Batman, Archie, and Harry Potter are appearing in a comic together for the best reasons.
Comic book author Marc Andreyko was just going to bed late Saturday, June 11, 2016, when he heard there had been a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando. When he woke up the next morning, he was crushed by the news. 49 people were dead, and dozens more had been injured in an attack on…
Comic book author Marc Andreyko was just going to bed late Saturday, June 11, 2016, when he heard there had been a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando.
When he woke up the next morning, he was crushed by the news. 49 people were dead, and dozens more had been injured in an attack on Florida’s LGBTQ community.
A candlelight vigil in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.
“I was horrified and sickened,” says Andreyko over email. “As a gay man who was a teen during the AIDS crisis, I have seen far too much death and hatred and ambivalence toward it. Orlando hit me hard and I was flooded with the feelings of powerlessness I felt back then.”
An accomplished comic book writer and seasoned storyteller, Andreyko knew that with his great power came the great responsibility to channel his feelings into something productive. Within eight hours, he announced on Facebook that he would be embarking on a new project in remembrance of the victims.
Together with dozens of artists, he put together a massive comic anthology about a single subject: love.
The book, appropriately titled “Love Is Love,” is a massive collaboration between comic book writers, artists, and familiar faces, from Patton Oswalt to J.K. Rowling to comic book legends like artist Jim Lee.
Each contributed a single page of artwork, story, or dedication to the 144-page tome, and all sale proceeds will go to Equality Florida, an organization that supports the LGBTQ community in Florida.
The project even brought together competing publishers so that characters like Superman, Harry Potter, and the cast of Archie could appear in the book together despite exclusive contracts — all in the name of charity and goodwill.
“I think art can always make a difference,” Andreyko says.
He knows that artists and storytellers have an important part to play in fostering conversations and a unique ability to reach people.
Comic books in particular have played a key role in media representation. Dozens of famous and recognizable characters have had LGBTQ storylines in recent years, including Batwoman, who’s been openly gay since 2006 and whom Andreyko wrote for in 2013.
DC Comics also featured the first ever lesbian engagement in a comic when Batwoman proposed to her partner Maggie Sawyer. Image via DC Entertainment/YouTube.
“[Art] can make the tough and political more human and emotionally connected, and with the metaphors of genre, it can make people see things in a new way,” Andreyko says.
Compiling the anthology was a long and arduous process, but Andreyko says that seeing the artwork every day kept him motivated.
“When things got emotionally tough or frustrating, all the art, the hard work, the expressions of love from so many busy, talented and generous folks, well, that was all I needed to keep moving forward,” Andreyko says.
In a small village in Pwani, a district on Tanzania’s coast, a massive dance party is coming to a close. For the past two hours, locals have paraded through the village streets, singing and beating ngombe drums; now, in a large clearing, a woman named Sheilla motions for everyone to sit facing a large projector screen. A film premiere is about to begin.
It’s an unusual way to kick off a film about gender bias, inequality, early marriage, and other barriers that prevent girls from accessing education in Tanzania. But in Pwani and beyond, local organizations supported by Malala Fund and funded by Pura are finding creative, culturally relevant ways like this one to capture people’s interest.
The film ends and Sheilla, the Communications and Partnership Lead for Media for Development and Advocacy (MEDEA), stands in front of the crowd once again, asking the audience to reflect: What did you think about the film? How did it relate to your own experience? What can we learn?
Sheilla explains that, once the community sees the film, “It brings out conversations within themselves, reflective conversations.” The resonance and immediate action create a ripple effect of change.
MEDEA Screening Audience in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Across Tanzania, gender-based violence often forces adolescent girls out of the classroom. This and other barriers — including child marriage, poverty, conflict, and discrimination — prevent girls from completing their education around the world.
Sheilla and her team are using film and radio programs to address the challenges girls face in their communities. MEDEA’s ultimate goal is to affirm education as a fundamental right for everyone, and to ensure that every member of a community understands how girls’ education contributes to a stronger whole and how to be an ally for their sisters, daughters, granddaughters, friends, nieces, and girlfriends.
Sheilla’s story is one of many that inspired Heart on Fire, a new fragrance from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection that blends the warm, earthy spices of Tanzania with a playful, joyful twist. Here’s how Pura is using scent as a tool to connect the world and inspire action.
