Heroes
Science Is A Big Stupid Dumb Face, And Other Sad But Real Things Some People Think
Comedian W. Kamau Bell has a few thoughts on that disbelieving attitude that some people have toward science.
10.26.12
Trying to eat healthier? Try these 4 totally doable tricks.
Most of us want to eat healthier but need some help to make it happen.
When it comes to choosing what to eat, we live in a uniquely challenging era. Never before have humans known more about nutrition and how to eat for optimal health, and yet we’ve never been more surrounded by distractions and temptations that derail us from making healthy choices.
Some people might be able to decide “I’m going to eat healthier!” and do so without any problem, but those folks are unicorns. Most of us know what we should do, but need a little help making it happen—like some simple hacks, tips and tricks for avoiding pitfalls on the road to healthier eating.
While recognizing that what works for one person may not work for another, here are some helpful habits and approaches that might help you move closer to your healthy eating goals.
Our mouths loves chips. Our bodies not so much.Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash
Willpower is a limited commodity for most of us, and it is no match for a bag of potato chips sitting on top of the fridge. It’s just a fact. Channeling your willpower at the grocery store can save you from having to fight that battle at home. If you don’t bring chips into your house in the first place, you’ll find it a lot easier to reach for something healthier.
The key to successful shopping trips is to always go to the store with a specific list and a full stomach—you’ll feel much less tempted to buy the junky snack foods if you’re already satiated. Also, finding healthier alternatives that will still satisfy your cravings for salty or crunchy, or fatty foods helps. Sugar snap peas have a surprisingly satisfying crunch, apples and nut butter hit that sweet-and-salty craving, etc.
You can eat well without giving up sweets completely.Photo by Caitlyn de Wild on Unsplash
Sugar is a tricky one. Some people find it easier to cut out added sugars altogether, but that can create an all-or-nothing mindset that all too often results in “all.” Eating more whole foods and less processed foods can help us cut out a lot of ancillary sugar, but we still live in a world with birthday cakes and dessert courses.
One approach to dessert temptation is to delay instead of deprive. Tell yourself you can have any sweet you want…tomorrow. This mental trick flips the “I’ll just indulge today and start eating healthier tomorrow” idea on its head. It’s a lot easier to resist something you know you can have tomorrow than to say no to something you think you’ll never get to have again.
Another approach when you really want to enjoy a dessert at that moment is to decrease the amount and really truly savor it. Eat each bite slowly, delighting in the full taste and satisfaction of it. As soon as that delight starts to diminish, even a little, stop eating. You’ve gotten what you wanted out of it. You don’t have to finish it. (After all, you can always have more tomorrow!)
A naturally colorful meal is a healthy meal.Photo by Anna Pelzer on Unsplash
Meal planning is easier than ever before. The internet is filled with countless tools—everything from recipes to shopping lists to meal planning apps—and it’s as awesome as it is overwhelming.
Planning ahead takes the guesswork and decision fatigue out of cooking, preventing the inevitable “Let’s just order a pizza.” You can have a repeating 3-week or 4-week menu of your favorite meals so you never have to think about what you’re going to eat, or you can meal plan once a week to try new recipes and keep things fresh.
It might help to designate one day a week to “shop and chop”—getting and prepping the ingredients for the week’s meals so they’re ready to go in your fridge or freezer.
Organic foods are better for the Earth and for us.Photo by andrew welch on Unsplash
Many people choose organic because they want to avoid pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals. Organic food is also better for the planet, and according to the Mayo Clinic, studies have shown that organic produce is higher in certain nutrients.
Most people don’t buy everything organic, but there are some foods that should take priority over others. Each year, researchers from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) analyze thousands of samples of dozens of fruits and vegetables. From this data, they create a list of the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean 15” fruits and vegetables, indicating what produce has the most and least pesticide residue. These lists give people a good place to start focusing their transition to more organic foods.
To make organic eating even simpler, you can shop O Organics® at your local Albertsons or Safeway stores. The O Organics brand offers a wide range of affordable USDA-certified organic products in every aisle. If you’re focusing on fresh foods, O Organics produce is always grown without synthetic pesticides, is farmed to conserve biodiversity, and is always non-GMO. All animal-based O Organics products are certified humane as well. Even switching part of your grocery list to organic can make a positive impact on the planet and the people you feed.
Healthy eating habits don’t have to be all or nothing, and they don’t have to be complicated. A few simple mindset changes at home and habit changes at the grocery store can make a big difference.
Humanity at its best.
Around 1 a.m. on April 24, semi-truck drivers in the Oak Park area of Michigan received a distress call from area police: An unidentified man was standing on the edge of a local bridge, apparently ready to jump onto the freeway below.
