15 People Share the Story of How They Got Scars When They Were Kids

We all have one. It’s the spot where your sister clawed you during a fight, the knee skinned up in an epic bike wreck, or the one from the pins you needed in your arm after you tumbled off the trampoline.

Some stories are better than others, though (I ran into a centerfield fence catching a softball…during warmups), and these 15 definitely rank high up there somewhere!

15. Thank goodness.

Rescued a praying mantis in a steep wooded area, fell really hard on a sharp rock and opened up my knee. The mantis was fine though.

14. Baby nails are no joke.

The second I was born i clawed my own face and I got a small scar.

13. There are no words.

I was so pumped to eat my toaster strudel that I just shoved my hand into the toaster oven while it was still on like a bear pawing at a bee hive. The top of my wrist hit the heat bar (not sure what the word for this is) dead on while it was still red hot. 18 years later, it’s a pretty subtle scar, but god that hurt like a bitch at the time.

The dumbest part of this incident: despite the fact that my wrist had just audibly and excruciatingly sizzled, I somehow thought that the crisped skin that remained was a flake of toaster strudel that had fallen off, and proceeded to eat it. Me rinds did not taste good.

12. That’s some paper cut.

I’ve got a scar on my lip. Everyone thinks I’ve had a cleft before and had surgery on it.

Reality, I was 3 running full force through the house and fell with a book in my hand, sliced my lip right open on a paper cut. I still very much remember that moment. Everyone holding me down so they could clean the blood off my face lol.

11. Good thing there were no sharks.

Probably 5 or 6 years old, doing swimming lessons at a place in New Zealand, the pool had metal bars all around it a few cm under the water to be held onto when you were too short/the water deeper.

I was sort of jumping/bouncing in the shallow end listening to instructions and somehow lost my footing and fell with my chin slamming right down onto the bar and blood absolutely everywhere. I don’t know how one manages to slip not just in a non-slip children’s swimming lesson shallow pool nor how I even managed to injure myself doing so but I did and I’ve got a tiny little scar under my chin to show for it.

I didn’t go back to the place for many years (Live overseas but mother is kiwi and we were on holiday) but eventually when I did, aged 12 or 13, it turns out they removed the bars on all sides (even the deep end) of the pool because they were afraid my parents might sue (they never would’ve even considered it). One of the other kids in that swimming class actually asked why there was nothing to hold onto except for the rather difficult to reach ledge in the deep end and the instructor explained my above story… They weren’t aware that I was the infamous kid who caused all that trouble so were quite shocked at my laughter.

10. No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

Been jumping on a mattress

Hit the radiator

Cracked my skull open.

9. It’s always the bee’s fault.

My dad bought me a swiss army knife, as I was checking out one of it’s many blades a bee landed on my lap and I instinctively freaked out and stabbed myself.

8. I bet you were not the most popular kid in the class.

I was playing freeze dance in kindergarten, spinning around and when the teacher said freeze I smashed my face into a table causing me to break my nose.

Edit: Thank you all for the up-votes you have no idea how happy it makes me knowing my pain caused a funny.

7. Who knew there was glue for that.

It’s not very visible anymore. When I was in Kindergarten, I found out what a world record was, so I tried to be the first every Kindergartener to do a front flip into a bathtub. Now, I’ve never even done a front flip, I was basing everything from my form to my execution of it on Power Rangers. So, it went about as good as you thought it would go: I jumped, face first (no tuck, roll, anything) into the sharp corner of the bathtub and busted my chin open. My twin sister was just standing there screaming and so was I, blood was everywhere, and when my mom came in she looked horrified.

Got my chin glued back together pretty much because I refused to get stitches or get it cauterised because they both sounded super painful.

6. Thick thighs save lives.

Have a scar on the inner part of my thigh from riding a bicycle. Idk exactly how, but I fell and the bike ripped my inner thigh to fuck. Blood was everywhere, had to get stitches. When they were doing that, I saw chunks of my flesh being pulled off from the needles.

I remember being on the gurney in the hallway, cos the bitchass hospital didnt have rooms, and my dumbass had the habit of wearing shorts without boxers, so I felt extra uncomfortable and weird. I was lying there, and I was scared af. I touched the outer part of the gash wound, and I felt flesh.

