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  • Scientists finally uncover why old buildings feel creepy, and it has nothing to do with haunted spirits
    Photo credit: Canva – Man covering ears (left) Creepy old building (right)
    ,

    Scientists finally uncover why old buildings feel creepy, and it has nothing to do with haunted spirits

    There is more than meets the eye…or ears…

    Heather Wake

    Many of us have walked into an old building and felt some kind of eeriness. Depending on your own personal beliefs, you might be inclined to attribute this feeling to the presence of something supernatural. But science has found another culprit that haunts our psyche in these places, and it’s not ghosts. 

    Researchers at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada, found that when people were exposed to infrasound, which is typically imperceptible to humans, they still experienced a rise in cortisol levels and irritation. 

    “In an old building, there is a good chance that infrasound is present, particularly in basements where aging pipes and ventilation systems produce low-frequency vibrations,” noted senior author Rodney Schmaltz. 

    old building, science, interesting
    Interior of an old building, Canva

    Therefore, many people who notice a mood shift in a place regularly defined as “haunted”  might attribute that agitation to something supernatural. In reality, the infrasound waves are to blame. 

    How the study worked 

    The study, published this year in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, randomly assigned 36 participants to one of four groups. Each group would listen to either “calming” meditative music or “unsettling” horror-themed ambient audio. Each group would also be near hidden speakers playing infrasound between 75 and 78 decibels, a range consistent with what mechanical systems commonly produce inside buildings. These speakers were turned off and on once throughout the study. 

    old buildings, science, paranormal
    Sound waves, Canva

    Each participant provided saliva samples immediately before the music started and again 20 minutes later, which were analyzed to measure cortisol, the hormone the body releases under stress. 

    Researchers found that, regardless of which type of music they heard, the participants showed a notable increase in salivary cortisol when exposed to infrasound. 

    And while anecdotal, participants in the infrasound condition rated themselves as more irritable, less interested afterward, and even described the music as noticeably sadder.  

    Interestingly, what people didn’t seem to feel when exposed to infrasound was anxiety or fear, but rather irritability, disinterest, and a low-grade emotional discomfort…all of which correlate to a spike in cortisol. 

    Infrasound in nature

    The researcher explained that in the animal kingdom, some species (such as elephants) use it to communicate with one another over great distances. Others, like some birds, detect coming storms from infrasound.

    Others still have an aversion to the discomfort it causes. Some fish have tiny stone-like organs in their inner ear that help them stay away from it and remain balanced and upright in the water. 

    sound, science, haunted house
    A school of fish. Canva

    Humans happen to have similar structures, and researchers theorize that this balance system, which connects to brain regions involved in emotion, may register infrasound without conscious awareness. 

    Still, given the small amount of study participants (as well as the lack of diversity, most were female undergrad students), no major conclusions can be drawn. So ghost hunters, fret not! 

    Whether you lean paranormal or skeptical, the science does confirm that humans are more sensitive to unseen forces than we realize, whether those forces come from vibrations in the environment or something we simply don’t yet understand. Either way, our minds and bodies seem capable of picking up signals long before we consciously recognize them.

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  • 15 years ago pro bowler Tom Daugherty was humiliated. He turned it into the sport’s greatest comeback story.

    Photo Credit: Canva Photos

    The bowler who scored the lowest total in televised history returned the very next year.
    ,

    15 years ago pro bowler Tom Daugherty was humiliated. He turned it into the sport’s greatest comeback story.

    His score of 100 is the lowest that’s ever been televised.

    Evan Porter

    Everyone has bad days, even world class athletes. Any number of circumstances can cause someone who’s been training their entire life to simply miss the moment; be it physical, mental, or just plain bad luck.

    It happened to Simone Biles when she got the the “twisties” and became disoriented in the air during what should have been a pinnacle moment in her Olympic career. It happened to golfer Greg Norman when he squandered an unprecedented six-stroke lead at the 1996 Masters in a stunning collapse.

    The best athletes, and people, aren’t defined by perfection, however. They’re defined by what they do after they fail.

