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Heroes

A Funny Look At How One Huge Corporation's Been Fooling Us All Along

You know those advertisements for oil companies that are all about green energy ideas? The ones that play uplifting music set to scenes of nature that make us forget all about our dependence on oil? Yeah, those ones. Next time you see one, remember this video and try to see through the marketing ploy.

Pop Culture

All In: 5 Ways This Week

From the silly to the sentimental, there are so many ways people like to go “all in” on something. Here are our five favorite examples we found this week across the internet.

5 ways people are going "All In" this week
5 ways people are going "All In" this week
5 ways people are going "All In" this week
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When you hear the words “all in,” what do you think? You might picture a Dancing with the Stars trend gone viral or maybe bridesmaids who fully supportive of the bride's favorite movie (and recreates an iconic scene). Whatever you picture, the idea is the same: Someone who does something with 100 percent total commitment. Going “all in” means giving your all—going completely over the top, no second guessing, no holding back. Just full-throttle enthusiasm, with some flair and creativity thrown in. And when people go “all in,” something truly special usually happens as a result.


The internet abounds with examples of people giving it their all—whatever it is. In this roundup, we’ve found the very best examples of people going “all in”—moments where passion, creativity, and commitment take center stage. Some are sentimental, some are silly, but all of them are a reminder that giving 100 percent is truly the only way to leave a mark on this world. Get ready: These folks didn’t just show up, they went all in.


1. An Iconic "snow-coaster"

One thing about going all in - it can be crazy and childish at times. That’s something that makes going all in special, connecting with that side of you that takes things less seriously in order to have some fun. Shira Goldstone and her husband took to that mindset when it started snowing in their backyard. Shira’s husband picked up planks of wood (and whatever other tools are required) and within the same night, in the falling snow, built a “snow-coaster” for the two of them to play on.

2. A Truck That's Feeding It's Community

You already know our friends at All In—they’ve got some seriously tasty snacks that are not only healthy and affordable (scroll to the bottom of this article to see how you can snag a free bar), they help fund food banks, gardens, community fridges, meal programs, and other amazing things

For Giving Tuesday, All In teamed up with Fresh Truck, a weekly mobile market that brings fresh and affordable produce to neighborhoods in the Boston area. Fresh truck hosts weekly markets, pop-up events, and an online storefront, all to help strengthen communities who need it the most. They’re going all in on local nutrition and food access, and we’re here for it.


3. All In on Madam Morrible

I’m always all in on a good TikTok trend. This week, I’m going to share with you a classic that has come out of the Wicked franchise and the incredible actress Michelle Yeoh.

Michelle, who plays Madame Morrible in the Wicked movies, is an outstanding actress. She’s known for iconic films like Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, as well as Crazy Rich Asians and Star Trek. But her legacy might be this one quote, which she’s said in interviews countless times, and now people can’t stop making videos with the phrase “Madame Morrible, M.M…flip it around, W.W. Wicked Witch!”

You might have to take a look at how people are going all in yourself, the sound has taken off with already 14.3K videos, and the variations are unstoppable...defying all odds and maybe even...defying gravity?

4. Spotify Wrapped: All in on "Coconut Mall"

TikTok · Ale

www.tiktok.com

There’s nothing better than finding a song that hits just right and gets you feeling productive. For some people, it’s lofi beats. For others, it’s orchestra music. For TikTok user @aleinmotion, it was the “coconut mall” song from the Mario Kart racing soundtrack. Ale never realized how much she listened to the song until it became #1 on her Spotify Wrapped. Sometimes you’ll be surprised by what you love most, and I’m thinking this is one of those moments for Ale.

5. A Family Prank Everyone Enjoys

This girl said her boyfriend had an ugly hat, so her family decided to go all in on supporting him instead. This is when love and humor come together, a perfect prank that actually made the boyfriends day…and taught his girlfriend that nothing is really that serious! They even got the daughter her very own hat as well, and she looked happy to wear it!

As someone who grew up with a dad who always wore floppy hats to protect him from the sun, I understand the embarrassment. Maybe it’s time I go all in and show my support with a matching hat and white long sleeve sun shirt!