A partnership focused on local impact, on a global mission
Pura, a fragrance company that recognizes education as both freedom and a human right, has partnered with Malala Fund since 2022. In order to defend every girl’s right to access and complete 12 years of education, Malala Fund partners with local organizations in countries where the educational barriers are the greatest. They invest in locally-led solutions because they know that those who are closest to the problems are best equipped to solve and build durable solutions, like MEDEA, which works with communities to challenge discrimination against girls and change beliefs about their education.
But local initiatives can thrive and scale more powerfully with global support, which is why Pura is using their own superpower, the power of scent, to connect people around the world with the women and girls in these local communities.
The Pura x Malala Fund Collection incorporates ingredients naturally found in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil: countries where Malala Fund operates to address systemic education barriers. Eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection will be donated to Malala Fund directly, but beyond financial support, the Collection is also a love letter to each unique community, blending notes like lemon, jasmine, cedarwood, and clove to transport people, ignite their senses, and help them draw inspiration and hope from the global movement for girls’ education. Through scent, people can connect to the courage, joy, and tenacity of girls and local leaders, all while uniting in a shared commitment to education: the belief that supporting girls’ rights in one community benefits all of us, everywhere.
You’ve already met Sheilla. Now see how Naiara and Mama Habiba are building unique solutions to ensure every girl can learn freely and dare to dream.
Naiara Leite is reimagining what’s possible in Brazil
Julia with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
In Brazil, where pear trees and coconut plantations cover the Northeastern Coast, girls like ten-year-old Julia experience a different kind of educational barrier than girls in Tanzania. Too often, racial discrimination contributes to high dropout rates among Black, quilombola and Indigenous girls in the country.
“In the logic of Brazilian society, Black people don’t need to study,” says Naiara Leite, Executive Coordinator of Odara, a women-led organization and Malala Fund partner. Bahia, the state where Odara is based, was once one of the largest slave-receiving territories in the Americas, and because of that history, deeply-ingrained, anti-Black prejudice is still widespread. “Our role and the image constructed around us is one of manual labor,” Naiara says.
But education can change that. In 2020, with assistance from a Malala Fund grant, Odara launched its first initiative for improving school completion rates among Black, quilombola, and Indigenous girls: “Ayomidê Odara”. The young girls mentored under the program, including Julia, are known as the Ayomidês. And like the Pura x Malala Fund Collection’s Brazil: Breath of Courage scent, the Ayomidês are fierce, determined, and bursting with energy.
Ayomidês with Odara in Brazil. Captured by Luisa Dorr for Pura
Ayomidês take part in weekly educational sessions where they explore subjects like education and ethnic-racial relations. The girls are encouraged to find their own voices by producing Instagram lives, social media videos, and by participating in public panels. Already, the Ayomidês are rewriting the narrative on what’s possible for Afro-Brazilian girls to achieve. One of the earliest Ayomidês, a young woman named Debora, is now a communications intern. Another former Ayomidê, Francine, works at UNICEF, helping train the next generation of adolescent leaders. And Julia has already set her sights on becoming a math teacher or a model.
“These are generations of Black women who did not have access to a school,” Naiara says. “These are generations of Black women robbed daily of their dreams. And we’re telling them that they could be the generation in their family to write a new story.”
Mama Habiba is reframing the conversation in Nigeria
Centre for Girls' Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
In Mama Habiba’s home country of Nigeria, the scents of starfruit, ylang ylang and pineapple, all incorporated into the Pura x Malala Collection’s “Nigeria: Hope for Tomorrow,” can be found throughout the vibrant markets. Like these native scents, Mama Habiba says that the Nigerian girls are also bright and passionate, but too often they are forced to leave school long before their potential fully blooms.
“Some of these schools are very far, and there is an issue of quality, too,” Mama Habiba says. “Most parents find out when their children are in school, the girls are not learning. So why allow them to continue?”
When girls drop out of secondary school, marriage is often the alternative. In Nigeria, one in three girls is married before the age of 18. When this happens, girls are unable to fulfill their potential, and their families and communities lose out on the social, health and economic benefits.
Completing secondary school delays marriage, and according to UNESCO, educated girls become women who raise healthier children, lift their families out of poverty and contribute to more peaceful, resilient communities.
