Shop
 Explore 

A contest was held to find this year's funniest animal photo. Here are 15 of the best.

A hamster has to get somewhere fast. It would also like to eat some nuts, if possible. Finally, it comes up with a genius solution.

Photo by Julian Radd/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2015.

That solution, miraculously caught on camera by photographer Julian Radd, was the winner of the 2015 Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards.

The awards are the brainchild of Tanzania-based photographers Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks, who launched the contest last year.

The pair, along with a panel of judges, run the competition in partnership with Born Free, a global animal rights group supporting anti-poaching efforts in Tanzania and around the world.

"Instead of drawing attention to wildlife through showing foxes being ripped to pieces by hounds, or a bird that’s being slashed open and it’s filled with litter, we just thought, ‘Let’s celebrate the wildlife and raise awareness that way,'" Sullam said.

This year, the group received nearly 3,000 entries. While high-quality photos can be more competitive, the contest ultimately only has one inviolable rule: Be funny.

"The humor scoring outweighs the photographic scoring," Sullam said.

Here are 15 of this year's best entries:

1. This cheetah cracking up.

Photo by Dutton Robert/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

2. These one-and-a-half owls.

Photo by Barb D'Arpino/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards.

3. This baby elephant taking a moment to collect itself on the side of the road.

Photo by Markus Pavlowsky/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

4. This field mouse on stilts.

Photo by Michael Erwin/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

5. These monkeys not fighting the feeling.

Photo by Sushil Chauhan/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

6. These puffins going diagonal.

Photo by Mary Swaby/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

7. This eagle, definitely not trying to figure out how to eat you. Not at all.

Photo by Will Saunders/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

8. This chipmunk, slowly realizing it's in over its head.

Photo by Barb D'Arpino/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

9. This seal just saying "Hey."

Photo by Adam White/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

10. This kangaroo enjoying the comforts of modern society.

Photo by Rosario Losano/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

11. This fluffy monkey, preparing a vicious sneak attack.

Photo by Nicolas de Vaulx/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

12. This odd couple, a chipmunk and a toad, experiencing a deep sensory connection.

Photo by Isabelle Marozzo/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

13. These squirrels squirreling it real hard.

Photo by Yvette Richard/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

14. This wasp with a fancier jewelry collection than you.

Photo by Murray Mcculloch/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

15. And lastly, this snowy owl, finding its bliss.

Photo by Edward Kopeschny/Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2016.

Sullam says he hopes the photos, while lighthearted, reinforce the importance of protecting these animals for those who see them.

"It’s going to get the same impact," he said. "It’s just not negative."

The winners will be announced Nov. 9, 2016.

From Your Site Articles

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by 𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝® (@nycbrunchsquad)

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less

friendship

Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

Keep ReadingShow less

money

Identity

One man turned nursing home design on its head when he created this stunning facility

"What if we design an environment that looks like outside?" he said. "What if I can have a sunrise and sunset inside the building?

92-year-old Norma had a strange and heartbreaking routine.

Every night around 5:30 p.m., she stood up and told the staff at her Ohio nursing home that she needed to leave. When they asked why, she said she needed to go home to take care of her mother. Her mom, of course, had long since passed away.

Behavior like Norma's is quite common for older folks suffering from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. Walter, another man in the same assisted living facility, demanded breakfast from the staff every night around 7:30.

Keep ReadingShow less

Health

If you're grieving a loved one this holiday season, here's a gift you can give yourself

After losing her almost-4-year-old daughter to epilepsy, Kelly Cervantes created a "grief companion" that meets people wherever they are in their grief journey.

Images courtesy of Kelly Cervantes

Kelly Cervantes wrote her way through grieving the loss of her daughter, Adelaide.

Kelly Cervantes begins the Introduction to her book with five words: "Grief sucks. It's also weird." It's a concise truth that anyone who has lost a loved one knows all too well.

Grief is a universal experience—none of us get through life without loss—but it's also unique to each person. Most of us are familiar with the popular "stages of grief" theory, but denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (along with guilt and a host of things) are less like sequential rungs on a ladder and more like pools you fall into at various times as you stumble your way through the grief process. Grief is not linear and it's not neat and tidy and it's not predictable.

Take it from someone who's been there. Kelly Cervantes lost her daughter, Adelaide, to epilepsy just shy of her 4th birthday. Using writing as a therapeutic tool to help her process Adelaide's medically complex life, death and everything that came after, Kelly created the book she wished she'd had as she was trying to navigate her own grieving process.

Keep ReadingShow less

grief

A contest was held to find this year's funniest animal photo. Here are 15 of the best.

A hamster has to get somewhere fast. It would also like to eat some nuts, if possible. Finally, it comes up with a genius solution.

Here are 15 of this year's best entries:

1. This cheetah cracking up.

2. These one-and-a-half owls.

3. This baby elephant taking a moment to collect itself on the side of the road.

4. This field mouse on stilts.

5. These monkeys not fighting the feeling.

6. These puffins going diagonal.

7. This eagle, definitely not trying to figure out how to eat you. Not at all.

8. This chipmunk, slowly realizing it's in over its head.

9. This seal just saying "Hey."

10. This kangaroo enjoying the comforts of modern society.

11. This fluffy monkey, preparing a vicious sneak attack.

12. This odd couple, a chipmunk and a toad, experiencing a deep sensory connection.

13. These squirrels squirreling it real hard.

14. This wasp with a fancier jewelry collection than you.

15. And lastly, this snowy owl, finding its bliss.

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

"What if we design an environment that looks like outside?" he said. "What if I can have a sunrise and sunset inside the building?

92-year-old Norma had a strange and heartbreaking routine.

Confusion is common in Alzheimer's patients, but Makesh knew there had to be some way to minimize these conflicts.

Instead of rooms or units, each resident gets a "home" on a quiet little indoor street reminiscent of the neighborhoods many of them grew up in.

Instead of a boring panel ceiling, residents look up and see a digital sky, which grows dimmer late in the day to help keep their biological clocks in tune.

Throughout the day, nature sounds and fresh aromas like peppermint or citrus are piped in.

For Makesh, this isn't just about making patients comfortable, though. He wants to change how we think about the endgame of severe dementia.

Of course, we're a long way from a cure for Alzheimer's.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

Trameka Brown-Berry was looking over her 4th-grade son Jerome's homework when her jaw hit the floor.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

The assignment was real. In the year 2018. Unbelievable.

The shockingly offensive assignment deserved to be thrown in the trash. But young Jerome dutifully filled it out anyway.

"You, white friend, need to speak up and say something when I can't."

1. You're going to have to get uncomfortable.

2. "Your black friend would like to say something to the racist lady, but doesn't want to appear to be that 'angry black man.'"

3. We are constantly monitoring our surroundings and adjusting our clothes, hair, speed, and speech to maintain white comfort.

4. "Your black friend wishes you'd play more than Beyoncé. There are more black performers than Beyoncé."

5. Speaking of which, performative blackness is really uncomfortable.

6. "Your black friend feels like a man without a country."

7. We would love it if we could stop talking about our anxiety and frustrations regarding racism. But right now, that's impossible.

The billionaire passed away on November 28 at the age of 99.

After losing her almost-4-year-old daughter to epilepsy, Kelly Cervantes created a "grief companion" that meets people wherever they are in their grief journey.