Month: October 2019

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A New Character on ‘Sesame Street’ Helps Children Dealing with Addiction in Their Families

Even though Sesame Street is an oldie, it is always ready to push boundaries. When it comes to inclusion and addressing children’s issues that some might consider taboo, nothing is off limits.

With their newest cast addition, Karli, Sesame Street is proving that their commitment is as strong as ever.

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Sesame Street has welcomed Karli, a Muppet in foster care, as well as her “for-now” parents, Dalia and Clem. All three Muppets appear in videos posted online as part of an initiative to provide free resources to caregivers navigating difficult issues, such as family homelessness, foster care and trauma. Karli, a green Muppet with fluffy pigtails, is introduced in an online-only clip called “On Your Team,” in which Dalia and Clem chat with their old friend, Elmo’s father, about becoming foster parents. Karli is the latest newcomer in an effort to make @sesamestreet more inclusive. In early 2017, Julia, a young Muppet with autism, became the first new Muppet in a decade to appear on air. A homeless Muppet named Lily was also introduced in December. Read more on washingtonpost.com.

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Karli was introduced in May when she came to Sesame Street in foster care, and in a recent episode of the Sesame Street in Communities initiative, she talked more about her situation.

In the video, Karli thanks Chris for watching her and Elmo while her mother is in a meeting. Elmo asks what kind of meeting, and Karli replies, “My mom needs help learning to take better care of herself, so she talks to people with the same problem.”

Image Credit: Youtube, Sesame Workshop

She also explains that she goes to meetings of her own with other kids like her – kids whose parents are struggling with substance abuse – and talks about how it helps her understand and feel not so alone.

Image Credit: Youtube, Sesame Workshop

Elmo is very understanding, too, and he and Chris help Karli feel even better by the end of the video.

Sesame Street in Communities aims to cover sensitive family topics like addiction, divorce, and grief, and the nonprofit released a statement promising to ai the resources to the “5.7 million children under age 11, or 1 in 8 children, living in households with a parent who has a substance abuse disorder.”

Image Credit: Youtube, Sesame Workshop

Watch the whole video here:

Life can be tough, and even though we all wish children didn’t have to face hard truths too soon, the fact is that they do.

It’s comforting to know that no matter what comes their way, Sesame Street will be there to offer them solace, understanding, and friendship, all without judgement.

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Ex-NFL Player Deangelo Williams Paid for 500 Mammograms to Honor His Mother Who Died from Breast Cancer

DeAngelo Williams retired from professional football a few years ago, but, by the looks of it, his work might just be getting started. The former running back for the Carolina Panthers and the Pittsburgh Steelers made news recently when he paid for 500 mammograms for women through his non-profit organization, the DeAngelo Williams Foundation.

Williams’ mother passed away five years ago from breast cancer, and since then the ex-NFL player has made it his mission to help women with mammogram screenings and other tests so they can hopefully catch any potential issues as early as possible.

Sandra Hill, Williams’ mother, was only 53 years old when she passed away in 2014. Williams also lost four of his aunts to breast cancer, all before they had reached 50 years of age. So for him, this work if incredibly important.

So far, Williams’ foundation has paid for 500 mammograms for women in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Memphis, and Jonesboro, Arkansas. He said, “To be able to help all these women is amazing. This can be life-changing for these women. We are enabling them to get this care that no one should ever be denied or not have access to.”

Even though Williams has already done an amazing amount of work, he’s aiming much higher. He wants to host free mammogram screenings in all 50 states and expand the reach of his organization as far as is humanly possible.

Risalyn Williams, his wife and executive director of the foundation, said, “DeAngelo wants to ensure that no woman (or man) fights breast cancer alone.”

Keep up the excellent work, Mr. Williams!

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These 6 Logic Riddles Will Require All Your Thinking Skills

Put your thinking caps on…

Mental agility is necessary to think logically about any problem, so honing it on a regular basis is never a bad thing – and we think these 6 riddles will do the trick.

Can you solve them all without cheating? I’ll be impressed if so!

6. A riddle of cats.

5. A ship to New York.

4. A mansion of death.

3. 14 stone.

2. Not a nickel.

1. Magic in the shower.

Continue reading when you’re ready to check your answers!

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A New Study Finds That Lop-Eared Rabbits Are Mostly Deaf and in Pain

I hate to read this news about those adorable, floppy-eared rabbits. I had one as a kid, and it was one of my favorite pets ever – he was funny and sweet and loved to snuggle as much as he enjoyed a well-timed nip.