Centre for Girls’ Education, Nigeria. Captured by James Roh for Pura
To encourage young girls to stay in school, the Centre for Girls’ Education, a nonprofit in Nigeria founded by Mama Habiba and supported by Malala Fund and Pura, has pioneered an initiative that’s similar to the Ayomidê workshops in Brazil: safe spaces. Here, girls meet regularly to learn literacy, numeracy, and other issues like reproductive health. These safe spaces also provide an opportunity for the girls to role-play and learn to advocate for themselves, develop their self-image, and practice conversations with others about their values, education being one of them. In safe spaces, Mama Habiba says, girls start to understand “who she is, and that she is a girl who has value. She has the right to negotiate with her parents on what she really feels or wants.”
“When girls are educated, they can unlock so many opportunities,” Mama Habiba says. “It will help the economy of the country. It will boost so many opportunities for the country. If they are given the opportunity, I think the sky is not the limit. It is the starting point for every girl.”
From parades, film screenings to safe spaces and educational programs, girls and local leaders are working hard to strengthen the quality, safety and accessibility of education and overcome systemic challenges. They are encouraging courageous behavior and reminding us all that education is freedom.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
An 18-year-old in Michigan is getting attention for a bold move many disgruntled drivers understand, even if they wouldn’t take the same risk.
Ali Chami, who lives near the border of Dearborn Heights and Inkster, had grown tired of navigating the pothole-ridden stretch of Cherry Hill Road during his daily commute. Like many others in the area, the issue had gone from a minor annoyance to an expensive problem.
As reported by WXYZ-TV, he spent more than $600 replacing damaged tires over the past six months. He also saw a friend’s tire pop after hitting one of the same potholes.
At a certain point, the frustration boiled over
So on a Saturday afternoon, instead of waiting for repairs, he decided to act. Chami went to Home Depot, spent about $60 on asphalt, and headed to the road to start filling potholes himself.
He documented the process on TikTok, where his candid commentary quickly struck a chord
“Why is every single road but Cherry Hill getting fixed?” Chami asked in a video. “That s*** is pissing me off. I swear to God. So you want to know what I’m about to do? I’m about to go to Home Depot and I’m about to put some f****** asphalt on the road for all the these potholes.”
Using a simple method, he got to work.
“So pretty much, I just grabbed the cap of the bucket and I just scooped it out and spread it out, and I used it as a pushing point where I could just step on it and flatten it out,” Chami said.
In a follow-up video, he celebrated the effort.
“Yup, wallah, I do this s***,” Chami quipped.
Other drivers passing by seemed to share his sentiment, honking or shouting in support. One driver even called out, “Potholes are getting horrible. I had to change my tire last week.”
Videos go viral
The videos quickly gained traction online, racking up more than 175,000 views and drawing the attention of local officials.
John Danci, a representative from the Dearborn Heights Department of Public Works, acknowledged that the road has been a known issue for years. According to him, the delay is partly due to the complexity of the situation, as the road falls under three jurisdictions: the Wayne County Federal Aid Committee, Dearborn Heights, and Inkster.
“Historically, between Dearborn Heights and the city of Inkster, the funding for a road project like this is much higher relative to our city budgets versus the county that gets a lot of state revenue,” Danci told WXYZ-TV.
Mayor Mo Baydoun also responded, noting that temporary fixes have been attempted but are difficult to maintain in colder temperatures.
“I can tell you that we have patched Cherry Hill a few times already,” Baydoun wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately, nothing is going to stick with the temperatures continuing to drop. The good news is that the city has been awarded a $2.6 million grant to fix all of Cherry Hill from Gully-Inkster. Project is expected to begin June 1st.”
While officials emphasized that residents should not attempt their own repairs due to safety concerns, Danci acknowledged the impact of Chami’s actions.
“You did something that at least gained a lot of attention,” he told Chami.
Chami, for his part, is not ruling out doing it again.
“If it happens [raises money], then I’ll do it,” he told WXYZ-TV.
Whether or not you agree with Chami’s actions, his feelings are certainly understandable
Yes, taking on road repairs yourself can be dangerous and is not recommended. At the same time, when problems go unresolved for too long, it’s natural to want to be the solution that seemingly will never come on its own.
For many people, it’s not just about fixing the specific issue, but about feeling heard. And in this case, one teenager’s decision did just that, bringing new attention to an issue years in the making.
