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Heroes

They Sent A Camera Millions Of Miles Into Space. It Just Took These 7 Photos.

See mankind's first images from the surface of a comet.

On November 12, 2014, for the first time in history, we landed on a comet. It took a long time – about 10 years – to get there.

The Approach

Just a few days before the landing, we got our first up-close glimpses of the alien rock, called 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, from the European Space Agency's probe, Rosetta. Here's what it looks like from about six miles away:

Look how jagged the cliff is compared to the smooth, dusty surface below. It almost looks like a set from Star Trek in this photo:

Except that it's just a tiny big bigger than any set we've ever built. It's hard to get a sense of how big everything in these pictures is because, well, the comet is floating in empty space and there's nothing to compare it to. It turns out 67P isn't just any comet. It's a massive (and, oddly, duck-shaped) comet. How massive? Here's what it would look like over London:

Yikes! Let's just say it's a good thing it's floating over 300 million miles away.

But a part of us isn't just floating around the comet — it's on it. How'd that happen?

Off We Go

Philae, the lander attached to Rosetta, said goodbye and set off toward the comet to attempt something that had never been done before: land on it. We had no idea whether it would work.

That's Philae leaving Rosetta. The three legs sticking out of it are its landing gear.

Here's a shot from Philae, just under two miles from the surface:

Here's what it looked like just 100 feet from touching down. That boulder in the top-right looks small, but it's actually about 16 feet across, roughly the size of two pickup trucks.

Meanwhile, Back At Home...

Philae drifted closer to the comet, and then ... well, it's funny. I'm telling this story in real-time. But because the comet is 300 million miles away, it actually takes about 30 minutes for signals from it to travel through space and back to Earth. So while this is going on out beyond Mars, the folks back on Earth were just waiting — and rather nervously, judging by this photo from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany:

Translation: "Live from the control room: They're also riveted to their screens, waiting for news."

Out in space, Philae moved out of sight of Rosetta as it neared the end of the pair's 10-year odyssey.

Touchdown!

Minutes passed. Finally, the signal arrived! Confirmed: Philae had landed on the comet. The celebrations poured in from across this planet, and raucous applause filled ESOC.

The landing wasn't seamless. One of Philae's thrusters failed, which caused it to bounce when it hit the comet. And the harpoons that were supposed to keep it latched tightly to 67P failed to deploy, causing it to shift slightly.

But it did land, and in one piece. Data started to drift in, and then, after a few hours, this arrived: the first postcard from a comet, sent by Philae's CIVA camera back to all of its fans here on Earth.

Later, we got an entire panorama. People of Earth, welcome to 67P, your first comet:

Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while for more photos. It looks like Philae's final resting place is probably on its side, near a crater, where it receives only 1.5 hours of sunlight per day to charge its batteries. That means the ESA will have to prioritize the sensors that the lander uses, including cameras, to make sure we get as much science out of the project as possible.

A Moment To Remember

As you savor these images, it's worth noting that this is not the beginning or the end. This was a mission a decade in the making. And whether or not Philae stays alive and runs experiments for the next few years, as planned, we've already learned an incredible amount about our solar system that will have an immeasurable impact on our future.

The cheers may have started when Philae made its relatively safe landing, but they should continue for years to come.

Learning

The one sign that someone is highly intelligent, according to literary genius Leo Tolstoy

He was a master of understanding the human condition.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy was a Russian novelist known for epic works such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. His life experiences—from witnessing war to spiritual quests—profoundly influenced his writings and gave him profound insights into the human soul. His understanding of emotions, motivations and moral dilemmas has made his work stand the test of time, and it still resonates with people today.

Julian de Medeiros, a TikToker who shares his thoughts on philosophy, recently shared how Tolstoy knew if someone was highly intelligent—and his observation says something extraordinary about humanity.

intelligence, thinking, thought process, humanity, humansAn intelligent man's thought process.Canva Photos

“The more intelligent a person is, the more he discovers kindness in others,” Tolstoy once wrote. “For nothing enriches the world more than kindness. It makes mysterious things clear, difficult things easy, and dull things cheerful.”

@julianphilosophy

Intelligent people are kind #intelligent #intelligence #kindness #smart #tolstoy #men #women


De Medeiros boiled down Tolstoy’s thoughts into a simple statement: “Intelligent people are unafraid to be kind.” He then took things a step further by noting that Tolstoy believed in the power of emotional intelligence. "To have emotional intelligence is to see the good in other people, that is what Tolstoy meant, that to be intelligent is to be kind," he added.