It’s now a 5 inch scar, and one side of the scar is alil bit concaved. Supposedly thats the side that got fucked up the most, so the scar itself looks like it dips alil on the side.

Doctor said cause I was chubby, my thick thighs saved me from getting my leg chopped off. Better yet, it saved me from getting my dick chopped off too.

Point is, thicc thighs saves lives.

Edit: added details

5. Toothpaste isn’t going to fix that.

Broke a vase, tried to glue it back together with toothpaste. I left it by a bedroom door and forgot about it. Ran into the bedroom later and promptly stepped on it.

4. That makes me cringe even now.

I was five and was sitting on the toilet. I found a razor blade (not the kind for shaving) and started playing with it. I was cutting lines into the wall when the razor slipped away from the wall. My hand had some momentum and the blade cut into my thigh. At the time, I was scared about telling mom, so i went to bed and held my finger on it.

Oh and when I was three or four, I was riding underneath a grocery basket while mom was pushing. I was watching the wheel spinning fast. I went to put my finger on the wheel and it was pulled in between the wheel and metal casing.

3. That’s just sad.

I burned myself on a morrisons ready meal.

2. His mother was so proud.

The scar left behind from a huge bite a german shepherd took off of my left hip. He was beyond the fence and i was playing with his owner, chasing each other around in the yard. We were both nine at the time. The dog got so worked up by our laughter and constant running around that he broke through the fence, pushed me to the ground and bit me really hard. He was pretty much my size at the time, an amazingly strong animal. He was only protecting his owner, thinking we were fighting or something. I hid that scar from my family my entire life because I was at my friend’s house to play without their permission. It took months for the wound to heal and the use of a couple of powder antibiotics that my granddad farmer kept in the house to tend to his animals. That was when I started to wash my own clothes, to the sheer delight of my mum, who saw that as a great sign of maturity given my age at the time. My family does not know about that episode even today and i am a grown ass 45 year old guy.

1. Just put a band-aid on it.

When I was 12, I was wheeling a grill up a hill. I wanted to bring it to my fort in the woods. Well I lost my grip and one of the grills leg came down sliced my ankle. It was pretty deep too. I probably should have gotten stitches but was too embarrassed of the whole thing. So I washed it out, put Neosporin and wrapped my ankle with gauze. Repeated this for a month. Now I have a good size scar.

Edit: thank you kind stranger for my first silver!

What’s yours?

The post 15 People Share the Story of How They Got Scars When They Were Kids appeared first on UberFacts.

15 People Share the Story of How They Got Scars When They Were Kids

We all have one. It’s the spot where your sister clawed you during a fight, the knee skinned up in an epic bike wreck, or the one from the pins you needed in your arm after you tumbled off the trampoline.

Some stories are better than others, though (I ran into a centerfield fence catching a softball…during warmups), and these 15 definitely rank high up there somewhere!

15. Thank goodness.

Rescued a praying mantis in a steep wooded area, fell really hard on a sharp rock and opened up my knee. The mantis was fine though.

14. Baby nails are no joke.

The second I was born i clawed my own face and I got a small scar.

13. There are no words.

I was so pumped to eat my toaster strudel that I just shoved my hand into the toaster oven while it was still on like a bear pawing at a bee hive. The top of my wrist hit the heat bar (not sure what the word for this is) dead on while it was still red hot. 18 years later, it’s a pretty subtle scar, but god that hurt like a bitch at the time.

The dumbest part of this incident: despite the fact that my wrist had just audibly and excruciatingly sizzled, I somehow thought that the crisped skin that remained was a flake of toaster strudel that had fallen off, and proceeded to eat it. Me rinds did not taste good.

12. That’s some paper cut.

I’ve got a scar on my lip. Everyone thinks I’ve had a cleft before and had surgery on it.

Reality, I was 3 running full force through the house and fell with a book in my hand, sliced my lip right open on a paper cut. I still very much remember that moment. Everyone holding me down so they could clean the blood off my face lol.

11. Good thing there were no sharks.

Probably 5 or 6 years old, doing swimming lessons at a place in New Zealand, the pool had metal bars all around it a few cm under the water to be held onto when you were too short/the water deeper.