The sad truth, though, is that lop-eared rabbits aren’t natural – they only exist because of intentional human breeding, and they suffer multiple health problems and not-insignificant discomfort because of it.

A new study compared the aural and dental health of lop-eared rabbits with that of erect-eared rabbits and found that floppy-eared bunnies are more than 15 times more likely to show signs of being in pain during examinations.

15 times!

Researchers discovered that their discomfort is likely due to their warped skull shape, a narrowing of the ear canal, and the resulting build-up of ear wax. It leads to a condition called otitis externa, an inflammation of the ear canal.

Most lop-eared rabbits examined were also hard of hearing, if not completely deaf.

None of the erect-eared rabbits had any of these issues.

The alterations that allow for their ears to flop also affects the rabbits’ teeth, making them 12 times more likely to have oversized molars, and 23 times more likely to suffer from diseased incisors.

Study author Charlotte Burn hopes the findings from this study will be supported by more like it in the future, and that people looking to own rabbits will take note.

“People now need to weigh up whether those cute floppy ears are worth the risk of pain, deafness, and difficulty eating for the rabbit, not to mention the extra vet bills.”

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Linus is j ust a sweetie #miniloprabbit #lopearedbunny

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I hope that people care more about the health of their pets than the way they look, but the fact that pugs and French bulldogs are still so popular don’t give me much hope.

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A Company Publicly Shamed a Job-Seeking Woman for What She Posted on Her Personal Instagram Page

When 24-year-old Emily Clow came across a potential marketing job at Kickass Masterminds, she thought it sounded like a good fit.

The company, which worked with “rebellious business owners who yearn for freedom and are ballsy enough to chase after it,” was looking for someone to help those entrepreneurs grow their businesses through marketing and social media.

Clow applied and received a request for additional application materials, which she provided. She was excited until she discovered that the company wasn’t interested in hiring her – they were interested in using her as an example of what not to do.

Someone involved in the hiring process took a photo of Emily from her Instagram page (she was wearing a bikini) and posted it to their own Instagram story with the following caption:

“I am looking for a professional marketer – not a bikini model. Go on with your bad self and do whatever in private. Bt this is not doing you any favors finding a professional job.”

In their IG story, the person behind the company’s account used Emily’s photo to warn other applicants against sharing their social media handles with potential employers “if this is the kind of content on it.”

Clow was, unsurprisingly, not all that happy when she found out about the post.

“I was objectified earlier today by a company because of a picture of me in a bikini. They claimed it made me an “unprofessional.” They screenshot the photo, posted it on their insta story, and called me out. I am still baffled that the company handled it in such a manner.”

Her tweet has since gone viral, garnering support from thousands of people online, including some who have even offered to help Clow find a job.

Clow was hurt, but also confused because it was a picture of her in a bathing suit at a pool – where that attire is obviously standard.

Her requests to the company for the post to be taken down were originally ignored (and they eventually blocked her on Instagram when she continued to dog them about it).

Image Credit: Emily Clow

Sara Christensen, Kickass Masterminds’ CEO, wrote on Medium that she made “an error in judgement” and has “learned a lesson” but is not “ready to publicly address it in detail.”

It appears she might not ever be ready, because the company’s IG account – along with their website, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles – has been removed.

Funny sort of stuff from such a “ballsy” company.

Said Clow, “I thought this was a situation that I feel like a lot of women deal with on a daily basis when they’re job hunting. I figured that, ‘Hey, I might as well talk about this,’ because if I talk about it I know someone else is going through this and we can start a conversation and see if there’s a way to fix the issue.”

Social media has complicated many facets of life since it became such an integral part of both people’s personal lives and employers’ hiring. Though it has its upsides, it has become a minefield that all current job seekers have to navigate.

How to do that professionally is an ongoing discussion, and Emily Clow definitely added a chapter.

How the next one goes, we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Scientists Captured Rare Video of Deepstaria, a Bizarre Jellyfish That Changes Shape

Even among all of the strange and mysterious group of ancient animals known as the jellyfish, the Deepstaria jellyfish is unique. A fact that has now been recorded on video by the Nautilus, a Pacific Ocean research vessel.

Fun fact: the Nautilus has also captured footage of a googly-eyed stubby squid and a weird purple orb.

Live Science reports that, halfway between the U.S. and Australia, the Nautilus spotted a jellyfish that appeared as a ghost….at first.