It seems that, according to de Medeiros, Tolstoy understood that intelligent people are kind and perceptive of the kindness in others. The intelligent person is conscious of the kindness within themselves and in the world around them.

In a 2024 opinion piece for Inc., author and speaker Jeff Hayden cites organizational psychologist Adam Grant, who says, "Generosity isn't just a sign of virtue. It's also a mark of intelligence. Data: people with high IQs have more unselfish values, give more to charity, and negotiate better deals for others. They prioritize the long-term collective good over short-term self-interest. It's smarter to be a giver than a taker."

Hayden adds on to this statement, saying, "...You can also be smart enough to be generous, thoughtful, and kind. You can be smart enough to build people up instead of tearing them down. You can be smart enough to give before you receive (or better yet, with no expectation of reciprocation.) You can be smart enough to shift the credit from yourself to others."

kindness, intelligence, humanity, human condition, be kindKids showing kindness through sharing. Canva Photos

In other words, these findings certainly line up with what Tolstoy's take on the correlation between kindness and intelligence.

Through Tolstoy's musings, de Medeiros (and Hayden and Grant) makes a point that is often overlooked when people talk about intelligence: truly smart people are as in touch with their hearts as they are with their minds.

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

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Democracy

Economics expert pinpoints the exact moment in 2012 when 'America went to hell'

Geography was more important than we thought.

via Canva/Photos

An angry man in front of the American flag.

America has never been a perfect place, but since the Civil War, it has been one where most people bought into the idea of the country and supported the institutions that keep it running. People may disagree on politics and culture, but when America was threatened, whether it was 9/11 or World War II, people came together to fight for the country they love, even though the reasons may have differed.

However, it’d be naive to say that sentiment is still as strong as it once was. Since The Great Recession, many people have felt that the vibes are off in America, and polls and research back those feelings. Right around 2012, when smartphones became ubiquitous, there was a considerable rise in the number of people who felt that America was on the wrong track and that racism and sexism were considerably worse than they were just a year before. There was also a big spike in mental illness.

So what happened in 2012? Did the world suddenly become drastically worse overnight, or had our perceptions been changed?

woman, dispair, smartphone, bad news, woman in kitchen, upset womanA woman is upset looking at her smartphone.via Canva/Photos

Why does it feel like America is on the decline?

Other developed countries have experienced similar vibe shifts since 2012, but it has hit America the hardest. Economics blogger Noah Smith explains why this feeling of malaise has hit America so hard, and he illustrates it perfectly in a viral Substack piece called “Social media destroyed one of America's key advantages.” Smith is an American blogger and commentator on economics and current events and former assistant professor of behavioral finance at Stony Brook University.

In his Substack post, Smith postulates that the technological change hit America the hardest because it punctured our geographical buffers. “A hippie in Oakland and a redneck in the suburbs of Houston both fundamentally felt that they were part of the same unified nation; that nation looked very different to people in each place,” Smith writes. “Californians thought America was California, and Texans thought America was Texas, and this generally allowed America to function.”

Why did America fundamentally change in 2012?

Here’s an excerpt from Smith’s piece. Please check out the entire piece on the Noahpinion Substack.

Like some kind of forcible hive mind out of science fiction, social media suddenly threw every American in one small room with every other American. Decades of hard work spent running away from each other and creating our ideologically fragmented patchwork of geographies went up in smoke overnight, as geography suddenly ceased to mediate the everyday discussion of politics and culture.

The sudden collapse of geographic sorting in political discussion threw all Americans in the same room with each other — and like the characters in Sartre’s No Exit, they discovered that “Hell is other people.” Conservatives suddenly discovered that a lot of Americans despise Christianity or resent White people over the legacy of discrimination. Liberals suddenly remembered that a lot of their countrymen frown on their lifestyles. Every progressive college kid got to see every piece of right-wing fake news that their grandparents were sharing on Facebook (whereas before, these would have been quietly confined to chain emails). Every conservative in a small town got to see Twitter activists denouncing White people. And so on.


protests, american protest, protest sign, demonstration, mass gatheringA group of people protesting in the street.via Ted Eytan/Flickr

It may sound cynical to believe that America was a better place when people were less likely to talk to people with a different worldview. But, given how things have gone in the past 15 years, it’s fair to say that putting every American in a proverbial ring to fight it out just makes everyone feel under attack... and the fight never ends.