I was sort of jumping/bouncing in the shallow end listening to instructions and somehow lost my footing and fell with my chin slamming right down onto the bar and blood absolutely everywhere. I don’t know how one manages to slip not just in a non-slip children’s swimming lesson shallow pool nor how I even managed to injure myself doing so but I did and I’ve got a tiny little scar under my chin to show for it.

I didn’t go back to the place for many years (Live overseas but mother is kiwi and we were on holiday) but eventually when I did, aged 12 or 13, it turns out they removed the bars on all sides (even the deep end) of the pool because they were afraid my parents might sue (they never would’ve even considered it). One of the other kids in that swimming class actually asked why there was nothing to hold onto except for the rather difficult to reach ledge in the deep end and the instructor explained my above story… They weren’t aware that I was the infamous kid who caused all that trouble so were quite shocked at my laughter.

10. No more monkeys jumping on the bed.

Been jumping on a mattress

Hit the radiator

Cracked my skull open.

9. It’s always the bee’s fault.

My dad bought me a swiss army knife, as I was checking out one of it’s many blades a bee landed on my lap and I instinctively freaked out and stabbed myself.

8. I bet you were not the most popular kid in the class.

I was playing freeze dance in kindergarten, spinning around and when the teacher said freeze I smashed my face into a table causing me to break my nose.

Edit: Thank you all for the up-votes you have no idea how happy it makes me knowing my pain caused a funny.

7. Who knew there was glue for that.

It’s not very visible anymore. When I was in Kindergarten, I found out what a world record was, so I tried to be the first every Kindergartener to do a front flip into a bathtub. Now, I’ve never even done a front flip, I was basing everything from my form to my execution of it on Power Rangers. So, it went about as good as you thought it would go: I jumped, face first (no tuck, roll, anything) into the sharp corner of the bathtub and busted my chin open. My twin sister was just standing there screaming and so was I, blood was everywhere, and when my mom came in she looked horrified.

Got my chin glued back together pretty much because I refused to get stitches or get it cauterised because they both sounded super painful.

6. Thick thighs save lives.

Have a scar on the inner part of my thigh from riding a bicycle. Idk exactly how, but I fell and the bike ripped my inner thigh to fuck. Blood was everywhere, had to get stitches. When they were doing that, I saw chunks of my flesh being pulled off from the needles.

I remember being on the gurney in the hallway, cos the bitchass hospital didnt have rooms, and my dumbass had the habit of wearing shorts without boxers, so I felt extra uncomfortable and weird. I was lying there, and I was scared af. I touched the outer part of the gash wound, and I felt flesh.

It’s now a 5 inch scar, and one side of the scar is alil bit concaved. Supposedly thats the side that got fucked up the most, so the scar itself looks like it dips alil on the side.

Doctor said cause I was chubby, my thick thighs saved me from getting my leg chopped off. Better yet, it saved me from getting my dick chopped off too.

Point is, thicc thighs saves lives.

Edit: added details

5. Toothpaste isn’t going to fix that.

Broke a vase, tried to glue it back together with toothpaste. I left it by a bedroom door and forgot about it. Ran into the bedroom later and promptly stepped on it.

4. That makes me cringe even now.

I was five and was sitting on the toilet. I found a razor blade (not the kind for shaving) and started playing with it. I was cutting lines into the wall when the razor slipped away from the wall. My hand had some momentum and the blade cut into my thigh. At the time, I was scared about telling mom, so i went to bed and held my finger on it.

Oh and when I was three or four, I was riding underneath a grocery basket while mom was pushing. I was watching the wheel spinning fast. I went to put my finger on the wheel and it was pulled in between the wheel and metal casing.

3. That’s just sad.

I burned myself on a morrisons ready meal.

2. His mother was so proud.

The scar left behind from a huge bite a german shepherd took off of my left hip. He was beyond the fence and i was playing with his owner, chasing each other around in the yard. We were both nine at the time. The dog got so worked up by our laughter and constant running around that he broke through the fence, pushed me to the ground and bit me really hard. He was pretty much my size at the time, an amazingly strong animal. He was only protecting his owner, thinking we were fighting or something. I hid that scar from my family my entire life because I was at my friend’s house to play without their permission. It took months for the wound to heal and the use of a couple of powder antibiotics that my granddad farmer kept in the house to tend to his animals. That was when I started to wash my own clothes, to the sheer delight of my mum, who saw that as a great sign of maturity given my age at the time. My family does not know about that episode even today and i am a grown ass 45 year old guy.