Snag your free (!!) snack bar here while this deal lasts. Simply sign up with your phone number, pick up your favorite flavor of an All In bar at Sprouts, and then text a picture of your receipt through Aisle. They’ll Venmo or PayPal you back for the cost of one bar. Enjoy!

batteries, energy, sustainability, power, breakthroughs

UCI doctoral candidate Mya Le Thai has developed a nanowire-based technology that allows lithium-ion batteries to be recharged hundreds of thousands of times.

A quote widely attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca says, "Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity." In 2016, a doctoral candidate at the University of California Irvine proved that this is indeed the truth.

Nine years ago, Mya Le Thai, PhD was playing around in the lab when she made a colossal discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery—that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting appliances, laptops, smartphones, cars and so much more, plus fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.


A team of researchers at UCI had been experimenting with nanowires for potential use in batteries, but found that, over time, the thin fragile wires would break down and crack after too many charging cycles. A charge cycle is when a battery goes from completely full to completely empty and back to full again.

charging station, battery, charging battery, charge, batteries Phone charging.Canva Photos.

But one day on a whim, Thai coated a set of gold nanowires in manganese dioxide and a Plexiglas-like electrolyte gel.

"She started to cycle these gel capacitors, and that's when we got the surprise," said Reginald Penner, chair of the university's chemistry department. "She said, 'this thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it's still going.' She came back a few days later and said 'it's been cycling for 30,000 cycles.' That kept going on for a month."

This discovery is mind-blowing because the average laptop battery lasts 300 to 500 charge cycles. The nanobattery developed at UCI made it though 200,000 cycles in three months. That would extend the life of the average laptop battery by about 400 years. The rest of the device would have probably gone kaput decades before the battery, but the implications for a battery that lasts hundreds of years are pretty startling.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

“Mya was playing around, and she coated this whole thing with a very thin gel layer and started to cycle it,” Penner added. “She discovered that just by using this gel, she could cycle it hundreds of thousands of times without losing any capacity.”

“That was crazy,” he added, “because these things typically die in dramatic fashion after 5,000 or 6,000 or 7,000 cycles at most. ”"The big picture is that there may be a very simple way to stabilize nanowires of the type that we studied. If this turns out to be generally true, it would be a great advance for the community."

Not bad for just fooling around in the laboratory!

science, discovery, lab, batteries, Bill Nye, gif bill nye chemistry GIF by NETFLIX Giphy

Since her discovery, Mya Le Thai earned her PhD and has gone on to a successful career as the Principal Scientist with the Enevate Corporation, a company set "to develop innovative battery technologies that accelerate adoption of electrified mobility," according to their website.

She has also filed patents for her various inventions, the most recent of which being "Cells with blocking devices for delayed heat propagation" in July 2025. Her full list of patents can be found on Justia.

This article originally appeared eight years ago. It has been updated.

neuroscience, brain coach, emotions, success, achievement, change, evolution, the self

A woman at a laptop.

Just about all of us have something we’d like to improve in our lives. Most of us would like to be more resilient, more proactive in accomplishing our goals, break bad habits, remain open to change, and stay calm when we are emotionally triggered.

Ed Janes, a life coach who uses scientifically proven neurological research to help people improve their lives, says these changes all start in our minds, specifically with our beliefs. In a recent TikTok video, he shared the five beliefs that we should all adopt to change our lives for the better.


“I don't know who needs to hear this, but here are the five best beliefs to have, backed by neuroscience. If you have these, pat yourself on the back. And if you don't have these, start to integrate them,” he opens the video.

@rewirethemindcoaching

Have you got these? #fyp #successful #selfbelief #neuroscience #goals

Note: I have simplified Jane’s explanations so they are easier to understand for everyone.

1. “My emotions are data, not my identity”

When you are emotionally affected by something that you read on the Internet or that someone tells you face-to-face, realize that the emotions you experience are just a symptom of the situation and do not reflect who you are as a person. This belief activates the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain associated with impulse control, and the emotional part of your brain relaxes, allowing you to think more clearly.

2. “My actions create clarity.”

Do you have a project you’d love to start but never feel it’s the right time? This belief actually trains your brain to avoid taking action, leading to predictive paralysis and overthinking. However, once you take the first steps on the task, whether it’s the perfect moment or not, your body floods with adrenaline and dopamine, which reward you with clarity to proceed with your project. “Stop waiting for the perfect moment. It's intellectualized procrastination,” Janes' says.

