillion frames per second.

Compare that with a traditional movie camera which takes a mere 24. This new advancement in photographic technology has given scientists the ability to photograph the movement of the fastest thing in the Universe, light.

The actual event occurred in a nano second, but the camera has the ability to slow it down to twenty seconds.

time, science, frames per second, bounced light

The amazing camera.

Photo from YouTube video.

For some perspective, according to New York Times writer, John Markoff, "If a bullet were tracked in the same fashion moving through the same fluid, the resulting movie would last three years."

In the video below, you'll see experimental footage of light photons traveling 600-million-miles-per-hour through water.

It's impossible to directly record light so the camera takes millions of scans to recreate each image. The process has been called femto-photography and according to Andrea Velten, a researcher involved with the project, "There's nothing in the universe that looks fast to this camera."

(H/T Curiosity)

This article originally appeared on 09.08.17

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Science

What will Earth look like if all its land ice melts? Here's your answer.

Climate change isn't pretty.

via Business Insider Science/YouTube.

A map of the United States post land-ice melt.

Land ice: We got a lot of it.

Considering the two largest ice sheets on earth — the one on Antarctica and the one on Greenland — extend more than 6 million square miles combined ... yeah, we're talkin' a lot of ice.

But what if it was all just ... gone? Not like gone gone, but melted?

If all of earth's land ice melted, it would be nothing short of disastrous.

And that's putting it lightly.

This video by Business Insider Science (seen below) depicts exactly what our coastlines would look like if all the land ice melted. And spoiler alert: It isn't great.

Lots of European cities like, Brussels and Venice, would be basically underwater.

In Africa and the Middle East? Dakar, Accra, Jeddah — gone.

Millions of people in Asia, in cities like Mumbai, Beijing, and Tokyo, would be uprooted and have to move inland.

South America would say goodbye to cities like Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

And in the U.S., we'd watch places like Houston, San Francisco, and New York City — not to mention the entire state of Florida — slowly disappear into the sea.

All GIFs via Business Insider Science/YouTube.

Business Insider based these visuals off National Geographic's estimation that sea levels will rise 216 feet (!) if all of earth's land ice melted into our oceans.

There's even a tool where you can take a detailed look at how your community could be affected by rising seas, for better or worse.

Although ... looking at these maps, it's hard to imagine "for better" is a likely outcome for many of us.

Much of America's most populated regions would be severely affected by rising sea levels, as you'll notice exploring the map, created by Alex Tingle using data provided by NASA.

Take, for instance, the West Coast. (Goodbye, San Fran!)

Or the East Coast. (See ya, Philly!)

And the Gulf Coast. (RIP, Bourbon Street!)

I bring up the topic not just for funsies, of course, but because the maps above are real possibilities.

How? Climate change.

As we continue to burn fossil fuels for energy and emit carbon into our atmosphere, the planet gets warmer and warmer. And that, ladies and gentlemen, means melted ice.

A study published this past September by researchers in the U.S., U.K., and Germany found that if we don't change our ways, there's definitely enough fossil fuel resources available for us to completely melt the Antarctic ice sheet.

Basically, the self-inflicted disaster you see above is certainly within the realm of possibility.

"This would not happen overnight, but the mind-boggling point is that our actions today are changing the face of planet Earth as we know it and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years to come," said lead author of the study Ricarda Winkelmann, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

If we want to stop this from happening," she says, "we need to keep coal, gas, and oil in the ground."

The good news? Most of our coastlines are still intact! And they can stay that way, too — if we act now.

World leaders are finallystarting to treat climate change like the global crisis that it is — and you can help get the point across to them, too.

Check out Business Insider's video below:

This article originally appeared on 12.08.15

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