1. Just put a band-aid on it.

When I was 12, I was wheeling a grill up a hill. I wanted to bring it to my fort in the woods. Well I lost my grip and one of the grills leg came down sliced my ankle. It was pretty deep too. I probably should have gotten stitches but was too embarrassed of the whole thing. So I washed it out, put Neosporin and wrapped my ankle with gauze. Repeated this for a month. Now I have a good size scar.

Edit: thank you kind stranger for my first silver!

What’s yours?

The post 15 People Share the Story of How They Got Scars When They Were Kids appeared first on UberFacts.

A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell

Many vegans aren’t exactly subtle about their beliefs. But one vegan in Australia really took things several steps too far when she sued her neighbor for barbecuing in their own backyard.

Cilla Carden is a vegan massage therapist from Girrawheen, Australia. She claims that her neighbors intentionally barbecued fish in their backyard to bother her.

“They’ve put [the barbecue] there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my back yard, I can’t go out there,” Cilla told Nine News Perth.

“It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate.”

Photo Credit: iStock

To repeat: the argument is that they are deliberately cooking in their own backyard in order to waft the scent of fish, which Cilla does not eat as she is vegan, into Cilla’s yard. To…punish her? Or something?

This seems to be a case of a long-running neighborly feud. Cilla is not only bothered by the barbecuing, but also by her neighbors’ cigarette smoke and the sounds of their children playing, both of which drift into her own yard.

So, she filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the state of Western Australia, accusing her neighbors of breaching residential laws. The legal battle has dragged on since 2017. Her case was thrown out by a tribunal and a Supreme Court judge. Cilla filed an appeal, but that was thrown out too.

“What they are doing is living in their backyard and their home as a family,” said the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Photo Credit: iStock

Cilla’s neighbors have reportedly conceded to some of Cilla’s demands. They removed the barbecue and banned their kids from playing basketball in the yard.

But Cilla plans to continue fighting them in court.

The post A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell appeared first on UberFacts.

A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell

Many vegans aren’t exactly subtle about their beliefs. But one vegan in Australia really took things several steps too far when she sued her neighbor for barbecuing in their own backyard.

Cilla Carden is a vegan massage therapist from Girrawheen, Australia. She claims that her neighbors intentionally barbecued fish in their backyard to bother her.

“They’ve put [the barbecue] there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my back yard, I can’t go out there,” Cilla told Nine News Perth.

“It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, it’s deliberate.”

Photo Credit: iStock

To repeat: the argument is that they are deliberately cooking in their own backyard in order to waft the scent of fish, which Cilla does not eat as she is vegan, into Cilla’s yard. To…punish her? Or something?

This seems to be a case of a long-running neighborly feud. Cilla is not only bothered by the barbecuing, but also by her neighbors’ cigarette smoke and the sounds of their children playing, both of which drift into her own yard.

So, she filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the state of Western Australia, accusing her neighbors of breaching residential laws. The legal battle has dragged on since 2017. Her case was thrown out by a tribunal and a Supreme Court judge. Cilla filed an appeal, but that was thrown out too.

“What they are doing is living in their backyard and their home as a family,” said the State Administrative Tribunal of Western Australia.

Photo Credit: iStock

Cilla’s neighbors have reportedly conceded to some of Cilla’s demands. They removed the barbecue and banned their kids from playing basketball in the yard.

But Cilla plans to continue fighting them in court.

The post A Vegan Woman Demanded Her Neighbor Stop Using Meat on the Barbecue Because of the Smell appeared first on UberFacts.

15+ Times Chris Evans Was Totally on Brand

In the examples below, even Chris Evans was a little too Chris Evans-y to be true. If that’s a thing. Which is probably isn’t.

Except it was true! See?!

17. When he showed off his humility.

Image Credit: YouTube

16. Only the real Chris Evans could get away with this…

Image Credit: YouTube

15. I mean this is hilarious.

Image Credit: Yahoo!