Jane's words echo those of Napoleon Hill, author of the 1937 mega bestseller Think and Grow Rich. In the book, he says that if you want to do something, start now. “Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, better tools will be found as you go along."


3. “Pain is neurofeedback, not punishment”

Reframing discomfort as feedback activates the part of the brain that helps guide you through stressful situations and increases your threshold for stress. In the long run, activating this belief when you experience physical pain will help you build a pain threshold and remain calm in stressful situations.

4. My identity drives my behaviour, not my willpower

Let’s say you have a problem with wasting your time doomscrolling. Janes says you should change your self-concept from someone who doom-scrolls to someone who isn’t interested in what’s happening on [insert your social media platform]. When you change to the new belief, the parts of your brain associated with habit formation will kick into action. “So when you change your identity, you will change your actions,” the name says.


5. “My brain can change at any age”

When you genuinely believe that your brain still has the power to change, the areas of the brain associated with learning (the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and prefrontal cortex) begin to fire up. “So when you actually give yourself this belief, it already starts making you learn faster, deal with emotions better, you regulate yourself better, and you also come back from your losses and become more resilient,” Janes says.

Janes’ video does a great job at explaining the brain science behind why we can easily get stuck with unproductive habits. It seems that our minds are afraid of pain, change, and taking action. But the good news is that when we change what we think is possible by accepting new beliefs. We can develop a mind eager to adopt new habits that make us happier, healthier, and more successful.

Science

Video of a 1949 kitchen design has people drooling over its brilliant features

Can we bring back some of these "step saving" design elements?

1949 step saving kitchen, 1950s, vintage kitchen, functional kitchen design, home economics

People are fascinated by the features in this 1949 kitchen design.

Modern kitchens are pretty epic in the historical scheme of things. We have refrigerators that dispense ice, cold water, and even hot water. We have faucets that turn on and off with a touch. We have garbage disposals, automatic trash-can lids, and pot-filling faucets over stoves—all manner of modern conveniences that might make us assume that today's kitchens are superior to every era that came before.

In some ways, they are. But a video from the National Archives demonstrating the features of a 1949 step-saving kitchen design has some of us rethinking just how much. The video was put out by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Home Economics division and it details every part of this efficient kitchen design:


- YouTube www.youtube.com

No wonder kitchens from that era feel small compared to most new homes today. Modern kitchens tend to be sprawling but far less functional. This design may be small, but it’s mighty.

The movie itself is a bit of a time capsule—not only in the cabinetry and clothing styles, but in the clear assumption that only women would be using the kitchen. On one hand, it’s great that work traditionally viewed as "women’s work" became the focus of innovation aimed at making life easier. On the other hand, it’s interesting to see how much has changed around gender roles since the 1940s.

But why did the government even make a video like this in the first place? Why would the government even care about kitchen design?

kitchen design, home design, functional kitchen, interior design, kitchens Design 3D GIF Giphy

It all began with a push for science and innovation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As food historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson wrote, "This kitchen design is the culmination of several decades of work studies. During the Progressive Era, American interest in science began to increase, and scientific theories were applied to everything from factories to households. The Efficiency Movement was part of this application of scientific principles to everyday life. Led by mechanical engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor, the movement posited that everyday life, from industry to government to households, were plagued by inefficiencies, which wasted time, energy, and money."

This movement, known as "Taylorism," spilled over into the home economics movement, which eventually became of interest to the U.S. government. A USDA report published in 1948 explained the push for efficient kitchen design:

"To help homemakers reduce time and work involved in kitchen activities, the Bureau is designing and preparing construction drawings for kitchens, with different arrangements of equipment — the U, L, broken U and L, and parallel-wall types of arrangement. They are designed to reduce walking, stooping, and stretching to a minimum, in accordance with accepted principles of work simplification."

And that's how we ended up with this glorious video.