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#Repost from @mbari_news with @regram.app … The scyphomedusa Deepstaria is certainly odd, with its bag-like appearance, and bell that can open more than a meter wide. Speculation on the identity of a mystery blob has become a sensation online, sparking heated and entertaining debates over its identity. We've seen this unusual jellyfish with MBARI's ROVs around 30 times in 30 years from depths of a few hundred meters to about 2,000 meters deep! Surprisingly, according to morphological and genetic studies, its closest relative is one of the most commonly observed jellies in our area — the moon jelly, Aurelia aurita.⠀ ⠀ #deepstaria #jellyfish #jellies #pelagic #midwater #ROV #scyphomedusa⠀ #deepsealife #deepsea #ocean #oceanlife #sealife #plankton #mesopelagic #MBARI #underwaterphotography #marinebiology

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Then, it unfurled and they got a glimpse of the geometric mesh membrane that revealed its identity: Deepstaria. That, along with its distinctively flowing bell and lack of tentacles, are its most distinguishing features.

The rest of the video is the jellyfish changing shape, from what looks like a crumpled plastic bag to a blanket.

The jellyfish was first discovered by a submersible called the Deepstar 4000 (designed by Jacques Cousteau) in the 1960s, and since then it has only been spotted about a dozen times. Most of the details of its existence remain a mystery to researchers.

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Deepstaria enigmatica. This jellyfish was named after the research submersible Deepstar 4000, which collected the first specimens of this genus in 1966. This species is the home to another species, namely an isopod called Anuropus, which can be seen through the mantle of the jellyfish (on the upper right side of the bell). These animals probably form a symbiotic relationship, perhaps eating food captured by the jellyfish. ⠀ ⠀ Watch a video about this unusual jelly on MBARI's YouTube channel: http://ow.ly/JTf6u⠀ ⠀ #jellyfish #stragethings #deepstaria #MysteriesoftheDeep #MBARI #expedition #midwater #MontereyBay #deepsea #deepsealife #ROV #MarineTechnology #Technology #Robot #MarineBiology #Ocean #oceanlife #oceanscience #sealife #underwaterphotography #Nature #wildlife⠀⠀

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That’s not likely to change anytime soon, which makes this video all the more spectacular.

Science is so cool, y’all. Images like these make it pretty darn hard to disagree.

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This Is How You Can Figure out If Someone Is Stealing Your WiFi

Stealing other people’s WiFi seems to be a common phenomenon. Anything to save money, right? But this sneaky practice causes WiFi speed to slow down considerably, and it’s not sustainable in the long run for anyone involved.

If you suspect that someone may be stealing your precious WiFi, there are a few ways to figure out whether that’s true, Lifehacker reports.

First, you can check the indicator lights on your wireless router. These lights show whether any wireless activity is happening on nearby devices. Shut down all of your own wireless devices — phone, laptop, TV, everything that can connect to the internet — and then see if the light is still blinking. If so, that means there’s another device on the network that’s not yours.

Photo Credit: iStock

Second, you can log into the router’s administrative console to see a list of devices on the network. To get into the console, enter your router’s IP address in a web browser window. Then log in — your router’s login information is usually included on its paperwork somewhere. Once you’re in, you’ll see a section called something like Connected Devices, Device Manager, or My Network. This will show you a list of IP addresses, MAC addresses and device names, which you can review to see if there’s anything that doesn’t belong to you.

Last, to take things to the next level, you can use an app that detects whether your WiFi is being leeched, such as MoocherHunter. This will actually tell you the physical location of the WiFi thief!

Photo Credit: iStock

After you figure out what’s going on, it’s important to beef up your WiFi security so that the thief can’t get online anymore.

Good luck, bounty hunter!

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15 Great Coming-Of-Age Movies You Should Watch If You Want to Feel Nostalgic

Is there anything better than a good coming-of-age movie?

Actually, maybe they’re tied with horror movies in my book, but that means a heck of a lot.

I have some favorites of my own I’d like to rattle off: This Boy’s Life, Stand by Me, Heaven Help Us, Mischief, The Monster Squad to name just a few. But let’s be real – the list goes on and on.

These recommendations come to us from the Buzzfeed Community.

1. Stand by Me

“It may be an adaptation of a Stephen King novella but the movie is just beautiful. I love how those friendships shaped their lives and helped them realize what they were trying to do was actually just really sad and depressing. It’s definitely something I recommend to everyone.”

2. The Edge of Seventeen

“Watching it when I was 16/17 really helped me because how Nadine felt was exactly what I went through. Being 17 is awkward and you’re unsure of everything and you feel like the world might end. Even though I just graduated high school, I’m still going through the motions but it’s good to feel like you aren’t alone.”

3. The Way Way Back

“The Way, Way Back has it all! A great cast, great soundtrack, and the best coming-of-age story I’ve seen from a film in a long time. The main character, Duncan, is all of us as awkward teenagers and we get to see him come into his own in the most realistic way — AKA without a major character death or similarly scarring event.”