The problem with the Like button

Another development around the same time that many believe negatively affected the country was the development of the Like button on Facebook. The button made its debut in 2009, and it, along with the share button, which came in 2010, incentivized people to create content that their audience agreed with, creating echo chambers. The buttons also incentivized people to make outrage-provoking posts and create fake stories to go viral and increase advertising revenue.

maga, trump supporters, trump flags, trump rally, american flagsTrump supporters at a rally.via Elvert Barnes/Flickr

The positive takeaway from Smith’s geographical sorting theory is that, quite possibly, many people’s perceptions about life in Amerca are wrong because we’re seeing it through the distorted, funhouse mirror of social media that shows us every bad deed in a country of 330 million people and amplifies the voices of the unscroupulous. By pinpointing the moment that America “went to hell,” as author Jonathan Haidt says, we also have a roadmap to get back to when people had greater faith in America’s institutions and people.

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Pop Culture

The super interesting reason why people in the past looked so much older than people today

It isn't just the hairstyles.

via Nick Denner/Flickr and Canva/Photos

How are these both high schoolers?

Have you ever looked back at your parents’ high school yearbook and thought that all the 11th graders looked like they were in their early 30s? Whether they were in school in the ‘60s and the kids had horn-rimmed glasses or the ‘80s with feathered hair, they looked at least a decade older than today's high school kids. One wonders if in 30 years, kids look at a yearbook from 2025 and see boys with broccoli cuts and girls with nose rings and they think, “What are they, 35?”

The folks at Bright Side did a deep dive into the phenomenon and found a few reasons why people looked so much older in the past than they do now. It’s a mix of how our minds perceive older fashion and why people age more gracefully in modern times.

Why did people look older in the past?

“Specialists have looked into this phenomenon, and it does have some scientific facts to back it up,” the narrator states. “It's not necessarily that our ancestors looked older; it's more that we appear to look younger. And younger as generations go by, that's because over time humans have improved the way they live their lives in the us alone over the last 200 years.”

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

A big reason people looked a lot older when photography became common in the late 1800s is that it happened at a time when we were making tremendous advances in public health. The 1880s to the 1920s were a time of rapid advancement, when we began to understand infectious diseases and how they spread. “We gained access after safer types of foods, and we understand the importance of clean water. Our individual lifestyle choices can impact the way we look,” the video says.

The way we work has also drastically changed how people look. Working in an office for eight hours a day in air conditioning will keep you a lot younger-looking than working all day as a Victorian chimney sweep. Plus, for people who work outside, sunscreen has made it much easier to protect our skin and decrease wrinkles.

Let’s not forget the importance of a straight, white smile. Advances in dental care also help make people look younger.

1970s girls, high school girls, girls in uniforms, old high school photos, nostalgiaA "girl gang" in 1976. via Earthworm/Flickr

Why do people wearing styles from the past appear older?

Finally, there’s the clothes issue, and, yes, this does have a big impact on how we view the age of people from the past. “Our brains are wired to associate old trends with being old,” the video says. “For example, your grandpa might still have the shirt he wore in that 1970s picture, and it's because of that shirt that you retroactively associate that trend with being old, despite the fact that your granddad does look younger in the picture than he looks today. “

girls in school, '60s high school girls, class room, old-school cool,GIrls in class in the 1960s.via Phillips Academy/Flickr

In the end, the fact that people look a lot younger today than they did in the past is a testament to how the quality of life has drastically improved since cameras were first invented. However, that doesn’t mean that fashion has improved at all. You have to admit that your dad with that fly butterfly collar in his 1977 graduation photo looks better than that multi-colored, Machine Gun Kelly-style hoodie you see guys wearing in high schools today.

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Pets

Family teaches their rats to drive tiny electric cars because, oddly, it's good for them

It may look like a circus stunt, but a real study shows learning to drive is actually beneficial for rats.

Courtesy of @emperorsofmischief/Instagram

Kuzko and Kronk love their "rat rods."

Some people look at rats and immediately get the willies, but people who've had pet rats know that they make delightful furry friends. They each have their own personalities and intellect, and if you get creative, you can teach the rascally rodents to do all kinds of fun things.

One of those fun things, which likely comes as an unexpected surprise, is driving. That's right, you can apparently train a rat to drive a tiny car. And the best part? It's actually good for them.

Before we get into the scientific research on that front, you simply have to see little Kuzko and Kronk behind the wheel (or pedals, actually):

Kuzko and Kronk's owners (@emperorsofmischief on Instagram) say it only took a couple of months of training 5 to 10 minutes a day for them to get the hang of the "rat rod" controls—three simple pedals that make the car go right, left, and forward.