We’ve historically seen the midlife crisis represented by large and lavish purchases, or maybe by questionable dating choices. But for Millennials, the next in line to approach this milestone, the image doesn’t really resonate. A 35-year-old New York comedian was able to perfectly capture why.
Mike Mancusi recently went viral on TikTok and Instagram after pointing out why the Millennial midlife crisis looks a little different from those of previous generations.
What makes the Millennial midlife crisis unique?
For one thing, Millennials, by and large, can’t afford to buy “Lamborghinis” or get “second families,” Mancusi quipped. Instead, they cope with nostalgia, like going to Disneyland to relive their childhoods.
Similarly, Mancusi argued that while other generations trigger their midlife crises by “looking forward” (“Whoa, I’m going to be old someday”), the Millennial midlife crisis is ignited by “looking back” and realizing that even though they “followed the blueprint” to success, they still aren’t “happy” or “fulfilled.”
“That is a way different crisis,” Mancusi said, noting that it often manifests as a career-specific midlife crisis. Many Millennials come to the stark realization that, 15 years into a job they thought would give them meaning, it simply doesn’t deliver.
Mancusi said there’s only one solution: build meaning outside of your job
“The more that you allow some job that you don’t even like to define your entire existence, the more it’s going to crush your soul,” Mancusi said. “You have to find something else to do. Whatever you want to call it. A hobby. A passion. But it has to be something that’s for you. It’s not to make you money, not to please your family, it’s for you.”
While Mancusi said that interest could potentially grow into a career, that’s not really the point. What matters is that it allows you to “move forward” with a sense of autonomy and your passion intact.
In the comments, many Millennials shared their newly discovered passions
“I’m writing again after 5 years. I used to do it constantly. But then life got in the way after I lost all my notes for the last thing I was working on, bills, debts, and this summer, when I had all but given up hope, my creativity came roaring back like a Phoenix reborn.”
“Started recording and releasing music this year.I can confidently say although it is actively losing me ALOT of money. I’m much happier than I was last year.”
“For me, this has now become running. Quite the form of therapy in my opinion. Since it seems like very few people affording therapy.”
“I started going out dancing/clubbing this year, something I basically skipped in my teens and 20s, and love being immersed in the music so much. I try to go at least one or 2 weekends a month.”
Mancusi may have prescribed this midlife crisis antidote for Millennials, but the wisdom applies to any generation. No matter your age, time on this planet is temporary and nothing is guaranteed. So you might as well spend it doing the things that bring you joy—or die trying.
Chicken, and chicken breast in particular, is a staple in many households. It’s relatively affordable compared to other meats, versatile, and can be cooked in a variety of ways. It works well in pasta, casseroles, sandwiches, tacos, or even on its own. It’s easy to see the appeal.
However, let’s be honest: not many people get overly excited about chicken night. Chicken breast, in particular, is high in protein but can be bland due to its low fat content. It needs the right seasonings or marinade, along with the right cooking methods, to really bring it to life.
Professional chefs are sharing the secret techniques to “gourmet-ify” chicken without adding much, if any, extra cost. These tips can help turn a $3 chicken breast into a restaurant-quality dish:
1. Brine
Experts overwhelmingly recommend one step that almost everyone skips: brining.
A dry brine is popular for Thanksgiving turkeys, where salt is rubbed all over the skin the night before. But chicken breasts can benefit even more from a wet brine, or soaking overnight in a saltwater bath. This technique not only allows the salt to penetrate deep into the meat, enhancing flavor, but also helps it retain moisture during cooking, resulting in a more tender texture.
Brines can be as simple or as complex as you like, from just salt and water to mixtures with garlic, vegetables, vinegar, and more. Alternatively, a longer marinade can have a similar effect.
2. Sous vide
Baking in the oven isn’t necessarily the worst way to cook chicken (take a bow, microwave), but it’s definitely one of the easiest to screw up. Most people are all too familiar with baked chicken that’s dry and bland, or even undercooked.
One easy way to achieve perfectly cooked chicken every time is to skip the oven and use a sous vide instead. A sous vide device heats a water bath to a precise temperature and maintains it for as long as needed. Better yet, it doesn’t require close monitoring like a grill or pan.
You can usually pick one up for under $100 and use it every week.
Just bag the chicken with your chosen marinade, butter, oil, and spices, then set the sous vide. All that juicy goodness will infuse into the perfectly cooked chicken in just an hour or two.