Many people cheered for the features of this nearly 80-year-old kitchen design:

"Wow! That is an amazing well thought out kitchen. And we think we are modern today. That kitchen was has way more features than our kitchen today!" – @TheCrystalLion1

"I say I want an old time kitchen all the time! Everything was so functional." –@LizSmit97381516

"Yeah, that is pretty amazing! I would be completely happy with this." – @TexasAris

"I have a garbage pail and potato drawer like this. Love it. Our kitchen is brand new tho. I requested these things. Also a full size pull out pantry, 15 inches wide and 6 ft tall. Hideaway kitchen utensils vertical pullout 6 inches wide, full size microwave drawer. Modern kitchens can be amazing or terrible." – @NativeNoticer

Some people have expressed concern about bugs in those potato and onion bins, but someone who grew up in that era noted that potatoes and onions were such daily staples that families went through them quickly:

"We kept things real clean and, no, that was never a problem - the potatoes and onions were gone through on pretty much a weekly basis. We normally figured 1/2 an onion per person per day and a potato per person. We had a small family. Grandfather, grandmother, Uncle, Mom, myself, and a kid that no one wanted - 6 people; that is 6 potatoes and 3 onions a day or a 20# bag of each a week. And they were used as hash browns, potato pancakes, baked potatoes, sautéed onions in dishes (all dishes) and of course fried potatoes and french fries. They were pretty much a staple. We also had flour bins, two types - cooking and baking, and also two different kinds of sugar. There was baked bread and a pie or cake every single day and always biscuits. And everything was from scratch. All vegetables were prepared before cooking and did not come from cans and had only when in season, same with fruits. We did can some items but not many." – @DannerFoundati1

Naturally, times change, the way we use our homes changes, and new innovations often replace the old for good reason. But there may be some things we can learn from an era when function and efficiency were prioritized over Instagrammable spaces. What good is a beautiful kitchen if it's cumbersome to use?

teacher pay, teachers, education, school funding, police, arrests

Deyshia Hargrave speaking at a school board meeting, being arrested.

We all know teachers have one of the hardest jobs in America: Educating our country's children while often working without enough resources, institutional support, or even a livable salary. But a story from 2018, showcases one of the most egregious examples of unfair pay in the public school system. But we promise it has a happy ending.

Why should a superintendent get a raise while teachers in the same district struggling to make ends meet see their paychecks flatline — year after year after year?


Teacher Deyshia Hargrave begged the question. Minutes later, she was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of a cop car. The scene was captured below by YouTube user Chris Rosa, who attended a Vermilion Parish Schools board meeting in Louisiana. You can watch Hargrave begin speaking about 33 seconds in. The situation starts becoming contentious around 6:35 minutes. Hargrave was arrested at 8:35 and then walked outside in handcuffs and was placed in the back of a police vehicle.


- YouTube www.youtube.com


Hargrave was questioning the school board about how they can vote to give the superintendent a raise when school employees have not gotten a raise.

"We work very hard with very little to maintain the salaries that we have," Hargrave, who teaches middle school language arts, said during a public comment portion of the meeting, stating that she's seen classroom sizes balloon during her time at the school with no increased compensation. "We're meeting those goals, while someone in that position of leadership [the superintendent] is getting raise? It's a sad, sad day to be a teacher in Vermilion Parish."

According to comments Hargrave made to BuzzFeed News, she believes Superintendent Jerome Puyau was already making $110,000 before the board voted to give him a raise of $38,000. The raise alone is roughly the salary of "a teacher, or two cafeteria workers, or two janitors," Hargrave told the outlet.

After Hargrave spoke out again later in the meeting, a city marshal on duty asked her to leave — even though the school board was still addressing her.

"You're going to leave, or I'm going to remove you," the officer told her, as seen in the video. Many people in attendance seemed shocked. "Are you serious?" someone asked, aghast, in the crowd.

Hargrave leaves the room, followed by the officer. But moments later, someone chimed in, "he's putting her in handcuffs" — and the room erupts in disarray.

"I am not [resisting], you just pushed me to the floor!" Hargrave is heard screaming at the officer, as he forcibly removes her down the hallway and out the building in handcuffs. "Sir, hold on! I am way smaller than you!"


- YouTube www.youtube.com

According to KATV News, Hargrave was booked in the city jail for resisting an officer — a fact that left many commenters online flabbergasted. School officials are reportedly not pressing charges. "Umm ... what charges could they possibly make?" one Redditor noted.

With help from the Reddit community, Rosa's video has gone viral, garnering more than 600,000 views in less than 24 hours. Clearly, Hargrave's earnest question about inequality in our education system — met with a grotesque abuse of power — has clearly touched a nerve with people across the country.

"I don't know how this teacher could have been more polite and patient in her earnest desire to find out why the superintendent deserves a raise while the teachers work harder with less," YouTube commenter Scott Wells chimed in. "She continued to press because they refused to come up with an answer. Seems like a good question to me."