    Bowler Tom Daugherty puts on one of the worst performances of all time

    Bowling, while not a premier sport in the minds of most viewers, comes with a ton of pressure. It’s a highly technical sport where being just a millimeter or a fraction of a second off in your technique can be disastrous.

    Tom Daugherty found this out firsthand in what has became a legendary game…but not legendary for the reasons he’d like.

    In 2011, Daugherty faced off with Mike Koiveniemi in a semifinal match of the PBA Tournament of Champions. The event was televised, and the pressure was high. Luck, however, was not on Daugherty’s side that day. He rolled his way into every conceivable bad split you could possibly imagine.

    The round was a nightmare, and Daugherty found himself facing his final shot of the night with a score under 100. His opponent, meanwhile, finished with a 299—nearly a perfect game. For reference, a 70-100 is roughly an achievable score for people who only bowl a few times per year and are not trained at all in form and technique. Yikes.

    When Daugherty’s last shot connected, it put his final score at 100 exactly: triple digits. He reacted by running around and high-fiving the crowd, determined not to let himself get down.

    His 199-point loss is one of the worst margins in professional bowling history, and his score of 100 is the lowest that’s ever been televised.

    Daugherty did not let the humiliation define him, and came back stronger

    Through it all, Tom Daugherty kept an impressive sense of humor about what could have been the greatest failure of his career, to date.

    As the third place winner in the tournament, he won $50,000. He joked that he was excited to have won “$500 per pin.”

    Later, he was quoted as saying: “That 100 game was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have no problem with it. No one would remember me if I hadn’t bowled that game.”

    The positive attitude served him well. The very next year, he returned to another PBA tournament—this time the Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship at the World Series of Bowling in Las Vegas—in his first televised performance since the infamous “100 game.”

    Daugherty won the whole thing, snagging his first PBA title.

    Since then, he’s gone on to have a fantastic career that features four PBA Tour titles, including one major title at the 2021 PBA World Championship.

    In 2026, he even got a rematch against his opponent from the famed 100-game—and beat him.

    Athletes like Daugherty give us a good blueprint for how to deal with failure

    Anyone who performs at the highest level of their chosen endeavor is going to fail and suffer setbacks. We can learn a lot from how they pick themselves back up afterwards.

    Kevin Chapman, PhD, clinical psychologist and founder of The Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorder, writes: “People who have a high standard for themselves understand that failure is part of the journey towards growth and success. On the other hand, people who are perfectionistic view failure as unacceptable, which is actually very limiting. When you view failure as just another part of the process, then significant learning can occur as a result. You fix it and then move forward.”

    It would be easy for anyone to implode after a performance like Daugherty’s. The way he handled the epic loss with humility and humor, though, no doubt helped him get in the right mindset for next time. He was able to learn where things had gone wrong for him in 2011 and come back a far better bowler the very next year when he won it all.

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  • Someone asked Gen X for their version of ‘OK Boomer.’ Here are the 8 best answers.
    Photo credit: Canva – A woman responds to the "OK boomer" catchphrase.
    ,

    Someone asked Gen X for their version of ‘OK Boomer.’ Here are the 8 best answers.

    “Gen X does not crowdsource insults. We freestyle them.”

    Cecily Knobler

    Generation X is often known, or at least broadly categorized, as the middle child of generations. So many of us kept our heads down as we latch-keyed ourselves into empty homes to make Pop Tarts for dinner. Sure, we sometimes side-eyed our elders, but when we were criticized, our “Who cares?” response exemplified the cynical, proverbial shrug heard all through the ’70s, ’80s, and early ’90s.

    It’s almost a rite of passage for a generation to be besmirched by those who came before them. But when an older man went on a TikTok rant about Millennials and Gen Z in 2019, many of them didn’t take it especially well. The term “OK boomer,” though coined years earlier, went viral.

    Gen X version of ‘Okay, Boomer’

    Entrepreneur and mental health advocate Rafella Mancuso seems to have had it with Gen X. In recent post on Threads, Mancuso wanted to know what one might say to an X-er that was the equivalent of “OK boomer.” They wrote, “What’s the ‘Okay, boomer’ equivalent for Gen X? Because they’re p—ing me off.” What they perhaps didn’t anticipate in the responses was an entire generation that’s known for not caring, caring just enough to share their thoughts.