Alternatively, many chefs prefer searing chicken in a pan on high heat. It quickly locks in juices and flavors, gives the outside a nice golden color, and doesn’t require constant poking and prodding.
Crucially, it’s important not to oversear and burn the chicken breast. Expert chefs recommend removing it from the heat when it’s just slightly underdone—around 155°F internally—and allowing it to finish cooking as it rests.
(Cooking chicken to 165°F is one of the biggest mistakes people make with chicken breasts, according to cooking educator and YouTuber Ethan Chlebowski.)
4. Trim and slice
Jack Croft, head chef at one of London’s top restaurants, Fallow, demonstrates how he prepares a chicken breast in a recent YouTube video, using techniques from a Michelin-starred kitchen.
Before cooking, he painstakingly removes blood spots, sinew, and other imperfections from the chicken breast to ensure the most tender final product possible. It’s not a necessary step for home chefs, but if you’re buying cheaper cuts—and who could blame you—it can make a noticeable difference in the final result.
5. Use the juices
“Chicken au jus” sounds fancy, but it really just means the chef saved some of the chicken’s natural cooking juices and reincorporated them into the dish. Anyone can do that at home.
Pan drippings from a chicken breast are often rich in flavor, despite the meat’s low fat content, and can easily be turned into a sauce or gravy that really elevates the dish.
The jus can even be stored with leftover chicken to help keep it moist when reheating.
6. Salt and butter
Chlebowski is adamant that you’re probably not using enough salt on your chicken breast.
“Undersalted chicken tends to taste like diet food,” he says. “Properly salted food tastes like dinner.”
If all else fails, add butter. Chicken’s dryness problem can be easily solved with a little butter in the pan before and toward the end of cooking, while its flavor problem can be fixed with the right amount of salt. It may make the dish slightly less “healthy,” but the flavor improves dramatically.
Anthony Bourdain famously said that butter is the main reason restaurant food often tastes better than what we make at home.
7. Wrap or stuff it
Croft says stuffing chicken is one of the best ways to impress at a dinner party or date night at home—and it’s not nearly as difficult as it looks.
Some great fillings for chicken breast include:
Mushrooms
Cream cheese mixtures
Spinach
Sauces (pesto, BBQ)
Mozzarella
Inviting someone over and serving chicken breast isn’t likely to wow anyone. But a mushroom-stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon? That’s guaranteed to have people’s eyes popping.
Chicken, when cooked right, is a good choice amid rising prices
The price of most foods is going up. While chicken breast may be hard to describe as a “cheap” option (especially a quality cut) it is still more affordable than ground beef, lunch meat, ground chicken or turkey, and many other protein options. That’s what makes it such a great building block for your family’s meal plan.
With a few chef-approved techniques up your sleeve, you can make it taste like a dish from your favorite restaurant.
Why is it that certain people are incredibly likable? One of the biggest reasons is that they know how to make others feel good about themselves. This may seem selfish, but in a world where so many seem to think only of themselves, it feels great to spend time with people who are genuinely interested in us.
One of the best ways to tell someone is interested in us and enjoys our company is if they genuinely laugh and smile when we’re together. When we laugh and smile together, we’re a lot more likable than if we seem distant and indifferent. In fact, Vanessa Van Edwards, communications expert and author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, says that when you are generous with your smiles and laughter, people will like you even more.
How to be more likable
“Be an easy laugher and an easy smiler,” she said in an Instagram video while looking unimpressed. “Don’t be too cool to laugh or smile. An easy laugher and easy smile means you’re always looking for an opportunity to smile. If someone shares good news, don’t say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s great news.’”
“Make sure that you actually smile and actually laugh. Smiles are contagious,” Van Edwards continued. “Research has proven that when we see someone with an authentic smile, it makes us feel happier, too. So, try to look for opportunities to laugh or smile in conversation at someone else’s story, someone else’s joke, or just when something makes you feel good. They are contagious.”
How to have a genuine smile
Van Edwards notes that our smiles should read as genuine, or they’ll have the opposite effect.
“Only real smiles are contagious,” she said. “In other words, if you look at a picture of someone with a fake smile, you feel nothing afterward.”
The key to a genuine smile is that you can see it around the eyes. If you covered a smiling mouth with a 3” x 5” card and couldn’t tell someone was smiling from the eye area, it wouldn’t be seen as genuine.