Those drivers then did something amazing. They raced to the scene to help — and lined up their trucks under the bridge, providing a relatively safe landing space should the man jump.
Fortunately, he didn't.
The impressive line-up wasn't a coincidence — the drivers were prepared for exactly this sort of situation.Sgt. Jason Brockdorff of the Huntington Woods Police Department told The Detroit News that the response was something local police and truck drivers had actually trained for. But what was unusual was the sheer number of drivers who responded to the call.
"That's a practice we use if we have a jumper," Brockdorff said. "We try to do it every time, to lessen the distance someone would travel if they were to jump. Fortunately, that didn't happen."
The incident lasted nearly four hours, into the early morning. However, once the trucks were in place, the police were able to more comfortably negotiate with the unidentified man.
Eventually, the man walked off the bridge on his own and is currently receiving medical help.
In a pair of tweets, the local police department called attention to the incident to remind people in similar situations of the importance of seeking mental health services (emphasis mine):
This photo does show the work troopers and local officers do to serve the public. But also in that photo is a man struggling with the decision to take his own life. Please remember help is available through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
You can also call a loved one, member of the clergy or 911. There are so many people that can help you make the choice to get help and live! It is our hope to never see another photo like this again.
Working together, the police and everyday strangers saved a life.
Ordinary people heeded the call of service to help a fellow person who was struggling. It's a powerful image that's impossible to ignore, and a reminder of humanity at its best.
This article originally appeared on 04.24.18
Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.
Some good not so good moments with babies.
Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.
In the series "#ThingsOnlyMomsKnow" Ingebritt and Corinne depict the reality of motherhood — with all the painful, funny, and loving moments not always talked about.
Expectant moms plan for the bathroom.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Learning how to go with the flow.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Moms can be emotional... and dads too.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Falling in love with the necessary conveniences.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
People have the ability to make normal situations feel weird.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
The convenience of a pregnancy tests is also peeing on a stick.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Taking advantage of two bodily functions at one time.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Walking into a house with babies... yep.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Have a spare shirt ready to go.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
Looking behind the magic of a breast pump.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
No need to duck.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
There are going to be changes.
All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.
This story first appeared on Hippe Birth Cards and is reprinted here with permission.
This article originally appeared on 09.13.17
Angelina Jordan's AGT performance was instantly legendary.
Angelina Jordan blew everyone away with her version of 'Bohemian Rhapsody."
At Upworthy, we've shared a lot of memorable "America's Got Talent" auditions, from physics-defying dance performances to jaw-dropping magic acts to heart-wrenching singer-songwriter stories. Now we're adding Angelina Jordan's "AGT: The Champions" audition to the list because wow.
Jordan came to "AGT: The Champions" in 2020 as the winner of Norway's Got Talent, which she won in 2014 at the mere age of 7 with her impressive ability to seemingly channel Billie Holiday. For the 2020 audition, she sang Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," but a version that no one had ever heard before.
With just her Amy Winehouse-ish voice, a guitar and a piano, Jordan brought the fan-favorite Queen anthem down to a smooth, melancholy ballad that's simply riveting to listen to.
Especially considering that Jordan was only 13 years old when she did this.
Watch:
What this video doesn't show is Heidi Klum hitting the Golden Buzzer faster than you can say, "Nothing really matters to me." The judges were blown away by Jordan's performance, as were the people in the comments.
"That's a ONE in A BILLION voice right there. Just amazing," wrote one commenter.
"I am typically not a fan of songs being redone particular to such a magnitude," shared another. "They almost always fall short of the original. But to completely rearrange a song in the manner that she has, from a legend, and then make you forget about how the original even sounded because her rendition is so good is utterly amazing."
"As Freddie once said, 'Do whatever you want with my music as long as you don't make it boring.' I think he'd really like this," shared another.
Though Queen's lead vocalist Freddie Mercury is no longer with us, the band did offer words of praise for Jordan's performance, retweeting her audition video with the comment, "Wow! What a rendition of #BohemianRhapsody."
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is such an iconic song, it's hard for anyone to do a cover of it justice. But 13-year-old Angelina Jordan managed it masterfully.
Jordan would move on to the Top 10 in "AGT: The Champions," and though she didn't take home the top prize, she did impress the audience with another classic rock tune, Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." You can enjoy that performance below, and you can follow Angelina Jordan—who is now 17 and still singing her heart out—on YouTube and TikTok.
Making them sit in the discomfort of their own filth is an excellent way to shut that garbage down.