    The query received nearly 12,000 comments in just four days. In fact, one person even took the time to write a “community note,” and they didn’t hold back: “Did your therapist tell you that Gen X cares about your feelings? That’s adorable.”

    Some of the other comments were also on fire.

    Sounds like a ‘you’ problem

    “Sounds like a ‘you’ problem,” someone else comments. This one works on two levels: An apt Gen-X response to the OP’s question, and our version of “OK, boomer” back in the day.

    This Threader didn’t hold back, writing in part: “We’re latchkey kids who grew up with the Cold War, asbestos ceilings, and landlines. We have 0 fks to give about who is pissed off at us because we used them all up in the ’80s worrying about quicksand and the Bermuda Triangle. Now…share your phone number so we can prank call you.”

    We don’t care

    Another tried to gently explain to the OP why they shouldn’t bother messing with us. “The thing about boomers is they get mad when you say ‘OK boomer,’ so that is satisfying to you. Gen X has zero Fs to give…So my advice is to say whatever makes you feel better because we truly, I promise you, don’t care.”

    “Oh no, a random person on the Internet is mad at an entire generation for some unknown reasons. I guess I’ll just listen to the entire Nevermind album and not cry myself to sleep,” wrote another.

    This person seems pleased with the thousands of answersL “Checks comments. Sees my fellow Gen X-ers already have it covered. Nods and scrolls on.”

    One person notes that Gen X doesn’t need memes to be snappy. “Gen X doesn’t crowdsource insults. We freestyle them.”

    And lastly, a Threader decided to use the king of Gen X dialogue, quoting the great John Hughes film The Breakfast Club: “The correct response is: Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?”

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  • Wife prepares tongue-in-cheek slideshow for husband who ‘just got home from golfing’

    Photo Credit: Canva Photos

    A woman made a helpful presentation for the Dos and Don'ts when her husband gets home from golf.
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    Wife prepares tongue-in-cheek slideshow for husband who ‘just got home from golfing’

    “The hobby that is supposed to uplift you has made you tired and extremely grouchy.”

    Evan Porter

    In a relationship, sometimes you wish there was a tactful, helpful, and non-confrontational way to tell your partner exactly what you need from them.

    It turns out there is a way, and it’s been hiding right under our noses for decades: The humble Powerpoint presentation.

    In viral skit, wife makes instructional presentation for golfing husband

    The Dashleys—that is, husband and wife Dallin and Ashley—seem to really have their pulse on modern marriage. They’ve racked up nearly half a million followers on Instagram alone with extremely relatable and hilarious Reels that perfectly capture the universal frustrations people have with their partners.

    Charmingly, it’s all done with care, love, and a lot of laughs that help soften the blow.

    Recently, Ashley took some time to prepare a little slideshow for her husband on something that had been bugging her: how he came home from a round of golf with friends.

    “So you got home from golfing… now what?” the opening slide read.

    “What is this? he asks.

    “This is to help you golf more, without me getting annoyed,” she responds.

    Covered topics include coming home tired or cranky from a bad round. “At this point, the hobby that is supposed to uplift you, has made you tired and extremely grouchy,” she writes.

    The next slide covers what Ashley would like to hear when her husband walks through the door, featuring, “I missed you guys!!” and “What are we going to do today??”

    Finally, she asks him to devote a short monologue to memory, expressing his gratitude: “Thank you so much … is there anything that you need to do for yourself that I can facilitate now that I’m home? …My cup is full and boy did I ever have fun. Let’s make a plan and have the best day ever.”

    The skit is tongue-in-cheek, but has commenters nodding along in recognition

    All people in partnered relationships, even busy parents, deserve a little time to fill their own cup with hobbies they enjoy. That usually involves the other partner picking up the slack with the household and the kids; a trade-off many partners willingly make for one another.

    But men who golf on the weekends, at three to five hours per round in particular, seems to be a source of great frustration for many women who are left holding the bag.