According to Van Edwards, back in our “caveman” days, if someone approached the village and flashed a smile from 300 feet away, we’d know whether they were friendly. So it was important for a smile to be large enough to be seen from a distance.
“If you can’t see a real smile on the top half of the face, it’s not a real smile,” Van Edwards said.
Laughter also makes people feel great because it’s believed we evolved this behavior to signal that a person or situation is safe. It releases endorphins, which reduce stress and help people feel connected. No wonder people feel great when they laugh together.
A big smile and a hearty laugh are obvious signifiers that someone is engaged in an interaction. However, some people may feel uncomfortable expressing themselves through over-the-top smiles or laughter for cultural reasons. There are still many ways to express warmth and interest through body language, such as leaning forward in a conversation, using a “triple nod” to encourage the speaker, or mirroring their posture and tone.
Ultimately, it’s common for people to think that if they want others to like them, they have to be impressive. However, the truth is that people just want to know you’re interested in them. So before you head to your next party, instead of thinking about the amazing stories you’re going to tell to the new people you’ll meet, just remember to give a big smile and hearty guffaw at their jokes. That will make you more likable than the greatest anecdote you could ever tell.
Science lovers got a treat recently when new research on sperm whales was quietly released. Researchers not only witnessed the birth of a baby sperm whale, but also saw elder females, including the grandmother, acting as midwives. Very few species assist with birth outside of humans, but it seems sperm whales can now join that short list.
Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) released two studies on sperm whales in journals Nature and Science respectively. Nature covers the different vocalizations of the whales during this teamwork process, while Science discusses the collaborative birthing approach by the whales.
The sperm whale’s birth was first captured via drone in July 2023. Now that the video has made its way to social media, viewers cannot get over witnessing the whales act as midwives. Typically, scientists don’t get to witness sperm whales’ behavior during birth, likely because they give birth far from shore and avoid boats during this vulnerable process.
With the increasing use of drones, however, scientists can now capture moments like this without disrupting wildlife. In the video, other whales—one identified as the grandmother—surround the birthing whale, named Rounder. Not all of the supporting whales were from the same pod as the mother, but they joined to help ensure the calf’s safe arrival.
Because whales are mammals, they can’t breathe underwater. For this reason, baby whales, also known as calves, are born tail-first. Like other mammals, newborn whales instinctively try to breathe, so exiting the birth canal headfirst could result in drowning, according to National Geographic.
Scientists have been following this pod for a while, so they’re familiar with the whales in the family. As they watched the drone footage from the boat, they were able to identify who was present. Still, the sight of this unique birthing circle shocked the scientists.
While birthing her calf, Rounder was flanked by her sister, Accra, and Atwood, an elder female. Behind the mom-to-be was her mother, Lady Oracle, her aunt Aurora, a juvenile whale named Ariel, and four other unknown female whales. The whales had dual roles: when the calf was born, the assisting whales formed a tight cluster and raised the baby out of the water so it could breathe.
They took turns holding the calf out of the water for three hours. During that time, the females that were not actively lifting the calf to the surface were fending off nosy animals. Once the baby was safe and swimming alongside its mother, the other whales began to depart.
One of the scientists, Shane Gero, told National Geographic, “All the biologists on the boat were losing their minds.” The same could be said for people coming across the video online.
One person wrote, “Women supporting women! Bring it on!”
Another person called out humans, saying, “I think they lied , who said survival of the fittest or only the strong survive. Everything in nature is about collective care. Even other animal species be helping each other. Also even when its predators they only take what they need.”
This commenter admired the teamwork, writing, “I love how whales put so much energy into each other, but it’s even more exciting that members outside of the family pod were being so helpful. I’m invested!”
“This is so frigging cool,” another person gushed. “I love how nature really wants nature to succeed. Absolutely 100% lit. Thanks for this!”
During his shift as a pizza delivery driver for Domino’s Pizza, Dan Simpson noticed the order included a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke, but the shop was out. Instead of canceling that part of the order, he went to a nearby convenience store to buy the soda.
“It took about three minutes,” he told the Idaho Statesman. Those three minutes earned him a “tip” that now totals more than $24,000.