14. His Twitter countdown to the day he gets to see his dog again.

13. Hey, this is supposed to be a family show!

Image Credit: YouTube

12. When he made this subtle dig at his own acting.

Image Credit: Marvel

11. That time he showed off a “secret” handshake.

https://zekesfiguero.tumblr.com/post/142676557234

10. Never a bad thing to be.

Image Credit: BackstageOL

9. When he was the first one to see that Black Panther had won.

https://beardedchrisevans.tumblr.com/post/183038650864/chris-evans-excited-for-black-panthers-academy

8. Even his brother-ing is on brand.

Image Credit: YouTube

7. When he invented frozen blackjack, in which frozen water goes down one’s pants.

6. He definitely heard right.

Image Credit: YouTube

5. No arguments here.

Image Credit: Yahoo!

4. This might be my favorite picture ever.

Image Credit: YouTube

3. This old headshot image is proof he’s not putting it on.

2. When he admitted his mom was the first person he told when he lost his virginity.

Image Credit: YouTube

Awwww, sweetie.

1. When he started quoting his young nephew in interviews.

Image Credit: YouTube

Cap forever! And if you disagree, well – you are just wrong. JUST PLAIN WRONG, ya hear?

At least until he gets old and stuff.

The post 15+ Times Chris Evans Was Totally on Brand appeared first on UberFacts.

15+ Times Chris Evans Was Totally on Brand

In the examples below, even Chris Evans was a little too Chris Evans-y to be true. If that’s a thing. Which is probably isn’t.

Except it was true! See?!

17. When he showed off his humility.

Image Credit: YouTube

16. Only the real Chris Evans could get away with this…

Image Credit: YouTube

15. I mean this is hilarious.

Image Credit: Yahoo!

14. His Twitter countdown to the day he gets to see his dog again.

13. Hey, this is supposed to be a family show!

Image Credit: YouTube

12. When he made this subtle dig at his own acting.

Image Credit: Marvel

11. That time he showed off a “secret” handshake.

https://zekesfiguero.tumblr.com/post/142676557234

10. Never a bad thing to be.

Image Credit: BackstageOL

9. When he was the first one to see that Black Panther had won.

https://beardedchrisevans.tumblr.com/post/183038650864/chris-evans-excited-for-black-panthers-academy

8. Even his brother-ing is on brand.

Image Credit: YouTube

7. When he invented frozen blackjack, in which frozen water goes down one’s pants.

6. He definitely heard right.

Image Credit: YouTube

5. No arguments here.

Image Credit: Yahoo!

4. This might be my favorite picture ever.

Image Credit: YouTube

3. This old headshot image is proof he’s not putting it on.

2. When he admitted his mom was the first person he told when he lost his virginity.

Image Credit: YouTube

Awwww, sweetie.

1. When he started quoting his young nephew in interviews.

Image Credit: YouTube

Cap forever! And if you disagree, well – you are just wrong. JUST PLAIN WRONG, ya hear?

At least until he gets old and stuff.

The post 15+ Times Chris Evans Was Totally on Brand appeared first on UberFacts.

Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild

You might have already assumed that trade in wild African elephants – and endangered species in general – was illegal, even if it was a zoo that was looking to take one in.

We would have been wrong.

Though hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer.

At the 18th meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, members from over 180 countries reassessed regulations on international elephant trade. A vast majority of the the representatives voted to end the capture and sale of wild African elephants for display in zoos worldwide.

The issue will go for a vote in front of the full conference, but with 46 of the 83 countries in favor, it looks to have a good chance of passing.

Iris Ho, a senior policy advisor at Humane Society International (HSI), told Bloomberg that everyone in the business of supporting endangered species sees this as a win.

“It’s a huge step forward. It’s really historic that the majority of the parties present recognized that African elephants should not be captured in the wild, sent to zoos and be kept in captivity for the rest of their lives.”

The ban would largely affect countries in southern Africa, where elephant populations are healthier and herds are regularly thinned for the purpose of selling them to zoos. Zimbabwe alone sold over 100 wild-caught baby elephants to China in the past 7 years, and the issue of separating calves from their mothers and the rest of the herd certainly has animal welfare experts concerned.

“Calves suffer psychological and physical harm when taken from their mothers,” explains elephant biologist Audrey Delsink of HSI Africa. “Zoos and other captive facilities force these calves to live in an unnatural, unhealthy environment that doesn’t meet their complex needs.”