    The Dashleys’ video racked up over a million views and tons of comments:

    “Oh so this is a universal experience”

    “Can we buy this PowerPoint presentation from you? I’d like to preset it to my husband”

    “Golf has to be up there as the most selfish hobby that ever existed”

    One commenter, in particular, did not hold back: “Mine actually does come home and go ‘what are we doing today????’ And nothing irks me more. Sir you’ve been gone from 6a-1p. Kids got up at 6:13a we did breakfast and I put in laundry, then walked/scootered to get me coffee and the girls got cake pops, then the nature center, then 2 different playgrounds, lunch, backyard crafts, and the 4 year old watered the inside plants so I had to clean, I’ve also done two loads of laundry and tidied so you don’t come back to a disaster because I’m considerate. You will be taking the kids out and leaving me alone now byeeeeee “

    It’s no bias against golf: many women chimed in to note that other “husband hobbies” like cycling or hunting should require similar rules.

    The Gender Equity Policy Institute describes the “free-time gender gap,” like this: “Across every group studied, men spend more time than women socializing, watching sports or playing video games, or doing similar activities to relax or have fun.  …The group with the least amount of free time is 35- to 44-year-old women. Men their age have a full hour per day more free time, and the free-time gender gap is near its peak at this time of life. “

    Joke presentation gives serious ideas for how to communicate

    A few observant commenters picked up on the fact that, while the video is a skit and the presentation isn’t meant to be taken literally, these are the kinds of conversations couples should be having with each other.

    While being the clueless “golfing husband” who doesn’t do his share with the house and kids is a recipe for disaster, so is resentment without communication.

    The Dashleys had a similar hit video about “What mom doesn’t want for mothers day.” It’s hilarious, but also full of helpful insights that couples should be sharing regularly.

    One commenter summed the golf presentation up perfectly: “All jokes aside, this is an amazing way to ask your partner for what you want while supporting each other as individuals!”

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  • Hair salons in Europe are dumping their clippings into forests and it’s miraculous
    Photo credit: Canva – Hair getting cut (left) Deer in forest (right)
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    Hair salons in Europe are dumping their clippings into forests and it’s miraculous

    Deers don’t like it but trees absolutely love it.

    Heather Wake

    Every day, hair salons sweep countless hair clippings off their floors and toss them into the trash without much thought. But in parts of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, those discarded strands are finding an entirely different purpose: helping forests grow.

    French recycling company Capillum has developed a surprisingly effective way to reuse human hair by turning it into biodegradable mulch that protects young trees from hungry deer. The company collects hair from participating salons and transforms it into flattened fiber sheets that can be wrapped around vulnerable saplings.

    What sounds unusual at first actually solves several environmental problems at once.

    A second life for salon clippings

    Hair salons generate an enormous amount of waste each year. Most clippings are simply thrown away, even though human hair is remarkably durable because it is made largely from keratin, a fibrous protein that breaks down slowly over time.

    Capillum saw potential in a material most people never think twice about. The company accepts hair regardless of texture, length, color, or whether it has been dyed. Once gathered, the hair is fed into a machine that minces everything together into dense fiber sheets that can be laid around the base of trees. The process transforms something typically viewed as garbage into a practical tool for conservation efforts.

    Why young trees need protection

    hair salon, forests, recycling
    A tree sapling, Canva

    Many forests depend on saplings surviving long enough to mature and replenish the ecosystem. However, young trees often struggle in areas with large deer populations. Deer are known to chew on bark, especially during seasons when food is scarce. Because saplings have thin bark and delicate trunks, even small amounts of damage can stunt their growth or kill them entirely.

    Foresters have historically relied on plastic fencing and tree guards to keep deer away. While those barriers can work well, they also create waste and require maintenance over time.

    Capillum’s recycled hair mats offer another approach. The scent of human hair naturally discourages deer from getting too close to the trees, steering them toward other vegetation instead. The method protects saplings without harming wildlife.

