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upworthy
Heroes

You should hear this hilarious Taylor Swift cover. Why? Because science *also* has 'Style.'

I <3 science.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span class="redactor-invisible-space"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Nerds are the best.

I wouldn't be typing on this sweet laptop without them. I wouldn't be able to see the screen either because no one would have invented the monitor. Or my glasses. Or the Internet. Therefore...



Science has style. And it's always had it.

Knowledge enables people to do it all, and science is a big part of that.

Some think being smart is the opposite of cool, but in reality it is the coolest thing you can be.

Scientifically stylish duo ASAP Science even made a song about it ... they list a bunch of cool science facts to prove that science has style.

I'd like to assist them by elaborating on those facts to show you just how cool they actually are.

Here are five science tidbits hidden in ASAP Science's "Style":

1. "Sunlight takes 8 minutes just to reach your eyes."

How do we know that? The idea that light even has a speed had never crossed most minds before Danish smart person Ole Rømer decided to prove it. The astronomer (and former tutor of Louis XIV's children) discovered the speed of light is always the same by measuring the eclipses of one of Jupiter's moons, Io.

Jupiter's moon, Io.

But it was only after astronomers dutifully took measurements for two centurieswowza, that's dedication — that astronomerJean Baptiste Joseph Delambre calculated the speed of light to reach the planet was 8 minutes and 12 seconds.

These days, we've landed at a more accurate at 8 minutes and 19 seconds, which means light travels at about 670,616,629 mph.

2. "You love those iPhone apps that help you flirt."

Flirtation: That spark may ignite the flames of love.

Did you know the way we act in relationships as adults can be traced to our very first relationship out of the womb?

Science explains how the touch and care you receive as an impressionable child affects how you react to affection in general, especially when finding a mate.

Psychologist Harry F. Harlow is remembered for the monkey-love experiments he did on mother and child rhesus monkeys.

In the 1930s, Harlow deduced that the warmth and closeness of an emotional touch is necessary for one to develop empathy and affection toward others.

How'd he prove that? By conducting mother-switching experiments with primates. When they gave monkeys less real-mom time and more fake-mom time — fake-mom was made of wire mesh, which sounds terrifying — they were more aggressive, insular, and unkind when they grew up. And they weren't nearly as affectionate or close with others, as monkeys usually are.

This GIF? Science in motion.

This is how we know that if you're a cuddle monster, then a parent figure of yours probably was too. And that affection with another living thing is one of the keys to a smoother life.

3. "Evolution made your brain, heart, spinal cord, and also your eyes."

Eyes started out as photoreceptor cells in microscopic worms.

This microscopic worm, a planarian, has two light-sensing dots on its head.

If you're wondering how you got eyes, well, the answer is that basically we used to be worms.

Here's some more mind-boggling information for you: Your eyes have evolved 50-100 times from when they were dots in a worm like the one above.

ThePikaia gracilenswas a primitive worm that had a notochord (a primitive backbone), a nervous system (like we do), and muscles. Because of its backbone, scientists can tell that we evolved from it.

This news might be alarming to your ick-factor, but 500 million years later ... just look at us! We didn't turn out half bad.

4. "Medicine made vaccines, technologies that keep you alive."

Did you know the chemical that treats malaria just happened to be discovered by someone who was dying of malaria at the time?

As the story goes, a South American Indian, while wandering disoriented in the middle of nowhere with the mosquito-borne illness, just happened to drink from pool of water that he collapsed in and it just happened to have cinchona growing in it.

Cinchona plants just happen to have quinine in them, which cured him — and, now that we know, countless others. All the things that strive to keep us from coughing, fainting, and dying are thanks to science, even when they happen through luck.

5. "Every time that you eat, read, text, or take a selfie and smile."

The greatness of science these two guys are crooning about is true — just think about how much science we live:

  • When you eat? Chemistry, nutrition, and agriculture are all happening before, after, and during food's time on your plate.
  • When you read ... neurology, psychology, and optometry are teammates, keeping you glued the page.
  • When you sing a Taylor Swift parody like this one: Neurology can explain how your brain remembers the words while it sends signals to your lungs. Physics carries that sound to us, and then, communication is complete.

Simply put: Science is a part of *everything* that ever was, is, and will be.

That's pretty darn cool, if you ask me.

The gaze of the approving Boomer.

