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Joy

Hamsters receiving elaborate meals is quite possibly the cutest thing on the internet

Mr. Marshmallow and Mr. Crumpet are living their best lives.

hamsters eating tiktok, hamsters tiktok, treats for hamsters

Compliments to the chef.

Once upon a time, the image of a hamster enjoying a delicious bowl of fresh spaghetti was only the stuff of fairy tales, and maybe one-third of all the Disney classics.

But not anymore. Behold … "The Hamster Station" on TikTok and Instagram, where you can bear witness to all the teeny-tiny feasts and itty-bitty activities of two adorable hamsters.

Their names? Mr. Marshmallow and Mr. Crumpet, naturally.

Mr. Marshmallow and Mr. Crumpet’s owner spoils them rotten with elaborate meals worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake, made perfectly hamster-sized. And the internet is enthralled.


When I say elaborate, I’m not exaggerating. Below you find a “hamster picnic” complete with table and red checkered cloth on a patch of artificial grass. Topped with a pasta bowl. And a fruit slushie to wash it all down. This video alone got 7.5 million views.

You might be thinking, sure, this is cute and all, but do the hamsters even appreciate all this?

Just take one look at how they slurp those noodles, and you’ll have your answer.

@thehamsterstation He absolutely loves to have a picnic ❤️ #fyp#hamster#hamsters#hamstersoftiktok#thehamsterstation#pet♬ Angeleyes (Sped Up Version) - tuna (SVT)

Understandably, hearts were won after watching.

“I just watched an adorable hamster eat a spaghetti noodle……..my day has been made lol,” wrote one person.

“This hamster living better life than me,” joked another.

What’s for dessert, you may wonder. Why, carrot cake, of course. Which the hungry, hungry hamster inhales. Truly the only proper way to eat carrot cake.

Of course, the owner has reassured viewers that all meals are “hamster safe.” For the most part, these little guys have pretty lenient diets and can indulge in quite a bit of human foods, according to The Spruce.

However, some foods can be problematic. Peanut butter, for example, can get stuck in a hamster cheek pouch. Yes, even their dietary restrictions are adorable.

@thehamsterstation Reply to @ashleymaynard02 He absolutely loved them ❤️ recipe from vanillahamham on yt ❤️ #fyp#hamster#hamsters#hamstersoftiktok#thehamsterstation♬ You Got A Friend In Me (From "Toy Story") - Just Kids

For these “hamster-safe pancakes” seen above, the batter was made with plain flour, milk and water, then topped with a tiny piece of banana to look like butter. Genius.

But why stop at meals? Mr. Marshmallow had his very own mini movie night.

You know, chilling on a dollhouse couch, munching on some popcorn, and watching “The Bee Movie” on the big screen. Well, big for a hamster anyway.

@thehamsterstation What should Mr Marshmallow watch next? ❤️ #fyp#hamster#hamsters#hamstersoftiktok#thehamsterstation#pet♬ Carrying Your Love - David Morris

Mr. Marshmallow dressed for the occasion in his dashing top hat.

By the way, Mr. Marshmallow and Mr. Crumpet might have a talented owner, but they are also artists in their own right.

Just look at their marvelous paintings below.

@thehamsterstation Replying to @thehamsterstation What do you think of Mr Crumpets painting? ❤️ #fyp#hamster#hamsters#Hamstersoftiktok#thehamsterstation#pet♬ Funny Song - Cavendish Music

A dollop of different colors were dropped onto a tiny canvas, which was then placed in a plastic bag so that Mr. Crumpet could begin his work. By “work” I mean going after treats. Don't judge his process!

Hamsters are already notoriously low-maintenance pets and this raises their cuteness factor times a bajillion. Cats and dogs might take the lead when it comes to popular household pets, but now there’s even more reason to consider owning a critter like Mr. Marshmallow and Mr. Crumpet. Or at least watch more videos of them.

Photo courtesy of Girls at Work

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Pop Culture

14 things that will remain fun no matter how old you get

Your inner child will thank you for doing at least one of these.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Swings can turn 80-year-olds into 8-year-olds in less that two seconds.