When Domino’s is out of Diet Coke, but your delivery driver stops at the store to get it for you. Dan, you went above and beyond tonight, thank you!The world needs more Dans. Happy almost retirement! #dominos#fyp
Caught on a Ring camera, Simpson presented the pizza and store-bought sodas to the grateful customer, who was astonished he had gone out of his way to get the Diet Coke. The customer was appreciative but upset they didn’t have any extra cash to add to Simpson’s tip. Simpson, however, was happy to have done a good deed and receive the tip he’d already earned, sharing that he had been delivering pizzas as a second job for 14 years and was just 26 days from retirement.
Simpson’s small gesture goes viral
The Ring camera footage was posted online, and commenters remarked on Simpson’s kindness:
“This is old school respect and going beyond duty.”
“As a loyal Diet Coke drinker, this would mean everything to me.”
“I am going to screammmmmmn, I love him. 😭😭😭”
“This literally made me cry. He’s so sweet. 🥺”
“He is a Pawpaw. I know it. This is something my Daddy would do. 🥰🥰”
“He’s overjoyed about $6.60 🥹 That’s so humble but it makes me sad for some reason. Probably because he deserves the WORLD with a soul like his. 🫶”
“GET DAN’S INFO!!!! He retired already and is still working! He deserves to retire! And I’m willing to pitch in for his retirement!!!”
Everyone wanted to “tip” him
Commenters and the customer agreed that Simpson’s $6.60 tip wasn’t enough. Not only did the customer send him a retirement card with $50 inside, but a GoFundMe was also started to contribute to his retirement. Within a couple of days, Simpson’s additional GoFundMe “tip” reached more than $24,000 and is still growing as of this writing.
Commenters cheered on and praised the donations as they came in:
“As someone that has worked with Dan for years, he is so deserving of this. He would always stay late and take extra deliveries when we were super busy even though he started his first job at 5am and had to be back at 5am the next day.”
“Just donated! Happy retirement Dan!🥹🩷”
“An example of how being a decent human goes a long way. One kind gesture turned into a 5k tip!! Kind gestures are so rare that the masses want to gift those who do nice things.🫶👏”
The customer who posted the Ring camera footage on TikTok later gave commenters an update:
“We dropped off a retirement card & an additional cash tip to the Domino’s Dan works at. In the card we wrote him a letter that explained how we put him on TikTok and that the internet fell in love with him. Dan gave us a call this afternoon and thanked us for the card, additional tip, and for TikTok’s donations to the GoFundMe. When we were talking with Dan, it had just reached $900! He was literally speechless and so humble. Dan doesn’t do technology, but he’s very thankful for all the support. We’ll keep ya’ll updated!Let’s see how far we can get this to go for Dan, he deserves it!”
Simpson was shocked and humbled by the gesture, especially since he believes in doing the right thing for its own sake.
“I know what it’s like to be down and out,” said Simpson. “So when I see people who are hurting, I try to help them.”
What Simpson did proves that even the smallest gestures, like getting a soda, can make a big impact on people.
Ida’s answer? A hard no, and trust me, she didn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.
A legacy that can’t be bought
Ida is a part of the Huddleston family, who have farmed this land for 200 years. That’s two centuries of early mornings, muddy boots, and honest work. Over generations, they’ve raised cattle, grown soybeans, and planted corn on their 1,200-acre property outside Maysville.
But it’s not just land stewardship. During the Great Depression—when jobs disappeared and families lined up just to get a meal—the Huddlestons grew wheat. They helped keep bread lines operating across America when people had almost nothing left. This land didn’t just feed the family; it fed the nation.
The Huddleston family has been farming in Kentucky for 200 years. – Photo credit: Canva
Notice the wording. She didn’t say “nothing.” She said $26 million doesn’t mean anything.
The tech giant at the door
The company that offered $26 million for the Huddlestons’ property has never revealed its identity; local officials were required to sign non-disclosure agreements just to learn who was making the offer.
“They call us old, stupid farmers, you know, but we’re not,” she told WKRC-TV. “We know whenever our food is disappearing, our lands are disappearing, and we don’t have any water, and that poison. Well, we know we’ve had it.”
She called it a scam. And to be honest, the repeated pressure campaigns—multiple offers, persistent calls, and what she described as “mind harassment”—don’t exactly reflect good faith.
A community that agrees
Ida isn’t a lone voice in the wilderness here. Since 2017, Mason County has lost one-fifth of its farms. Neighbors throughout the region share her concerns about what an industrial mega-campus would do to their rural way of life: their water, their soil, their sense of home.