We agree.

After the incident, Hargrave suffered bruising, pain, mental anguish, and had expenses for therapy and the cost of being released from jail. The case came to the attention of the ACLU of Louisiana, which became involved. "This incident was a clear violation of Deyshia Hargrave's constitutional rights for which the officials and officer responsible should absolutely be held accountable," Executive Director Alanah Odoms HebertHebert said in a statement.


Things didn't go well for the superintendent

Thankfully, Hargrave's efforts were not in vain. The incident went viral, drawing national attention from several media outlets, including Upworthy, which pointed out the injustice of blocking educators like Hargrave from having a place to speak in opposition to the pay raises. Later in 2018, a Lafayette court invalidated the superintendent's contract, according to The Daily Advertiser. A state appeals court backed the decision.

The Advertiser reports that in 2019, Hargrave filed a lawsuit over her arrest. Later that year, the Vermilion Parish School Board voted to remove Payou from his role, according to KATC. Later that year, Payou agreed to resign from his position, and a settlement was reached over the initial case surrounding his pay raise. He is now retired.

This article originally appeared six years ago. It has been updated.

Pasterze, Pasterze Glacier, climate change, satellite, weather, global warming

The Pasterze Glacier in a 1900 postcard and in March 2025

One hundred twenty-five years ago, the Pasterze Glacier in Austria's Eastern Alps was postcard perfect: Snowy peaks. Windswept valleys. Ruddy-cheeked mountain children in lederhosen playing "Edelweiss" on the flugelhorn.

But a lot has changed since 1900. Much of it has changed for the better. We've eradicated smallpox, Hitler is dead, and the song "Billie Jean" exists now. On the downside, the Earth has gotten hotter. A lot hotter. From June 2023 to May 2024, each subsequent month was the hottest ever recorded in the planet's history. July 2023 was the planet's hottest month—ever. And as of this writing, Yale Climate Connections declared June 2025 "the planet's third-warmest in history."


Unsurprisingly, man-made climate change has wreaked havoc on the planet's glaciers—including the Pasterze, which is Austria's largest. Just how much havoc are we talking about? Well, this is how the Pasterze Glacier looked in a 1900 postcard:

Pasterze, Pasterze Glacier, climate change, weather, glacier The Pasterze Glacier in a 1900 postcard Image via Wikicommons

And this is how it looked in March 2025:

Pasterze Glacier, Pasterze, Austria, climate change, alps, Eastern Alps What's left of the Pasterze Glacier European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery

First measured in 1851, the glacier lost half of its mass between 1856 (when it first began receding) and the early 2000s. A marker placed in 1985 shows where the edge of the glacier reached just 40 years ago. You can still see the ice sheet, but just barely, way off in the distance. In between is...a big, muddy lake. The view from the glacial foot marker from 1995—just 10 years later—isn't much more encouraging. Even in just one year, 2015, the glacier lost an astounding amount of mass—177 feet, by some estimates.

Overall, it is estimated that the glacier has retracted by 980 feet since the park first opened in 1963.

Ice continues to melt daily, and while the dripping makes for a good photo, it's unfortunate news for planet Earth. Glacial melting is one of the three primary causes of sea-level rise. Pasterze is still technically the largest glacier in Austria and the Eastern Alps at approximately 6.2 miles. And even in its reduced form, Pasterze remains a significant tourist destination.

- YouTube youtu.be

According CREA Mont-Blanc, a research center for Alpine Ecosystems, the average temperature in the Alps has increased two degrees Celsius in the last 100 years—double the global average. It's not unreasonable to assume that that's why this mountain hut has been abandoned by the flugelhorn-playing children who once probably lived in it.

Is there anything we can do to stop the Pasterze Glacier from disappearing?

There are efforts underway to save Pasterze and other significant glaciers. However, Gerhard Lieb, the co-leader of the Austrian Alpine Club described the glacier's retreat as "unstoppable" with predictions that it and Austria's other major glaciers will be gone in as little as 45 years. It would take decades of meaningful counter climate change initiatives, with even the existing ones being too slow for meaningful action, "and the time is up,” Lieb said. “That means nothing can be done anymore.”

This article originally appeared 10 years ago. It has been updated with new information.