Sweden has been working on an exciting new technology, dubbed "The Future of Mobility."
Imagine climbing into your car, only now you can stretch your legs comfortably in the roomy cabin. Instead of fighting reckless drivers and morning traffic, you can whip open your phone or laptop, catch up on work, or just zone out, and be sure you'll show up at your destination safe and sound.
And all of that without feeling guilty about polluting the ozone.
It's not just a fantasy anymore. Behold:
Yes, the future of transportation in Sweden is ... a bus.
But it might not be as silly as it sounds.
The clever ad comes from Swedish public transport agency Västtrafik, which wants to encourage more commuters to take the bus (or train) instead of clogging the road with cars. In addition to the ad campaign, Västtrafik is also offering riders two weeks of free public transit to show them how great it can be.
Obviously, public transport isn't a good fit for everyone, especially those who live or work outside major urban centers. But according to a press release, Västtrafik expects to gain over 5,000 new regular riders from the experiment.
Sweden hopes to be "climate neutral" by 2050, and getting more cars off the road is a big part of the plan.
Photo by Erik Martensson/AFP/Getty Images.
We've seen lots of small islands and isolated communities completely wean themselves off fossil fuels, but for a developed nation like Sweden to do it would be a massive feat.
One of the biggest challenges will be to cut the country's carbon emissions — about a third of which come from domestic travel, according to Västtrafik. Frankly, it just makes sense.
"A normal car in Sweden stands still for 97 percent of its lifetime and for every car there are eight parking spaces and many miles of road," said Sweden's environment minister, Karolina Skog. "You can't call that effective."
The country already gets the majority of its energy from renewable sources wind, and it's working on making its fleet of buses and trains even more energy efficient.
Thanks, Sweden, for showing the rest of the world what climate-conscious policy should look like.
Not all nations believe the interests of its people and the planet can be served at the same time, but you have to wonder if they might be singing a different tune as the impact of climate change becomes more severe.
The more of us who are willing to get involved and (gasp!) maybe sit next to another human being on our morning commute, the better chance we have at slowing down this "runaway bus."



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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.