For Ida, the decision was never really about money.
Her late husband built their house with his own hands. She feels his presence every time she walks the fields. The land holds her family’s past and, she hopes, their future.
‘I’M STAYING PUT’: Ida Huddleston and her daughter, Delsia Bare, have rejected multimillion-dollar offers from developers planning a massive data center project on Big Pond Pike. Huddleston turned down $60,000 per acre for her 71 acres, while Bare declined $48,000 per acre for her 463-acre farm. 💰🚫 Despite promises of hundreds of jobs, the family remains skeptical—and determined to stay. “I’m staying put,” Huddleston said. County leaders are still reviewing the proposal as debate over the project continues. #KentuckyNews#CommunityVoices#datacenter
“I said, ‘No, mine is priceless.’ What I’ve got here, I want to pass it down. What God told me to do was to keep it until I was through with it and then pass it on to the next generation,” she told WXIX-TV.
In an era when everything seems to have a price—and the biggest tech companies in the world have the resources to buy nearly anything—there’s something quietly remarkable about a woman who simply says: no, not this.
Ida says she intends to die on that land, on her own terms, surrounded by 200 years of family history.
A young man named He Tongxue from HTX Studio, a team of DIY innovators from Hangzhou, China, wanted to be able to “see music.” He had just started learning piano and felt like the visible dimension was missing. There are plenty of computer programs that create digital visual effects with music, of course. But the goal was to make music visible in real life.
It took the studio three years, four prototypes, and endless tests to come up with just the right combination of elements. They wanted something that would rise from the piano and light up when the keys were pressed.
“Our first thought was smoke,” he said. They figured they could line up smoke machines that would be triggered by the piano keys and use lasers to light up the smoke as it rises.
The studio built a prototype, and at first, it looked pretty cool. But after playing the piano for a few minutes, the cool factor wore off. He later described it as “a disaster.”
“The smoke drifts everywhere,” he said. “You can’t tell which light matches which note. It feels like a genie is coming out. And after a while, it feels like someone is barbecuing inside the piano.”
They wanted the smoke to rise in chunks, like solid musical notes, instead of spreading out. That led them to the idea of vortex rings. Essentially, they could make smoke rings that would give the visible “notes” more structure.
A second prototype was made to test out this idea. And it did look really cool…at first. The vortex rings worked, but there was too much extraneous smoke that eventually built up and made it hard to see the rings. The contraptions that made the rings were also too large to make separate ones for all 88 keys of the piano, and making them smaller rendered them unusable.
Back to the drawing board again.
Since a vortex ring is essentially rotating fluid, they shifted to different fluids: water and paint. They created yet another piano prototype that would shoot paint vortex rings into water. Yet again, cool at first, but soon the water simply clouded up as the paint rings dissipated. They tried using oil paints, which wouldn’t dissolve in water, but that also disappointed. Oil paint didn’t form rings, but rather broke apart into small spheres in the water.
However, the spheres gave them the idea of simply using droplets. They created a piano that would push up a droplet of colored glycerin into the water tank with each note played. Lights would illuminate them.
The idea was solid, but the execution left something to be desired. The beauty of the lit-up droplets didn’t extend throughout the tank. The droplets drifted, and attempts to rein them in with glass tubes ruined the magical effect.
“By this point, the project had dragged on for two years,” he said. “We had tried everything we could think of. I honestly didn’t know what I was to do. We’ve abandoned projects before. But never one that consumed this much time, energy, and effort from almost everyone in the studio.”
Then disaster struck. One night, the glass tank shattered under the water pressure, destroying the entire system.
Watch the full story here:
“If the universe was telling me to stop, this felt like the sign,” he said. But in the midst of significant setbacks and creeping self-doubt, the idea of turning to nature arose. What if they used bioluminescent algae, which light up all on their own?
“Around the world, you can see this blue glow in coastal waters,” he said. “It’s caused by a reaction between luciferin and luciferase when the algae are stimulated. We didn’t spray algae into water. We filled the entire tank with them, then disturbed them with bubbles so they would glow all the way to the surface.”
He and his studio mates did it. No AI. No digital effects. Real-life, 3D visible music with an assist from nature. They named it the Blue Tears Piano.
Here’s German pianist Oskar Roman Jezior playing “Golden Hour” on it:
