If you’ve wondered where the singer Duffy has been lately, a recent return to the spotlight and a heartbreaking Instagram post about suffering an incredible trauma answered all questions.

The singer from Wales who is best known for her hit song “Mercy” has been out of the spotlight for years divulged that she was drugged, raped, and held captive and that it has been a very long recovery to try to find her voice again.

Here is Duffy’s incredibly brave and frightening post in her own words.

“You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it.

Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days.

Of course I survived.

The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke.

In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x
Duffy

Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.”

View this post on Instagram

You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it. Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke. In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x Duffy Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.

A post shared by @ duffy on Feb 25, 2020 at 10:12am PST

Obviously, this is a terrible story and we can only offer up our positive thoughts as Duffy continues to recover from this harrowing experience.

Please share your thoughts for the singer in the comments.

The post Singer Duffy Said She’s Been out of the Spotlight Because She Was Raped and Held Captive appeared first on UberFacts.

If you’ve wondered where the singer Duffy has been lately, a recent return to the spotlight and a heartbreaking Instagram post about suffering an incredible trauma answered all questions.

The singer from Wales who is best known for her hit song “Mercy” has been out of the spotlight for years divulged that she was drugged, raped, and held captive and that it has been a very long recovery to try to find her voice again.

Here is Duffy’s incredibly brave and frightening post in her own words.

“You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it.

Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days.

Of course I survived.

The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke.

In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x
Duffy

Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.”

View this post on Instagram

You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it. Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke. In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x Duffy Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.

A post shared by @ duffy on Feb 25, 2020 at 10:12am PST

Obviously, this is a terrible story and we can only offer up our positive thoughts as Duffy continues to recover from this harrowing experience.

Please share your thoughts for the singer in the comments.

The post Singer Duffy Said She’s Been out of the Spotlight Because She Was Raped and Held Captive appeared first on UberFacts.

Wendy’s is kind of shy when it comes to social media, preferring to scroll through their Twitter feed silently and without comment.

Oh, wait. That’s my great-aunt Wendy.

The fast food chain, Wendy’s is super savage on social media, particularly Twitter where they have 3.6 million followers, and you should stay out of their way lest you want to be owned.

Recently, Burger King decided to ignore this bit of sage advice and did something crazy.

They tested a french fry burger which poked the Wendy-Bear, who then turned the roast on high.

When literally anything would be better on a bun than their beef. https://t.co/YfTTrYrPDI

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

At first, people thought the chain was joking. Spoiler alert: Wendy’s doesn’t play like that.

their whole restaurant is

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

Annnd the hits just kept coming.

We have beef. No idea what they have.

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

Wendy’s has ALL DAMN DAY, y’all.

Maybe it tastes like the paper? Literally no idea tbh

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

A few people dared to question Wendy’s authority on the matter.

That's literally all we do all day

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

Somehow, in the kerfuffle, the state of New Jersey got thrown under the Wendy’s bus.

whatchu trying to start

— New Jersey (@NJGov) February 18, 2020

Other convenience food brands wouldn’t stay out of it. Twitter mods (LOL) may need to separate Velveeta and Wendy’s for everyone’s protection.

Please don’t link up

— Teroya Eason (Tea ) (@tallwonder) February 18, 2020

The clown…I’m screaming.

pretty sure the clown basically has one of those

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

Everybody loves the Baconator, this is nothing new.

Always

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

Wendy’s is always free and easy with their fast food coaching and counselings.

they should try the ever present idea – make it good

— Wendy's (@Wendys) February 18, 2020

It never got easier to scroll through all the savage comments, but someone had to do it. I’m only glad I’m just a lowly consumer of burgers and not trying to compete with some weird concoction of potato and bread.

Burger King, you got what you deserved.

Bow to your queen!!

The post Burger King Tested a French Fry Burger and Wendy’s Attacked With a Vengeance appeared first on UberFacts.

You might only have a vague idea of what a particle accelerator is and what it does. Like me, you probably realize that sticking your head into things you don’t know much about isn’t a good idea.

Some people make mistakes. Read on.

A particle accelerator, just so we’re all on the same page, is a machine that propels charged particles at nearly light speed. It was invented in the 1930s and has been used to encourage discoveries in particle physics like the Higgs boson.

View this post on Instagram

Back at Diamond setting things up for my next load of experiments…. provided Corona doesn’t delay them. #diamondlightsource #particleaccelerator #science #engineering

A post shared by Daniel Harryman (@dmharryman) on Mar 11, 2020 at 3:08am PDT

What happens if you propel charged particles at light speed through your head? Just as Anatoli Bugorski, the man who (admittedly) accidentally found out.

In the 1970s, Bugorski was a scientist and researcher at Russia’s Institute for High Energy Physics. As part of his job, he worked with the particle accelerator known as Synchrotron U-70, and one day, it appeared to be malfunctioning. He stuck his head in to have a look when the safety mechanism snapped at an incredibly inopportune moment, and the machine shot a proton beam straight through his head.

Bugorski reported no pain but a flash of light “brighter than a thousand sun” as the beam entered through the back of his head and exited through his nose. He was rushed to the hospital after the left side of his face swelled up like a balloon to be treated (and studied) until his assumed imminent demise.

View this post on Instagram

Bugorski was working as a researcher at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino in 1978. At the time, he was working with the the largest Soviet particle accelerator at that time, the U-70 synchrotron. He was checking a malfunctioning piece of equipment when safety protocols failed, and he managed to accidentally stick his head in the path of the proton beam. According to his own report, he felt no pain but saw a flash brighter than a thousand suns. After the accident, the left half of his face swelled up and the skin began to peel. Having received a huge dose of radiation, he was not expected to survive. However, he made a full recovery and even completed his PhD. He is still alive today, and the only long term side effects seem to be deafness in his left ear, increased fatigue, occasional complex partial seizures and rare tonic-clonic seizures. #scientist #AnatoliBugorski #proton #beam #particle #accelerator #ParticleAccelerator #ProtonBeam

A post shared by Edson Soares (@edsonsoaresramos) on Jul 2, 2014 at 4:02pm PDT

Doctors expected the worst, considering Bugorski’s skull had absorbed 2000x more radiation than it would typically take to kill a person within a few days, but since no one had ever been hit with a proton beam moving at the speed of light, they honestly had no idea what was going to happen.

Bugorski, amazingly, was still alive at last check and is nearing 77 years of age, though he didn’t escape his unintentional battle with proton beams unscathed.

It burned a path through his skull and brain tissue that resulted in skin peeling, he lost the hearing in his left ear and suffered from tinnitus throughout his life.

View this post on Instagram

Did you know that in 1978, Anatoli Bugorski, who put his head in a particle accelerator, got hit by 3000 rads and survived. Rads – is the unit of absorbed radiation dose and 100 to 200 rads is fatal. #interestingthings #anatolibugorski

A post shared by Interesting Things (@world_interestingthings) on Jul 22, 2019 at 8:06am PDT

The left side of his face also gradually became paralyzed, oddly frozen in time, and he suffered from seizures over the years. Not ideal, but considering what could have happened all those years ago, he might actually be one lucky man.

Bugorski completed his doctorate after the incident and presumably always remembered to unplug heavy machinery before sticking any part of his body inside to explore.

Good idea!

The post The Man Who Put His Head Inside a Particle Accelerator – and Survived appeared first on UberFacts.

A twitter thread on the career lives of women by @amy_riveter has been getting a ton of traction. Amy, a “recovering attorney” and current business owner, posed the question:

To my working women friends: If you could give your younger working self any advice, what would you say?

— amy_riveter (@amy_riveter) February 18, 2020

The responses came pouring in fast. To date there have been more than 2,000, and it’s a pretty interesting read, with several strong themes repeating throughout. Here are 10 examples of the kinds of principles respondents are advocating:

10. Know when you’re overworked

A job where you can’t take an occasional sick day or planned vacation without falling behind or feeling guilty about what you’re leaving to coworkers is one where the office is understaffed or you are overloaded. Neither is sustainable.

— EmIpsaLoquitur (@EmIpsaLoquitur) February 19, 2020

9. Don’t kill yourself

No job will care about your personal quality of life. They will replace you in a minute. Do not sacrifice your health and family….definitely not yourself

— yanaba (@yanaba9) February 18, 2020

8. Show your worth

Make your invisible work visible. If you don’t communicate your value, no one else is going to do it for you.

— Leslie Lovato (@leslie_lovato) February 19, 2020

7. Don’t worry about age

There will be about a two minute gap between when you’re being told you’re too young for the job and when you’re told you’re too old for the job. Don’t listen to any of it. Age is unwinnable for women.

— Megan K. Stack (@Megankstack) February 19, 2020

6. Don’t fall for propaganda

“Loyalty” is a word they use to keep you in your place.

— Gennifer Hutchison (@GennHutchison) February 19, 2020

5. Treat yourself like a friend

Also, if you have to negotiate and you’re having difficulty advocating for yourself (don’t feel bad, it happens) imagine that you’re advocating for your best friend instead. We don’t let ourselves want what we deserve, but we’ll demand those things for our friends in a heartbeat.

— Tanis Fowler (@TanisFowler) February 19, 2020

4. Be bold

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.
Proactively seek mentorship and feedback (it won’t always come to you).
Be yourself unapologetically.

— Jennifer Jones Newbill (she/her/hers) (@JenNewbill) February 19, 2020

3. Negotiate

Always, always counteroffer and fight for more pay when being hired.

— Angela Gillette (@gillette_girl) February 19, 2020

2. Don’t work for free

Don’t do any unpaid work with the hopes of it translating to future paid work. It’ll only set up a dynamic to be devalued.

— dr timaree (@timaree_leigh) February 19, 2020

1. Set boundaries

Yes! I want to like this several times! Similarly, don’t respond to emails or calls outside of work hours; that also sets a precedence of work expecting you to respond to their every whim.

— Ri Zoldak (@rizoldak) February 19, 2020

What work advice would you give your younger self if you had the chance?

Let us know in the comments.

The post Helpful Bits of Career Advice From Women on Twitter appeared first on UberFacts.

Bhutan has officially made teachers and medical staff the highest-paid civil servants in the country. In the U.S., by contrast, the highest-paid public employees in most states are college football coaches.

When Bhutan’s new law goes into effect, teachers with zero to 10 years of experience will see a 35% pay raise, while teachers with 10 to 20 years of experience will receive a 45% pay raise. Those with over 20 years of experience will get a raise of 55%.

Bhutan is a small majority-Buddhist country with a population of just 750,000, and the pay raise will affect a significant portion of the population.

India Express reports,

“The numbers of teachers involved in the hike are huge as there are 8,679 teachers, followed by the medical staff who number around 4,000.”

A press release from the Bhutanese Prime Minister’s Office said,

“If the pay revision comes through as proposed by the government, teaching becomes the highest paid profession in the country.”

Meanwhile in the U.S., the highest-paid public employee in the country is Nick Saban, football coach at the University of Alabama, who makes $11.1 million per year. The average teacher in Alabama only earns $50,000 per year.

Bhutan’s new pay structure was pushed by prime minister Lotay Tshering, who was elected in 2018.

Tshering is a one-of-a-kind leader in more than one way. He was a highly regarded doctor before he entered politics, and he continues to work as a surgeon on the weekends, The Guardian reports.

Per India Express, his reasoning behind the pay raise was that teachers and medical staff experience higher stress levels and longer working hours than many other professions.

What do you think about this info? Could we do it in the US?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

The post Bhutan Made Teachers and Medical Staff the Highest-Paid Civil Servants in the Country appeared first on UberFacts.

Outer space is full of other planets, stars, moons, and even cool-looking—but dangerous—asteroids.

Everything is just fine as long as these asteroids stay in their place. Astronomers have named certain stand-out asteroids, and animator Alvaro Garcia Montoya decided to animate them and compare them to New York City so we could understand their magnitude.

14. 2008 TC3

2008 TC3 is twice the size of an average adult.

13. 2014 RC is Nearly 22 Meters in Diameter

12. 99942 Apophis is Roughly The Size of the Eiffel Tower

11. 69230 Hermes is Approximately 810 Meters in Diameter

10. (29075) 1950 DA is 1.1. Kilometers in Diameter

And it could crush New York!

9. 4769 Castalia is Even Bigger

1.4 kilometers in diameter is intimidating.

8. 719 Albert is Not to be Toyed With

2.36 kilometers is quite something.

7. 3200 Phaeton is Apocalyptic Territory

At 5.8 kilometers in diameter, let’s not imagine what would happen if this were to come near the Earth’s atmosphere.

6. 433 Eros is a Behemoth!

16.84 kilometers is basically the size of New York City!

5. 243 Ida Makes NYC Seem Invisible

At this point, NYC is irrelevant.

4. 323 Brucia Reminds Us to Be Humble

33 kilometers in diameter is no joke!

3. 1902 Shaposhnikov is Bigger Than Several Cities!

It’s only cool from a distance.

2. 5 Astrea Isn’t The Biggest One

1. 1 Ceres Takes The Cake

The video is super cool and quite humbling to watch. You can view it here:

What did you think of these animations? It sure is sobering to see how New York City stacks up against these asteroids.

Feel free to share how these comparisons made you feel in the comments.

We’re looking forward to reading them all!

The post An Animator Created a Video That Helps Demonstrate How Big Asteroids Really Are appeared first on UberFacts.

Of course, Italian people to find a moment of joy and beauty in what has otherwise been a nightmare for their entire country.

Italy is currently on coronavirus lockdown and it looks like it will be quite a while until life returns to normal again. The country has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus and 60 million people are being forced to quarantine.

You can only imagine how much this has disrupted the lives of the people there, especially because Italians are so well-known for their love of life.

View this post on Instagram

Andrà tutto bene _______________ #italy #italia #coronavirusitaly #italybeatifulitaly #myitaly #mycountry

A post shared by Loredana Maculotti (@loredanamaculotti) on Mar 13, 2020 at 1:38pm PDT

An Italian journalist shared a video of a vacant street in the city of Siena. In it, one man begins to sing in the darkness and then neighbors join in and all sing from their windows together.

The caption to the Twitter video says, in Italian,

“In Siena, the city to which I am very attached, you stay at home but you sing together as if you were on the street.

I was moved.”

The man who posted the video said a friend sent it to him. He said about the people of Italy:

“The Italians are experiencing a very difficult time.

People cling to what they can, including a traditional song like this.”

As of this writing, there have been more than 15,000 coronavirus cases in Italy and more than 1,000 deaths.

Check out the video below.

A Siena, città alla quale sono molto legato, si sta in casa ma si canta insieme come se si fosse per la strada. Mi sono commosso pic.twitter.com/IDPqNEj3h3

— David Allegranti (@davidallegranti) March 12, 2020

People on Twitter were moved by the outpouring of emotion in the city of Siena.

Wow, thank you for posting this. It’s beautiful. Best of luck, and I wish recovery to those who are sick.

— Truth-seeker (@Women__Exist) March 13, 2020

And there were well wishes from the United States.

Well this was my morning cry. Love to all of you in Sienna and Italy. Sending you my best wishes from America.

— Jill Lava (@JillyLava) March 13, 2020

And someone even shared a similar video of people singing from balconies in Naples, Italy.

Hey World! I want to make you smile. Do you remember the thrilling cries from Wuhan homes? Look what is happening in Napoli (Italy). Everybody singing local songs from balconies during lockdown. pic.twitter.com/sqGDQAB1lx

— ??? ????? (@dan_ceres) March 12, 2020

This person hit the nail on the head.

I’m weeping. Camaraderie and humanity are so beautiful.

— WASH YOUR HANDS (@BOOBSPACE) March 13, 2020

Be safe out there and be sure to take care of yourselves and each other!

And, as always, let us know what you think of this video in the comments! We love reading your thoughts!

The post Video Shows Italians Singing From Their Windows While on Coronavirus Quarantine appeared first on UberFacts.

There’s one thing we can all agree on: love is tough. When you’re deep in the throes of being ~in love~ with someone, it can feel useless to try to explain why or how you got there. It’s because that person is just perfect for you, duh!

But if anybody knows what causes you to fall for one person and not another, it’s the researchers who investigate this very phenomenon for a living.

Ayala Malach Pines is a clinical psychologist and faculty member at Ben Gurion University in Israel. Ayala studies couples, and she’s written around 60 research papers and a handful of books on the subject.

In one book, “Falling in Love: Why We Choose the Lovers We Choose,” Ayala breaks down the 11 factors that are involved in falling in love.

The first factor is “similarity in attitudes, background, personality traits,” Joanie Faletto at Mental Floss writes. The next factor is geographic proximity, and the third factor is “desirable characteristics of personality and appearance.”

After that is reciprocal affection — or, whether the person has feelings for you too. So if there’s a cute, nice person who lives nearby, has some things in common, and likes you? You’ve already got several of the factors involved in falling in love with them.

Additional factors include whether the person satisfies your needs, physical and emotional arousal, and “social influences, norms, and the approval of people in our circle.”

Readiness for a romantic relationship also plays a role, as well as opportunities to be alone together (ahem). Then there are the specific cues in the person’s “voice, eyes, posture, way of moving.”

And lastly, there’s mystery, because sometimes not knowing everything about someone can make things more alluring.

While this information probably won’t make relationships any less confusing and hard, it does provide a helpful starting place for understanding how to get into one in the first place.

Have you noticed any of these factors in your life?

Let us know in the comments!

The post The Factors That Make You Fall in Love With One Person and Not Another appeared first on UberFacts.

It’s cool to learn new historical facts you thought couldn’t possibly be true. Young children are often surprised to find out that some people believed the Earth was flat, and adults are often surprised to know there are some people who still believe this.

One Tumblr thread dedicated itself to pointing out historical facts that seem too good to be true. We’re not a detective agency and this is the internet, so take these with a grain of salt.

Some of these as yet unchecked facts seem cool though!

8. Tiffany is an Ancient Name

My 11th favourite

7. Nipple Rings Were a Thing

Photo Credit: Imgur

6. Romans Were Good at Mapping

Photo Credit: Imgur

5. No One Discusses This Historic Pet Elephant

Photo Credit: Imgur

4. Ancient Persians Knew How to Make Frozen Treats!

Photo Credit: Imgur

3. This Ancient Egyptian Pregnancy Test is Really Something

Photo Credit: Imgur

2. Peasants Knew How to Read

Photo Credit: Imgur

1. That Flat Earth Theory Never Held Up

Photo Credit: Imgur

These Tumblr posts definitely challenge our view of the world. Not all of these might be true, but they sure are fun!

Did any of these stand out to you? If so, why?

Be sure to share your reasons in the comments section!

The post A Tumblr Thread Points Out Strange Historical Facts That Might Make Think appeared first on UberFacts.