Over the past few years, Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) have been getting a lot of grief from the generations that came after them, Gen X (1965 to 1980), Millenials (1981 to 1996), and now, Gen Z (1997 to 2012). Their grievances include environmental destruction, wealth hoarding, political polarization, and being judgemental when they don’t understand how hard it is for younger people to make it in America these days.

Every Baby Boomer is different, so it's wrong to paint them all with a broad brush. But it’s undeniable that each generation shares common values, and some are bound to come into conflict.

However, life in 2023 isn’t without its annoyances. Many that came about after the technological revolution put a phone in everyone’s hands and brought a whole new host of problems. Add the younger generations' hands-on approach to child rearing and penchant for outrage, and a lot of moden life has become insufferanble.

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Klein Kwagga understood the assignment at his sister's concert.

Some kids are too shy to ever want to get on a stage, some will spend most of a performance staring awkwardly at their shoes, and some kids love the opportunity to show off what they've practiced in front of an audience.

And then there are the kids were simply born for the spotlight. You know them when you see them.

When Dirkco Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen hopped on stage with all of the other brothers and sisters of the dance students at René’s Art of Dance in South Africa, no one expected a viral sensation. According to Capetown Etc, it was the school's year-end concert, and siblings were invited to come up and dance to Bernice West’s Lyfie—a popular song in Afrikaans. And Dirkco, who goes by Klein Kwagga, took the assignment and ran with it.

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Prepare to get Thatcherized.

It seems that Adele is going viral once again.

Perhaps you’ve seen the image in question previously (it seems to make the rounds every couple of years). But in case you missed it—it’s Adele’s face. Normal, just upside down.

Only it’s not normal. In fact, when you turn Adele’s face right side up, what you notice is that her eyes and mouth were actually right-side up THE ENTIRE TIME, even though the entire head was upside down. So when you turn the head right side up, the eyes and mouth are now UPSIDE-DOWN—and you can’t unsee it. Do you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland yet?

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

People share the most practical ways to support new parents

There's a lot of preparation that goes into having a child well before they're even born. First there are the physical changes your body makes to clear up some space for a tiny human roughly the size of a watermelon. Then there's preparing the nursery, buying lots of extremely small clothes, diapers and an expected understanding that while sleep may be your friend, you won't be getting any of it for about a year.

Lots of people give plenty of advice to help you cope in the early days but after the baby arrives, the focus shifts to solely the baby. It's obviously not a deliberate shift. Babies are just more shiny and new that the parents. But not everyone forgets about the parents once baby makes their grand entrance–some go out of their way to make sure the parents feel supported.

Upworthy asked its audience, "what was the best non-baby related gift you received as a new parent," and the answers were a masterclass on how to care for new parents.

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Family

A mom seeks doctor's help for postpartum depression and instead gets a visit from the cops

Too many women lose out on much needed support because of unwarranted stigma.

Canva

Postpartum depression is very common, and treatable.

Jessica Porten recently visited her doctor four months after giving birth to her daughter, Kira. She wasn't feeling quite like herself.

She had been dealing with overwhelming sadness and fits of anger, which she knew was likely stemming from a case of postpartum depression.

In a Facebook post, Porten recounts the story of that appointment.

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Identity

Formerly enslaved man's response to his 'master' wanting him back is a literary masterpiece

"I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters."

A photo of Jordan Anderson.

In 1825, at the approximate age of 8, Jordan Anderson (sometimes spelled "Jordon") was sold into slavery and would live as a servant of the Anderson family for 39 years. In 1864, the Union Army camped out on the Anderson plantation and he and his wife, Amanda, were liberated. The couple eventually made it safely to Dayton, Ohio, where, in July 1865, Jordan received a letter from his former owner, Colonel P.H. Anderson. The letter kindly asked Jordan to return to work on the plantation because it had fallen into disarray during the war.

On Aug. 7, 1865, Jordan dictated his response through his new boss, Valentine Winters, and it was published in the Cincinnati Commercial. The letter, entitled "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master," was not only hilarious, but it showed compassion, defiance, and dignity. That year, the letter would be republished in theNew York Daily Tribune and Lydia Marie Child's "The Freedman's Book."

The letter mentions a "Miss Mary" (Col. Anderson's Wife), "Martha" (Col. Anderson's daughter), Henry (most likely Col. Anderson's son), and George Carter (a local carpenter).

Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

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