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A rover dived to the bottom of the ocean. 15 photos show what it found there.

A rover dived to the bottom of the ocean. 15 photos show what it found there.

Have you ever wondered what it looks like miles below the surface of the ocean?

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest point in the Earth's oceans, and scientists and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are sending cameras down into its depths.

They'll be exploring the deep water around the entire area, from relatively shallow undersea mountains to down in the deep valleys more than six miles underwater. They're scheduled to explore until July 10, 2016, with this incredible camera rover as their eye in the deep.

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

The ship is equipped with a fast internet connection, so the entire trip is being live-streamed online — meaning that scientists and researchers and fans of weird deep-sea creatures alike can join in the journey via the magic wizardry which is the internet.

Here are just some of the incredible things they've spotted so far:

1. Amazing beauties like this jellyfish

You're not ready for this jelly(fish). Image from oceanexplorergov/YouTube.

2. Enchanting, fragile deep-sea corals

I'm pretty sure you get one of these when you visit Hawaii. Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

3. Startlingly flower-like crinoids

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

Though it looks like a plant, crinoids (also known as sea lilies) are actually distantly related to starfish. I can't decide whether this is beautiful or terrifying. Maybe both? Terror-eautiful?

4. A whole bouquet of them

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

5. There are whole reefs down here! Complete with sharks!

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

Despite popular belief, not all coral reefs live up in the shallows.

6. And tiny, adorable fish


"I will call him Squishy, and he will be my friend." Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

7. Plus some considerably less adorable fish

Aaaah! Image from the oceanexplorergov/YouTube live-stream, May 3, 2016.

8. A swarm of amoebas, each the size of a grape


Aaaaah! AAAAAAH! Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

9. Weird predators like this tunicate (also known as a sea squirt)

So, uh, what end am I looking at here? Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

10. Whatever the heck this is

Image from the oceanexplorergov/YouTube live-stream, May 3, 2016.

The scientists on the live-stream said they thought it was a weird type of anemone-like animal called a relicanthus holding on to a sponge, but I think we can all agree it's obviously an alien.

11. Acorn worms, like this guy

It's kind of cute if you ignore the whole "I don't have a face" thing. Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

12. And this shrimp with some sort of parasitic backpack

Scientists weren't able to identify the parasite, which is the most chilling sentence in the English language. Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

These are some of the awesome things you'll see if you tune in to watch the NOAA live-stream. It's not all cool creatures and unidentified parasites, though.

The research team has also found some highly uncool items deep at the bottom of the ocean:

13. Things like this beer can

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

It was found more than two miles below the ocean's surface on top of an undersea mountain.

14. And this plastic bag

Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

"You may think that working in the deep sea means that we only see pristine environments, but unfortunately that isn’t true," wrote NOAA expedition scientists Diva Amon and Deborah Glickson in an Earth Day post.

"Even here, in one of the deepest places on Earth, humans have left their mark."

So what's the moral to this story? It might be obvious but...

Don't throw stuff into the ocean. Or anywhere that'll lead to the ocean. I know the ocean seems huge and deep, but it is not going to be improved by a half-eaten container of Spam.

15. Which, yes, they also found

25% less sodium means nothing when you're surrounded by saltwater. Image from NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.

Not only is ocean trash ugly, it can be dangerous. Garbage, especially plastic garbage, can kill wild animals.

These are the kinds of images people need to see — both how amazing the ocean is and how easy it is to de-amazing-ify it through carelessness.

It's a reminder that we should all be more thoughtful about where our trash ends up.

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President Biden signed four historic executive actions promoting racial equity into law

President Biden/Twitter, Yamiche Alcindor/Twitter

In a year when the U.S. saw the largest protest movement in history in support of Black lives, when people of color have experienced disproportionate outcomes from the coronavirus pandemic, and when Black voters showed up in droves to flip two Senate seats in Georgia, Joe Biden entered the White House with a mandate to address the issue of racial equity in a meaningful way.

Not that it took any of those things to make racial issues in America real. White supremacy has undergirded laws, policies, and practices throughout our nation's history, and the ongoing impacts of that history are seen and felt widely by various racial and ethnic groups in America in various ways.

Today, President Biden spoke to these issues in straightforward language before signing four executive actions that aim to:

- promote fair housing policies to redress historical racial discrimination in federal housing and lending

- address criminal justice, starting by ending federal contracts with for-profit prisons

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Meet the people infusing their communities with love and support when it’s needed most

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If the past year has taught us nothing else, it's that sending love out into the world through selfless acts of kindness can have a positive ripple effect on people and communities. People all over the United States seemed to have gotten the message — 71% of those surveyed by the World Giving Index helped a stranger in need in 2020. A nonprofit survey found 90% helped others by running errands, calling, texting and sending care packages. Many people needed a boost last year in one way or another and obliging good neighbors heeded the call over and over again — and continue to make a positive impact through their actions in this new year.

Upworthy and P&G Good Everyday wanted to help keep kindness going strong, so they partnered up to create the Lead with Love Fund. The fund awards do-gooders in communities around the country with grants to help them continue on with their unique missions. Hundreds of nominations came pouring in and five winners were selected based on three criteria: the impact of action, uniqueness, and "Upworthy-ness" of their story.

Here's a look at the five winners:

Edith Ornelas, co-creator of Mariposas Collective in Memphis, Tenn.

Edith Ornelas has a deep-rooted connection to the asylum-seeking immigrant families she brings food and supplies to families in Memphis, Tenn. She was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States when she was 7 years old with her parents and sister. Edith grew up in Chicago, then moved to Memphis in 2016, where she quickly realized how few community programs existed for immigrants. Two years later, she helped create Mariposas Collective, which initially aimed to help families who had just been released from detention centers and were seeking asylum. The collective started out small but has since grown to approximately 400 volunteers.

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Quick thinking waitress had a gut feeling a boy was being abused. So she gave him a sign.

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Server Flavaine Carvalho was waiting on her last table of the night at Mrs. Potatohead's, a family restaurant in Orlando, Florida when she noticed something peculiar.

The parents of an 11-year-old boy were ordering food but told her that the child would be having his dinner later that night at home. She glanced at the boy who was wearing a hoodie, glasses, and a face mask and noticed a scratch between his eyes.

A closer look revealed a bruise on his temple.

So Carvalho walked away from the table and wrote a note that said, "Do you need help?" and showed it to the boy from an angle where his parents couldn't see.

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Women are shocking their boyfriends by showing them how  tampons actually work

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Menstrual taboos are as old as time and found across cultures. They've been used to separate women from men physically — menstrual huts are still a thing — and socially, by creating the perception that a natural bodily function is a sign of weakness.

Even in today's world women are deemed unfit for positions of power because some men actually believe they won't be able to handle stressful situations while mensurating.

"Menstruation is an opening for attack: a mark of shame, a sign of weakness, an argument to keep women out of positions of power,' Colin Schultz writes in Popular Science.

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