"They do seem to enjoy their nightly practice," their owner writes. "We removed the back doors a while ago to give them full autonomy, and now when the cars come out the rats are quick to jump in on their own and hit the gas!"

The basis for even trying this in the first place is a 2019 study from the University of Richmond. Researchers taught 17 rats, some of them lab rats and some raised in "enriched environments," to drive electric toy cars in exchange for bits of cereal. (Those raised in "enriched environments" made much better drivers, in case you were wondering.)

rats, rat experiment, rats driving, pet ratsAn experiment found that learning to drive lowered rats' stress levels.Photo credit: Canva

The experiment continued after the study was published, and neuroscientist and researcher Kelly Lambert explained how observing the rat drivers early in the pandemic led to new insights.

"Initially, they learned basic movements, like climbing into the car and pressing a lever. But with practice, these simple actions evolved into more complex behaviors, such as steering the car toward a specific destination.

One morning during the pandemic, the rats also taught me something profound.

It was summer 2020, a period marked by isolation for almost everyone on the planet. When I walked into the lab one day, I noticed something unusual: The three driving-trained rats ran to the side of the cage, jumping up and down.

At that point, my lab started looking into how positive events — and anticipation for these events — shape neural functions."

rats, rat experiment, rats driving, pet ratsRat studies are often used to inform human research. Photo credit: Canva

Lambert and another researcher began a new study looking at whether anticipation (or delayed gratification). They called the research program "Wait for It," as they required the rats to wait a certain amount of time before engaging in tasks they enjoy. The results may hold some promise for non-pharmaceutical interventions in mental health challenges.

"Preliminary results suggest that rats required to wait for their rewards show signs of shifting from a pessimistic cognitive style to an optimistic one in a test designed to measure rodent optimism. They also performed better on cognitive tasks and were bolder in problem-solving strategies. We linked this program to our lab’s broader interest in behaviorceuticals, a term I coined to suggest that experiences can alter brain chemistry similarly to pharmaceuticals."

The initial study sound that learning to drive seemed to have a stress-reducing effect on the rats, with all of them testing higher in dehydroepiandrosterone, an anti-stress hormone, than controls.

rats, rat experiment, rats driving, pet rats, holding a ratAnother experiment found that rats seem to actually enjoy driving. Photo credit: Canva

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean they like it. Rats do tend to thrive with interesting things to stimulate them, but one way to know whether the rats actually enjoy something is if they choose to do it instead of doing something that takes less effort. Lambert explained:

"Although we can’t directly ask rats if they enjoy driving, we created a behavioral test to gauge their motivation to get behind the wheel. This time, instead of giving rats only the option of driving to the Froot Loop tree, they could also make a shorter journey on foot.

Surprisingly, two of the three rats chose to take the less efficient path of turning away from the reward and running to the car to drive to their Froot Loop destination. This response suggests that the rats enjoy both the journey and the rewarding destination."

Enjoying both the journey and the destination is a goal for all of us, isn't it? Thanks to our rat friends behind the wheel, we may be a bit closer to figuring out how more of us can get there.

You can follow the adventures of Kuzko and Kronk and their rat rods on Instagram.

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Parenting

Debate erupts after mom questions whether parents 'should' play with their kids on the playground

She says sitting on the bench instead of playing doesn't make you lazy.

Canva Photos

Is sitting on the bench at the playground "lazy parenting"?

I've been both parents in this situation: I've been the dad climbing up the playground with my kids, chasing them, making up silly games. And then I've also been the dad who just wants to sit on the bench and rest for a few minutes, and who groans when my 4-year-old decides she wants to take on the monkey bars and needs my help.

The former makes you feel like a million bucks, but is utterly exhausting. The latter comes with a ton of guilt. Where does the guilt come from? Why is there so much pressure to always be "on"? I have no idea, but it's suffocating. And some parents have had enough.

One mom is taking a stand against the judgment and internalized-guilt. She says it's more than fine to sit on the side and let your kids play independently.


moms, motherhood, parenting, mom shame, mom guilt, dads, fatherhood, kids, playground, play, independenceSome parents get accused of "not supervising" their kids when they're literally sitting 10 feet away. Photo by Oakville Dude on Unsplash

Amanda, a mom of three, recently posted a video on Instagram: "I saw a reel that said, 'parents at the park should get off the bench and play with their kids...' NO" the caption read.