Ask almost any woman about a time a man said or did something sexually inappropriate to them, and she'll have a story or four to tell. According to a survey NPR published last year, 81% of women report having experienced sexual harassment, with verbal harassment being the most common. (By contrast, 43% of men report being sexually harassed. Naturally harassment toward anyone of any sex or gender is not okay, but women have been putting up with this ish unchecked for centuries.)
One form of verbal sexual harassment is the all too common sexist or sexual "joke." Ha ha ha, I'm going to say something explicit or demeaning about you and then we can all laugh about how hilarious it is. And I'll probably get away with it because you'll be too embarrassed to say anything, and if you do you'll be accused of being overly sensitive. Ha! Won't that be a hoot?
Perhaps women's familiarity with such episodes is why writer Heather Thompson Day's tweet about asking her male boss to explain a sexual joke to her has had such an enormous response. Day told a story of working at a radio station when she was 19 when her boss, who was in his mid-40s, made an inappropriate comment:
"When I was 19 my boss said I should be a phone sex operator & laughed.
I said 'I don't get it'
He said 'it's a joke'
I said 'explain it to me'
& that's how I learned that once sexual harrassers have to explain why their inappropriate jokes are funny, they stop laughing."
When I was 19 my boss said I should be a phone sex operator & laughed.
I said “I don't get it"
He said “it's a joke"
I said “explain it to me"
& that's how I learned that once sexual harrassers have to explain why their inappropriate jokes are funny, they stop laughing.
— Heather Thompson Day (@HeatherTDay) November 8, 2019
Day's tweet has been shared more than 130K times. Other women also chimed in with similar stories of stopping sexist men in their tracks with their responses to inappropriate jokes.
My first internship was in a very professional company. We learned direct questions quickly stop inappropriate workplace comments. Direct eye contact:
1) I don't understand -- explain it to me.
2) Help me to understand -- repeat it.
3) Can you provide an example?
It works.
— LiteFanFun (@LiteFanFun) November 9, 2019
Out with family when I was 13 and getting ice cream a friend of my uncle says “You can tell a lot about a girl by how she eats ice cream." I, genuinely not knowing what he was talking about, said “Like what?"
He didn't expect to be questioned. I kept pressing. He never answered.
— Naomi Savolainen (@mimiomiomi) November 8, 2019
YES! At my first full time job, my new boss called me and then made the comment that I had the voice of a phone sex operator. I responded, “I wouldn't know. I've never called one." His stammering and backpedaling still bring me joy over 20 years later.
— Virginia Fairchild (@scribblesnbitsV) November 10, 2019
I did the same thing to a guy who harassed me on a train. He said some rather disgusting things and I looked him dead in the eyes and said "tell me how you think that's an appropriate thing to say. Explain it to me" he was not happy and got real quiet so I could leave.
— Chess Pearson ♿️ (@Captain_Ogilvy) November 8, 2019
What's baffling is that some men may think that women actually might respond positively to such jokes. One woman simply responds to random harassers with "Please tell me about the last time this worked on an actual woman for you." Works every time.
My personal favorite to dudes who try to chat me up in parking lots, etc. is to ask, “Please tell me about the last time this worked on an actual woman for you." They IMMEDIATELY run away.
— Karen (@HashtagKaren) November 9, 2019
Of course, sometimes it takes more than just a no nonsense response to get some dudes to back off.
Eventually got to the point where they were like “we're joking, it's just fun" and I whistled to be switched out by a male guard on shift and told them to tell the same jokes to him.
I was definitely 20 at most and these were all men over 40 easily except one.
— Leighann Strollo (@LeighannStrollo) November 8, 2019
Sometimes it simply takes repeatedly being called out, especially if a man holds a position of power.
My boss made a joke about recognizing my mom because he probably had sex with her in college. I asked him to explain the joke, in an open office, while making direct contact with the COO, his boss. It took four more months and many incidents for him to be fired.
— Ellen Kaulig (@ekaulig) November 9, 2019
As one woman pointed out, it might take the threat of being documented to put an end to it. (Or, you know, actually documenting it can do wonders as well.)
Perfect. OMG! Yes! We should all carry a frigging book, whip it out, and do this: pic.twitter.com/XOz5k34uk8
— What in Tarnation (@PattyAbby) November 9, 2019
Several men jumped into the conversation with words of support—and even a wicked burn about mansplaining.
Finally found something men don't want to explain to women.
— Emmett Witurkey-Eldred (@emmetteldred) November 9, 2019
Because of course plenty of men are bothered by sexist "jokes" as well and understand that genuine jokes can be explained without hesitation or embarrassment.
If a thing is genuinely a joke it would be easy to explain.