    A biodegradable alternative to plastic

    Unlike plastic guards, the hair fibers gradually decompose and return nutrients to the soil. As the keratin breaks down, it releases nitrogen and amino acids that can support plant growth. That nutrient-rich quality is one reason some gardeners have long experimented with placing hair into compost piles or using it directly in garden beds. Knowing this, Capillum sells its eco-friendly hair mulch to home gardeners interested in more sustainable growing methods. 

    Human hair is more useful than most people realize

    hair salon, forests, recycling
    A small clump of hair, Canva

    This is far from the first time Capillum has found creative uses for human hair. The company previously mixed hair with wool to help absorb pollutants from water because both materials naturally attract oil. 

    Around the world, scientists and environmental groups have similarly explored using recycled hair for oil spill cleanup, agricultural mats, and composting projects. Some studies have even examined whether hair fibers could eventually help create insulation materials or textiles.

    All this to say: a routine haircut may not seem connected to forest conservation, yet thousands of discarded strands now helping protect young trees suggest otherwise. This is a brilliant example of humanity using creativity for good, and how making just one element of human life less wasteful can have a profound impact. 

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  • Former KKK Grand Wizard shares the life-changing moment when he knew he was being lied to
    Photo credit: TEDx Talks/YouTube – Dr. Richard Harris in a TEDx Talk.
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    Former KKK Grand Wizard shares the life-changing moment when he knew he was being lied to

    “The Klan has been lying to me. They’ve been twisting the scriptures.”

    Tod Perry

    Dr. Richard Harris is an associate professor at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. He’s also the first white pastor in the 140-plus-year history of Good Hope Missionary Baptist, a historically Black church in Bartow, Florida. However, if you met him in the late ‘70s, you would have no idea his life would take such a turn. From the age of 16 to 20, he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and for the final two years, he served as the youngest Grand Dragon north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

    Harris was a lonely child in elementary school and was bullied by his classmates. In the late 1960s, when desegregation began at his Indiana school, Harris decided to take out his frustrations on the new students. 

    Harris is indoctrinated into the Ku Klux Klan

    “I got to sixth grade, and all of a sudden my school has changed,” Harris told the Herald-Tribune in 2021. “It was the first time I had ever spoken to a person of color … they’re in my school. I looked at the African-Americans in my school, and I realized that they were displaced. I thought, ‘Maybe I could be the bully for once.’ And that’s exactly what I did.”

    kkk, klu klux klan, muncie indiana, klan members, racists
    The Ku Klux Klan in Muncie, Indiana. Credit: William Arthur Swift/Wikimedia Commons

    Harris’ behavior caught the attention of the KKK, who indoctrinated him into their violent hate group by offering family and protection. He was groomed to be a leader in the organization and, after just two years in 1976, he became the Grand Dragon, the highest-ranking member of the Indiana KKK.

    In a recent interview with LADBible, Harris shared how he was able to get out of the terrorist organization. It began with a life-changing realization: the Klan was lying to him. After learning one of his guards was plotting to kill him, he realized he needed better protection. So, he turned to God. 

    “I didn’t know what to do. And in my 20-year-old mind at that time, all I could think of was, ‘I need better security,’” he told LADBible. So, he began reading the gospels and came to the story of the Samaritan woman. He realized that the Klan had completely changed the message to be one of division rather than acceptance.

    Harris realized he was being lied to by the Klan

    “The whole point of the Samaritan woman at the well story was Jesus accepted Samaritans, race mixers,” he said. “And he loved them, and they believed in him. That’s when the light bulb went on. ‘The Klan has been lying to me. They’ve been twisting the scriptures.”

    Harris then called the Imperial Wizard and quit the KKK. “We’re gonna let you out. We’re gonna let you live. If you keep your mouth shut,” he was told with a gun pressed to his head. 

    Harris then did a complete 180 and began working for racial justice. In 2012, he documented his time in the KKK in his award-winning book, One Nation Under Curse, and would go on to serve as a senior pastor in the Free Methodist Church for 31 years in churches in Illinois, Indiana, and Florida.

    “I changed,” he said in a 2023 TEDx Talk in which he explained his transformation from racist to antiracist and discussed his R.A.C.E. framework. “I’m not that guy anymore, thank God. But I know that I caused pain and hurt to so many that today, my life’s purpose is to help others radically reduce racial bias.”