4. Now and Then

“I’ve watched Now and Then probably 20 times. It shows that everyone is going to grow up on their own path, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t be friends. It also makes me wish I grew up in a time without cellphones and internet.”

5. Love, Simon

“It forever holds a special place in my heart and helped me see it was OK to be me.”

6. Lady Bird

“It makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you want to call your mom. I’ve never felt more represented by any character than I did by Lady Bird. This movie literally changed my life.”

7. Akeelah and the Bee

“It’s about an 11-year-old girl in South LA who dreams of making it the National Spelling Bee despite her mom’s objections.”

8. Tall Girl

“I relate because I’m really tall and I feel lonely a lot.”

9. The Man in the Moon

“It stars a 14-year-old Reese Witherspoon and it’s a beautiful coming-of-age film set in rural Louisiana in the ’50s, and the locations used and score are gorgeous. Plus the movie itself is heartbreaking.”

10. Dirty Dancing

“I wanted to be Baby so bad, I had my mom buy me white Keds and perm my hair. I know every single line from that movie. The resort where the film is set has Dirty Dancing weekends, I think I gotta find my Johnny and go.”

11. Kids

“It’s a super dark and dramatically depressing story about tweens growing up in a New York suburb. The lesson at the end is so powerful it just makes you break down and cry. It’s hard to watch some stuff, but it’s truly what happens in places like that and everywhere for that matter.”

12. Mermaids

“Winona Ryder as Charlotte, an awkward teenage girl growing up in the ’60s, shares the perfect coming-of-age story. Her inner dialogue is GOLD. Cher plays her glamorous eccentric mother and young Christina Ricci is so cute as her little sister. So classic.”

13. My Girl

“My mom will tell you when I was a little girl and home sick from school for a few days, I would watch it, rewind it, and watch it all over again! She said I would repeat the words.”

14. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is another John Hughes masterpiece that shows that sometimes you just need to have fun, otherwise you could miss the best things in life.”

15. The Sandlot

“I grew up watching The Sandlot. Now my sons are growing up watching The Sandlot! It’s heartfelt without being sappy. It’s timeless and funny. It’s just always a winner!”

Great stuff right there!

Share your own favorites in the comments!

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Being Forgetful Might Be a Good Thing for Your Brain

I forget a whole lot of stuff. It’s gotten much worse as I age (and since my pregnancies and having kids – sleep deprivation is no joke!), so I’m quite happy to hear that maybe I haven’t become addled by middle age after all.

Now, let’s just say this: the science says that forgetting small details might mean your brain is functioning well, separating important things from the noise, but forgetting large things should still be considered a major problem.

Onward.

Recent research from the University of Toronto, published in Neuron, finds that the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus (where we think memories are stored) is formatted to make room for new and important information. In the process, that growth allows you to jettison useless knowledge.

Professor Blake Richards, lead author on the study, explains further.

“We always idealize the person who can smash a trivia game, but the point of memory is not being able to remember who won the Stanley Cup in 1972.”

The point of memory, of course, is to increase your intelligence and your ability to assess your circumstances and make educated decisions – and in order to do that, some things need to be forgotten.

The study is supported by 2007 research that used MRI scans to monitor the brains of 20 healthy adults taking a memory test. The results claimed people were better at remembering conflicting information, as opposed to easy or repetitive knowledge.

“The process of forgetting serves a functional purpose,” verified Michael Anderson, one of the researchers on the 2007 study. “What these guys have done is clearly establish the neurobiological basis for this process.”

Researchers agree that there are several benefits to being able to forget some things. First, certain information, like old phone numbers and passwords, is worthless. Second, we can generalize or combine certain memories to no detriment.

In one super interesting experiment with mice, scientists had the rodents find the exit to a maze, then on a future try, changed its location.

The mice who were drugged to forget the former location of the exit found the new one much faster.

Huh.

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Toby? Tom? Tim? Oooh, Andrew. Sorry.

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I’m not sure if this is why I can never remember the names of people I’ve just met (or met long ago), but hey. I’m going to go ahead and blame it on my brain trying to be smarter and stronger, and not on my general lack of interest.

Don’t try to stop me.

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In 2012 Pizza Hut planned to release…

In 2012 Pizza Hut planned to release a limited edition perfume that that smelled like fresh dough. Thousands responded requesting the perfume for themselves but only 110 bottles were produced and shared with lucky Facebook fans who won a bottle. The packaging resembled mini pizza boxes.