— dan sheppard (@ashenfaced) November 9, 2019
Men can also use a similar approach when confronting their friends, acquaintances, and colleagues when inappropriate comments or jokes come up.
This is a tactic more men (myself included) should use when one of the "bros" makes a comment that we find uncomfortable but aren't sure how to call out. Maybe more guys will get the picture that it isn't cool.
— Dante (@CartoonsByDante) November 8, 2019
In fact, Heather Thompson Day said it was her dad who originally instructed her on how to respond to men's inappropriate comments. "Don't laugh," he told her. "Ask them to explain the joke. They will stop making them." Well done, Dad.
I'm not as cool as it sounds. My dad told me when i got the job “if any men say inappropriate comments, don't laugh. Ask them to explain the joke. They will stop making them." So Dad's for the win
— Heather Thompson Day (@HeatherTDay) November 8, 2019
It was also pointed out that this approach works with "jokes" that are racist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful as well. When people have to explain their prejudice and bigotry, they usually can't.
Pro tip: this also works on race "jokes"
— Corey (@HowlFromtheCore) November 8, 2019
I've had several coworkers over the years say, "you know how THOSE people are..." expecting me to agree. So I always say, "no, how ARE they?" Please, explain your racism/bigotry/prejudice to all of us.
— Erin McCord (@erinmcfavorite) November 8, 2019
And then there's always the next level "You remind me of someone heinous" response, which may be a bit brutal, but is sometimes necessary to drive home the point.
I had this happen with someone that thought it was cute to talk about 'coons. Once my "confusion" about racoons annoyed him, he finally dropped the N word, I gave my standard reply: You remind me of my grandfather. He liked to use that word, and he also like to rape little girls.
— Kristy M (@llamalluv) November 8, 2019
People in marginalized groups have had to put up with hurtful jokes for far too long. Asking people to explain them and making them sit in the discomfort of their own filth is an excellent way to shut that garbage down.
This article originally appeared on 11.13.19
Why do people even know this stuff?
People started a viral thread about the most random facts they know
Certain people have an innate ability to remember random facts. They are great at trivia but can also be insufferable know-it-alls.
So why are some people better at recalling random facts than others? Researchers in Europe believe that it's because their brains are more efficiently wired than other people's.
"We assume that more efficient networking of the brain contributes to better integration of pieces of information and thus leads to better results in a general knowledge test," biopsychologist Erhan Genc, from Ruhr University Bochum, said according to Science Alert.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an MSNBC contributor, activist, and co-host of Crooked Media's "Pod Save The People," wanted to harvest the mind hive on Twitter and find the most random fact that anyone knows.
"I mean RANDOM random," she wrote.
The answers ranged from the utterly pointless to the truly amazing. There was also a generous helping of utterly disgusting answers thrown in the mix.
Almost every answer deserved the follow-up question: "Why in the world do you know that?"
Here are some of the most random responses to Brittany Packnett Cunningham's question: "What's the most random fact you know?"
What\u2019s the most random fact you know?\n\nI mean RANDOM random.— brittany packnett cunningham. (@brittany packnett cunningham.) 1580180672
Most were utterly useless, but somehow still fascinating.
Snails can sleep for up to three years when the weather doesn\u2019t suit them.— \ud835\udc9f\ud835\udcb6\ud835\udcc3\ud835\udcbe\ud835\udc52\ud835\udcc1\ud835\udcc1\ud835\udc52 (@\ud835\udc9f\ud835\udcb6\ud835\udcc3\ud835\udcbe\ud835\udc52\ud835\udcc1\ud835\udcc1\ud835\udc52) 1580180829
pic.twitter.com/IhCEcPpVJN— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8All AmErican New Year (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8All AmErican New Year) 1580499864
most mammals have twice as many nipples as their species' average litter size (e.g. humans mostly have 1 kid at a time, but 2 nipples), this is colloquially referred to as the 'half nipple rule'\n\nexcept opossums, which for some reason have an odd number of nipples— Several Irate Bobcats (@Several Irate Bobcats) 1580184771
Muhammad is statistically the most common first name on the planet while Wang is the most common last name on the planet. But I still haven\u2019t met anyone named Muhammad Wang.— So There I Was... (@So There I Was...) 1580183727
The only word in the English language with all vowels+Y in alpha order is \u201cfacetiously\u201d— christy mcguire (FinishEdD!) (@christy mcguire (FinishEdD!)) 1580181277
Queen Elizabeth is one of the only people in the world who doesn\u2019t need a passport to travel.\nEveryone else in the royal family does.— Connie B \ud83d\udc3b (@Connie B \ud83d\udc3b) 1580181326
NYE goes hard— M\ud83d\udd4a (@M\ud83d\udd4a) 1580184004
In DNA, mushrooms are more similar to animals than they are to plants.— \u2728 No More Mayors \u2728 (@\u2728 No More Mayors \u2728) 1580181372
Some were pretty darn cool.