    Watch his TEDx Talk below:

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  • Newlywed couple has their families compete to see who takes their partner’s last name
    Photo credit: Canva – Newlywed couple flips the script on last names by having their families compete
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    Newlywed couple has their families compete to see who takes their partner’s last name

    “This should’ve been televised.”

    Jacalyn Wetzel

    A woman taking her husband’s last name is no longer a given. Couples have been mixing things up for a while now, but one couple decided to turn old and new norms on their heads. Instead of the new husband and wife arguing over why one of them should relinquish their surname, they decided to let the “best family” win.

    Women have been expected to give up their family’s last name for their husband’s for hundreds of years. This goes back to when women were considered property transferred from a father to a husband. While the thought of women being considered property stopped with women’s rights movements, the tradition of adopting a husband’s surname persists today.

    wedding, surnames, last names, battle of the surname
    Bride and groom
    Photo Credit: Canva

    Why women changed surnames

    The practice originated in 14th-century England and was part of “coverture,” which transferred nearly all of a woman’s assets to her new husband, according to Cambridge University. Taking the husband’s last name wasn’t required, but it was widely practiced and spread to other Western countries. In recent years, women have been choosing to hyphenate or retain their birth surname. But one cheeky couple decided to throw all the norms out of the window in favor of a more inclusive process that involved everyone.

    Brett Borland and Gorgie Abela recently tied the knot in front of their loved ones. When the time came for reception activities, Borland got on the mic to announce that their families would be competing in a “Battle of the Surname.”

    wedding, surnames, last names, battle of the surname
    Guests at an outside wedding
    Photo Credit: Canva

    Battle of the Surname

    “What we’ve decided is that neither one of our names is going to disappear,” Borland says. “So what we’re going to do is that we’ve organized some games where we’re going to battle the families out against each other, and the winning family, we will be taking the last name of them.”

    That’s right. If Abela’s family wins, then she keeps her name and Borland changes his, and vice versa. In the video uploaded to Instagram, the families (still dressed in their formal attire), played tug of war, potato sack races, and more. By the end of the activities, the scorekeeper announces the couple’s new last name–Mr. and Mrs. Borland.

    It seemed that the Borland family had a ringer. While everyone was playing in sock feet and fancy clothes, one participant was sporting sneakers, shorts, and a t-shirt. Some could argue that it gave them an advantage, though it was only beneficial in the game of tug-of-war, not the booty-shaking ping-pong balls out of a tissue box game.

    Viewers of the unique surname wedding competition were thoroughly amused, with one saying, “This should’ve been televised.”

    One person takes notes, “When dressing for a wedding, pick dress that I could play field games in. GOT IT!”

    wedding, surnames, last names, battle of the surname
    People playing tug of war outside
    Photo Credit: Canva

    Another quips, “Imagine losing your last name bc your cousins got too day drunk to win field day games.”

    “Planning this while knowing they’d all be in wedding attire is diabolical,” someone else notes.

    “This is actually the best thing we’ve ever seen at a wedding reception ever,” one wedding attendant says.

    Someone else writes, “The modern human version of natural selection, only the (last name) of the strong will survive.”

    One person jokes, “Imagine having your wifes last name because your sister wore a skirt and couldnt potato sack right lol.”

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  • Gramma and Grampa’s photobook after spending 2 weeks watching Ricky the kitten is everything
    Gramma and Grampa made a keepsake of their time with Ricky.
    ,

    Gramma and Grampa’s photobook after spending 2 weeks watching Ricky the kitten is everything

    It reads like a children’s book.

    Annie Reneau

    Upworthy Staff

    There are kitten lovers…and then there are Ricky’s grandparents. When Izzie Grass left her kitten, Ricky, with her parents for two weeks, she had no idea what was in store for her after she got him back. Not only had Ricky been well taken care of, but his adventures with his human grandparents were fully documented in a photobook created by Grass’ mother, which she titled “Ricky Goes to Gramma’s and Grampa’s.”