View this post on Instagram

Did you know that African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth? They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their large ears that look like the continent of Africa. Their ears radiate heat to help keep them cool, but sometimes the African heat can be too much so they use their trunk to give themselves a shower. Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruits, and bark and they eat a lot of it. In fact, an adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food a day. Female elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal (22 months) and usually give birth to one calf. In 2018, Tarangire’s famed Eloise was the oldest elephant to give birth to twin calves. Source of information: National Geographic https://www.wanderlusttours.org #wanderlust #tours #africa #tanzani #tarangirenationalpark #tarangire #elephants #africanelephants #thisisafrica #travel #concioustravel #mindfultravel

A post shared by Wanderlust Tours (@wanderlusttoursafrica) on

Elephant trade has long been a hot topic, with African nations often territorial about managing their own wildlife without outside interference. Black market demands for ivory has drastically increased elephant poaching in the last few decades, though, so organizations like CITES feel as if they have a duty to protect the endangered species as if it belongs to the world, and not only to its endemic areas in Africa.

Over a million species are listed as at risk thanks to all manner of human activity, so committees like CITES are set to have busy years as they work to revamp how different species are protected around the globe.

“Nature’s dangerous decline is unprecedented,” says CITES Secretary General Ivonne Higuero. “Business as usual is no longer an option.”

I feel like that statement applies to environmental challenges all over the globe, and I hope there are people in every nook and cranny waiting to step up to do their part to save us all.

The post Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild appeared first on UberFacts.

Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild

You might have already assumed that trade in wild African elephants – and endangered species in general – was illegal, even if it was a zoo that was looking to take one in.

We would have been wrong.

Though hopefully that won’t be the case for much longer.

At the 18th meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, members from over 180 countries reassessed regulations on international elephant trade. A vast majority of the the representatives voted to end the capture and sale of wild African elephants for display in zoos worldwide.

The issue will go for a vote in front of the full conference, but with 46 of the 83 countries in favor, it looks to have a good chance of passing.

Iris Ho, a senior policy advisor at Humane Society International (HSI), told Bloomberg that everyone in the business of supporting endangered species sees this as a win.

“It’s a huge step forward. It’s really historic that the majority of the parties present recognized that African elephants should not be captured in the wild, sent to zoos and be kept in captivity for the rest of their lives.”

The ban would largely affect countries in southern Africa, where elephant populations are healthier and herds are regularly thinned for the purpose of selling them to zoos. Zimbabwe alone sold over 100 wild-caught baby elephants to China in the past 7 years, and the issue of separating calves from their mothers and the rest of the herd certainly has animal welfare experts concerned.

“Calves suffer psychological and physical harm when taken from their mothers,” explains elephant biologist Audrey Delsink of HSI Africa. “Zoos and other captive facilities force these calves to live in an unnatural, unhealthy environment that doesn’t meet their complex needs.”

View this post on Instagram

Did you know that African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth? They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their large ears that look like the continent of Africa. Their ears radiate heat to help keep them cool, but sometimes the African heat can be too much so they use their trunk to give themselves a shower. Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruits, and bark and they eat a lot of it. In fact, an adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food a day. Female elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal (22 months) and usually give birth to one calf. In 2018, Tarangire’s famed Eloise was the oldest elephant to give birth to twin calves. Source of information: National Geographic https://www.wanderlusttours.org #wanderlust #tours #africa #tanzani #tarangirenationalpark #tarangire #elephants #africanelephants #thisisafrica #travel #concioustravel #mindfultravel

A post shared by Wanderlust Tours (@wanderlusttoursafrica) on

Elephant trade has long been a hot topic, with African nations often territorial about managing their own wildlife without outside interference. Black market demands for ivory has drastically increased elephant poaching in the last few decades, though, so organizations like CITES feel as if they have a duty to protect the endangered species as if it belongs to the world, and not only to its endemic areas in Africa.

Over a million species are listed as at risk thanks to all manner of human activity, so committees like CITES are set to have busy years as they work to revamp how different species are protected around the globe.

“Nature’s dangerous decline is unprecedented,” says CITES Secretary General Ivonne Higuero. “Business as usual is no longer an option.”

I feel like that statement applies to environmental challenges all over the globe, and I hope there are people in every nook and cranny waiting to step up to do their part to save us all.

The post Zoos Are No Longer Able to Acquire African Elephants from the Wild appeared first on UberFacts.