London Tube platforms have different tilings because when the Tube was originally built, a lot of people who used it were illiterate, and the different tilings helped them know what station they were at.pic.twitter.com/Yw8e04zCJA— Sahil (@Sahil) 1580195864
Some were thought-provoking.
You've never seen your own face. You've seen a reflection, and you've seen pictures, but you've never actually seen your own face!— Ruby's Granddaughter (@Ruby's Granddaughter) 1580226748
When you look at a flower, some of the photons that entered your eye just ended a 100,000-year journey from the center of the sun.\n\nNobody else sees them.\n\nJust you.\n\n10% of THOSE will give up their energy to cause a chemical reaction that\u2014literally\u2014makes them a part of you.https://twitter.com/MsPackyetti/status/1221992423905202176\u00a0\u2026— \u2796Dustin Miller\u2796 (@\u2796Dustin Miller\u2796) 1580187100
Elephants are the only animals other than humans who have something like funerals. They cover the dead elephant gently with leaves and branches, then stand around in a circle for hours making sad noises.— \ud83c\udf39Saffi \u2721\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udf39Saffi \u2721\ufe0f) 1580182116
There was a day when your parents put you down and never picked you up again.— Bradley King (@Bradley King) 1580186315
Others were disturbing.
Humans have a coccyx (aka a tailbone) which is the remnant of, you guessed it, a vestigial tail. One of our several vestigial features.— Cat Noone (@Cat Noone) 1580181773
The act of touching glasses to cheers comes from medieval suspicions of poisoning each other, so youd slam mugs together to spill each others drinks into your own to show trust you werent trying to kill them. Europeans man...— james beard (@james beard) 1580182190
Male dolphins can ejaculate as far as 10' and with such force it can kill a human if that human was foolish enough to attempt zoophilic relations with dolphin.— dr. k still loves Richard (@dr. k still loves Richard) 1580180807
Artificial raspberry and strawberry flavoring comes from the anal glands of a beaver.— \u2744\ufe0f\u2744\ufe0f Stephanie Nelson \u2744\ufe0f\u2744\ufe0f (@\u2744\ufe0f\u2744\ufe0f Stephanie Nelson \u2744\ufe0f\u2744\ufe0f) 1580236997
And some could be helpful down the road. You just never know.
If you are attacked by a gator and your arm is in its jaws, push, don't pull. If you can push the flap open at the back of its throat, water rushes in and it starts to drown and will open jaws, hopefully releasing you.— Anika Noni Rose (@Anika Noni Rose) 1580220908
The Phenomena: "The Doorway Effect"\nWhen you forget the reason you enter a different room.\nTo retrieve the reason, walk backwards w/o turning around.\nIt can trigger the memory.— CK (@CK) 1580185439
This article originally appeared on 02.06.20
Breathe easy.
Back in the late '80s, NASA was looking for ways to detoxify the air in its space stations. So it conducted a study to determine the most effective plants for filtering the air of toxic agents and converting carbon dioxide to oxygen.
In 1989, their results were published in a clean air study that provided a definitive list of the plants that are most effective at cleaning indoor air. The report also suggested having at least one plant per every hundred square feet of home or office space.
1. Dwarf Date Palm
What's in our air?
Trichloroethylene – Found in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes, adhesives, and paint removers. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: excitement, dizziness, headache, nausea, and vomiting followed by drowsiness and coma.
Formaldehyde – Found in paper bags, waxed papers, facial tissues, paper towels, plywood paneling, and synthetic fabrics. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: irritation to nose, mouth and throat, and in severe cases, swelling of the larynx and lungs.
Benzene – Used to make plastics, resins, lubricants, detergents, and drugs. Also found in tobacco smoke, glue, and furniture wax. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: irritation to eyes, drowsiness, dizziness, headache, increase in heart rate, headaches, confusion and in some cases can result in unconsciousness.
Xylene – Found in rubber, leather, tobacco smoke, and vehicle exhaust. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: irritation to mouth and throat, dizziness, headache, confusion, heart problems, liver and kidney damage and coma.
Ammonia – Found in window cleaners, floor waxes, smelling salts, and fertilizers. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: eye irritation, coughing, sore throat.
Please note: Some of these plants may be toxic for your pets, so please do your research to ensure your furry friends stay safe.
This article originally appeared on 08.13.21