When we’re kids, fun comes so easily. You have coloring books and team sports and daily recess … so many opportunities to laugh, play and explore. As we get older, these activities get replaced by routine and responsibility (and yes, at times, survival). Adulthood, yuck.

Many of us want to have more fun, but making time for it still doesn’t come as easily as it did when we were kids—whether that’s because of guilt, a long list of other priorities or because we don’t feel it’s an age-appropriate thing to long for.

Luckily, we’ve come to realize that fun isn’t just a luxury of childhood, but really a vital aspect of living well—like reducing stress, balancing hormone levels and even improving relationships.

More and more people of all ages are letting their inner kids out to play, and the feelings are delightfully infectious.

You might be wanting to instill a little more childlike wonder into your own life, and not sure where to start. Never fear, the internet is here. Reddit user SetsunaSaigami asked people, “What always remains fun no matter how old you get?” People’s (surprisingly profound) answers were great reminders that no matter how complex our lives become, simple joy will always be important.

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All images provided by Adewole Adamson

It begins with more inclusive conversations at a patient level

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Adewole Adamson, MD, of the University of Texas, Austin, aims to create more equity in health care by gathering data from more diverse populations by using artificial intelligence (AI), a type of machine learning. Dr. Adamson’s work is funded by the American Cancer Society (ACS), an organization committed to advancing health equity through research priorities, programs and services for groups who have been marginalized.

Melanoma became a particular focus for Dr. Adamson after meeting Avery Smith, who lost his wife—a Black woman—to the deadly disease.

melanoma,  melanoma for dark skin Avery Smith (left) and Adamson (sidenote)

This personal encounter, coupled with multiple conversations with Black dermatology patients, drove Dr. Adamson to a concerning discovery: as advanced as AI is at detecting possible skin cancers, it is heavily biased.

To understand this bias, it helps to first know how AI works in the early detection of skin cancer, which Dr. Adamson explains in his paper for the New England Journal of Medicine (paywall). The process uses computers that rely on sets of accumulated data to learn what healthy or unhealthy skin looks like and then create an algorithm to predict diagnoses based on those data sets.

This process, known as supervised learning, could lead to huge benefits in preventive care.

After all, early detection is key to better outcomes. The problem is that the data sets don’t include enough information about darker skin tones. As Adamson put it, “everything is viewed through a ‘white lens.’”

“If you don’t teach the algorithm with a diverse set of images, then that algorithm won’t work out in the public that is diverse,” writes Adamson in a study he co-wrote with Smith (according to a story in The Atlantic). “So there’s risk, then, for people with skin of color to fall through the cracks.”

Tragically, Smith’s wife was diagnosed with melanoma too late and paid the ultimate price for it. And she was not an anomaly—though the disease is more common for White patients, Black cancer patients are far more likely to be diagnosed at later stages, causing a notable disparity in survival rates between non-Hispanics whites (90%) and non-Hispanic blacks (66%).

As a computer scientist, Smith suspected this racial bias and reached out to Adamson, hoping a Black dermatologist would have more diverse data sets. Though Adamson didn’t have what Smith was initially looking for, this realization ignited a personal mission to investigate and reduce disparities.

Now, Adamson uses the knowledge gained through his years of research to help advance the fight for health equity. To him, that means not only gaining a wider array of data sets, but also having more conversations with patients to understand how socioeconomic status impacts the level and efficiency of care.

“At the end of the day, what matters most is how we help patients at the patient level,” Adamson told Upworthy. “And how can you do that without knowing exactly what barriers they face?”

american cancer society, skin cacner treatment"What matters most is how we help patients at the patient level."https://www.kellydavidsonstudio.com/

The American Cancer Society believes everyone deserves a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer—regardless of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, gender identity, their disability status, or where they live. Inclusive tools and resources on the Health Equity section of their website can be found here. For more information about skin cancer, visit cancer.org/skincancer.

This article originally appeared on July 2, 2019


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