Zao Is a Deepfake App That Snaps Your Photo and Makes You a Celebrity

Deepfakes are pretty creepy, if we’re being honest. Though they don’t seem to be especially helpful to anyone, deepfakes nonetheless look like they’ll be around for awhile.

Now, it’s easier than ever to produce your own deepfake (yay) with an app called Zao, created by Chinese developer MoMo.

According to Insider, the app topped Chinese iOS download charts after its recent unleashing.

If you didn’t know, deepfakes are bizarrely realistic CGI videos created by an algorithm. Deepfakes can be silly, like putting Nick Offerman’s face on every character in the Full House opening credits. But the scary thing about deepfakes is that they could also be used to falsify the words or deeds of an innocent person.

Now, with the touch of a button.

On your phone…

Indie game developer, Allan Xia, created a video of  a deepfake of himself as Leonardo DiCaprio in some of his movies. He shared the video to Twitter, where it quickly went viral because of how realistic it was. The program read one photo of Xia and paired it with DiCaprio’s facial expressions and mouth movements. Xia noted he only needed one image of himself and about eight seconds to create the deepfake.

Despite Xia’s achievement with the app, he also noted its potential dangers.

Is the intent purely to entertain?

Will it be used to bombard us with images of ourselves for marketing purposes?

Others on Twitter posted deepfakes of themselves as cast members of TV shows and movies.

The app’s developer, MoMo, is also a large social media platform in China. They have already been banned on WeChat due to a line buried in their usage terms that retains “free, irrevocable, permanent, transferable, and relicense-able” access to all content it is used to generate.

So, they can own your face.

China’s expansive surveillance network already uses manipulated images of people, for which it has received criticism from both inside and outside the country.

Thankfully, you must have a Chinese phone number to download Zao, and if you don’t live in China, Zao having ownership of your face is not necessarily going to mean anything practical to you. After all, Facebook can use any of the content you’ve uploaded for whatever they want, too.

Xia has been microblogging about the app and disturbing impacts, both real and imagined on Twitter.

The future, it turns out, is creepy.

The post Zao Is a Deepfake App That Snaps Your Photo and Makes You a Celebrity appeared first on UberFacts.

Zao Is a Deepfake App That Snaps Your Photo and Makes You a Celebrity

Deepfakes are pretty creepy, if we’re being honest. Though they don’t seem to be especially helpful to anyone, deepfakes nonetheless look like they’ll be around for awhile.

Now, it’s easier than ever to produce your own deepfake (yay) with an app called Zao, created by Chinese developer MoMo.

According to Insider, the app topped Chinese iOS download charts after its recent unleashing.

If you didn’t know, deepfakes are bizarrely realistic CGI videos created by an algorithm. Deepfakes can be silly, like putting Nick Offerman’s face on every character in the Full House opening credits. But the scary thing about deepfakes is that they could also be used to falsify the words or deeds of an innocent person.

Now, with the touch of a button.

On your phone…

Indie game developer, Allan Xia, created a video of  a deepfake of himself as Leonardo DiCaprio in some of his movies. He shared the video to Twitter, where it quickly went viral because of how realistic it was. The program read one photo of Xia and paired it with DiCaprio’s facial expressions and mouth movements. Xia noted he only needed one image of himself and about eight seconds to create the deepfake.

Despite Xia’s achievement with the app, he also noted its potential dangers.

Is the intent purely to entertain?

Will it be used to bombard us with images of ourselves for marketing purposes?

Others on Twitter posted deepfakes of themselves as cast members of TV shows and movies.

The app’s developer, MoMo, is also a large social media platform in China. They have already been banned on WeChat due to a line buried in their usage terms that retains “free, irrevocable, permanent, transferable, and relicense-able” access to all content it is used to generate.

So, they can own your face.

China’s expansive surveillance network already uses manipulated images of people, for which it has received criticism from both inside and outside the country.

Thankfully, you must have a Chinese phone number to download Zao, and if you don’t live in China, Zao having ownership of your face is not necessarily going to mean anything practical to you. After all, Facebook can use any of the content you’ve uploaded for whatever they want, too.

Xia has been microblogging about the app and disturbing impacts, both real and imagined on Twitter.

The future, it turns out, is creepy.

The post Zao Is a Deepfake App That Snaps Your Photo and Makes You a Celebrity appeared first on UberFacts.