"God forbid we ... let the playground be for kids ... a space where they get to experience some freedom, explore, interact and engage with other children without their parent breathing down their neck," she writes in the post.

Amanda adds that the advice to "get off the bench" came from a parenting influencer she usually really likes and who has helped her come up with new ideas to connect with her kids. But it shows how deeply-ingrained the pressure really is when even the "good" parenting experts are anti-rest and pro-hyper-involvement.

"I’m just highlighting here that ITS OKAY if you don’t want to be the adult scaling the playground!!" Amanda says. "Didn’t think this was a controversial take but I’ve said it before on here and have been called lazy."


Surprisingly, users were split on Amanda's "hot take," and were pretty heated about it themselves. Over 1.2 million people watched the video and thousands chimed in with their thoughts on the matter.

Many agreed that it was ridiculous to hold parents to the always-on standard.

"That was definitely said by a non parent who probably got ten hours of sleep. The audacity"

"Those of us who are SAHMs go ri the playground for a mother freakin BREAK"

"I tell my kids all the time: 'Go play with your brothers, that’s why I made more than 1 of you' I’m here to sip my coffee and talk to my friends"

"solo mother to toddler triplets here. It has taken me 3 1/2 years to get to the point I can actually sit down at the park. I’d love someone to say that to my face while I take the ONLY 5 minute break I get in my day"

"This! There is an over correction in the parenting these days. This gen of parents wants so barely to not be the absentee parents of yesteryear that they over parent and are over involved"

Some parents had safety concerns about not being "right there" in case something were to happen.

"I hear you but sometimes my toddler wants to play on the bigger structure and I just stand below making sure he doesn't jump off the high platforms"

"I wish, my anxiety is too bad 😂 I’m working on it."

"Maybe when they stop making playgrounds with random drop offs I can be chill enough to sit down."

"Parents need to get off their phones. I'm tired of having to tell someone else's kid to stop throwing sand cuz their mommy cares more about their phone than their kid."

(Whether being on your phone while your kid plays within eye-and-ear-shot is inherently bad is another discussion we need to have.)

A few commenters brought up an even greater point: It's about more than just mom and dad getting a break. It's about giving kids an opportunity to practice independence.

"As a mom of two, I’ve learned there’s so much value in giving kids space to play, explore, and even figure things out without us constantly hovering. It doesn’t mean we’re lazy, it means we trust their independence and know our own nervous systems matter too. We need more conversations like this"

"Let them be bored. Let them get creative. Let them make new friends. Their parent is not their court jester. The playground is meant for children to play, not the parents."

In fact, a key element of the popular and scientifically-validated Montessori method is that children should never be interrupted when playing or focusing on an activity.

"When children are engaged in interesting activities, they are simultaneously practicing their ability to remain engaged, to attend to other activities and to manage multiple stimuli without losing the capacity to concentrate on one. For parents, supporting children’s developing concentration means, first, giving them the opportunity to concentrate without interruption," writes Raintree Montessori.

Many well-regarded educational philosophies center on child-led learning, independence, and allowing children room to flex their creativity and play the way they want. Kids without an opportunity to learn and practice independence early have been shown to have worse outcomes later in life.

Why do millennial parents feel so much pressure to be hyper-involved?


moms, motherhood, parenting, mom shame, mom guilt, dads, fatherhood, kids, playground, play, independenceIt's hard for parents to let go, but kids need chances to practice doing things on their own. Photo by Myles Tan on Unsplash

Gen X and certainly Boomer parents did not feel the same way. Many of them were and are more than content to let their kids run free without nearly as much supervision — for better or worse.

Maybe we've just seen too many influencers wagging their fingers at us, having grown up on social media. We've seen too many news stories about kidnapping and other bad actors stalking public parks. We've seen the horrible injuries and accidents amplified by social algorithms that feed on fear and anger. And so we "helicopter." Not to be controlling, but to be protective.

Bit by bit, though, the public conversation is changing. Parents are being encouraged more and more to let go, just a little bit.

It's such a fine line, though. Many parents hover over their kids on the playground precisely because of potential dangers, bullying, or negative interactions with other kids. And who wouldn't do anything in the world to protect their child?! But it's also more than OK for a parent to consider that a crucial part of the independence lesson. Sometimes it's good for kids to work out conflicts on their own! It's even good for them to push their limits too far and fall down!

Ultimately, you don't have to be a "play" parent or a "bench" parent. You can choose for yourself based on your child, what he or she needs, and what the situation calls for. In the end, there should be a lack of judgment whatever you choose.

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