    “The photo album that reads like a children’s book first went viral when Grass shared it on TikTok in 2020. Now, it has resurfaced again and people are clamoring for more riveting Ricky content after reading about how the kitten “helped Gramma do the dishes” and how “Cousin Jasper and Charlie ate most of” the pancakes Gramma made for him.

    Check out how adorably extra Gramma is:

    The comments speak for themselves

    Has any kitten ever been more loved?

    “I would die for Ricky, Gramma, and Grampa,” wrote one commenter.

    “This is GOLD. I want to see ‘Ricky Learns to Drive.’” wrote another.

    “My parents didn’t even put this much effort into making scrapbooks for ME,” shared another.

    And apparently Grass isn’t the only one with pet grandparents who are a little extra. “My mom made a full year calendar of my dog after only watching her for two days,” a commenter wrote.

    Grass told Newsweek that her mom told her she made the book because “that’s what she does,” adding, “She is known for creating very sentimental gifts.”

    But Ricky almost didn’t make it at all

    Grass also shared that the book almost didn’t get made because Ricky almost didn’t make it as a kitten. He was brought to the veterinary clinic where Grass worked when he was 9 weeks old to be euthanized.

    The individuals who dropped him off reported that they found a kitten with broken legs and that was throwing up everything they tried to feed him,” she said. “I came back from my lunch early to care for this kitten and in the kennel was Ricky.”

    As it turned out, Ricky had some birth defects and health problems that required specialized care, but he didn’t need to be euthanized. Grass took him home but needed a little time to prepare to give him the care he needed.

    “My mom stepped up and offered to watch him for a couple weeks while I got a handle of my schedule,” Grass told Newsweek. “It was during this time that she created the book.”

    The fact that Ricky had specialized care needs at the time makes Gramma’s photobook all the more endearing.

    “He has made so much progress,” Grass told Newsweek. “His esophagus works significantly better, he has learned how to walk, climb and run, and he continues to help me raise other foster kittens. Ricky is very loved and lives the life he deserved to have.”

    With a mom and grandparents like he has, it’s not a surprise.

    About those unusual paws in the photos

    Of course, the internet’s going to internet, and some people apparently looked at Ricky’s photobook a couple of years after the fact and complained that it was AI generated because of the way Ricky’s paws looked. However, as Grass shared in a video in 2024, those paws aren’t due to AI. They’re just Ricky’s real-life deformities that, ironically, make him appear AI-generated in the photobook. (It’s also worth mentioning that the photobook video came out well before AI-generated technology became available to the masses.)

    “Ricky’s legs are actually shaped like candy canes,” Grass explains. “That’s not AI. That’s inbreeding. Spay and neuter your cats.”

    You can find more videos of Ricky and the animals Grass fosters on her TikTok channel here.

    This article originally appeared three years ago and has been updated.

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haunted house, science, sound
Science

Scientists finally uncover why old buildings feel creepy, and it has nothing to do with haunted spirits

bowler, bowling, sports, bad sports, funny sports bloopers, bowling alley, lowest bowling score, redemption, underdog, heartwarming, never give up
Culture

15 years ago pro bowler Tom Daugherty was humiliated. He turned it into the sport’s greatest comeback story.

Ok boomer, gen X, Threads, Gen Z
Generations

Someone asked Gen X for their version of ‘OK Boomer.’ Here are the 8 best answers.

golf, golfing, hobbies, male hobbies, women, marriage, marriage advice, communication, household inequity, free time, couples, relationships, love, humor
Relationships

Wife prepares tongue-in-cheek slideshow for husband who ‘just got home from golfing’

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Nature

Hair salons in Europe are dumping their clippings into forests and it’s miraculous

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Identity

Former KKK Grand Wizard shares the life-changing moment when he knew he was being lied to

Tod Perry
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Modern Families

Newlywed couple has their families compete to see who takes their partner’s last name

Jacalyn Wetzel
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Pets

Gramma and Grampa’s photobook after spending 2 weeks watching Ricky the kitten is everything

Annie Reneau & Upworthy Staff
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Culture

Four guys try a menstrual cramp simulator and can’t remotely handle it

Tod Perry & Upworthy Staff