This dump truck is the largest electric vehicle in the world—and since it generates all the electricity that it needs for transportation, it does not even need to be manually recharged.
The Elekto Dumper—also known as the eDumper—is a 45-ton construction vehicle which is used to transport limestone and rock from Swiss mountaintops.
The vehicle works by ascending steep inclines with an empty cargo. Once it is loaded with up to 65 tons of ore, it uses a “regenerative braking system” to capture all of the energy that is created by traveling downhill so that it can completely power itself for its next uphill journey.
Kuhn Schweitz, the German manufacturing company responsible for creating the eDumper, says that by making an average of 20 trips up and down a mountain every day, the trucks are able to generate more than 200 kilowatt hours of surplus energy daily, or 77 megawatt-hours per year.
Collectively, the trucks have already saved an estimated 76,000 liters of diesel fuel and 200 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere since it was unveiled in April. Researchers estimate that the vehicles will continue to save up to 1,300 tons of CO2 and 500,000 liters of diesel over the course of the next ten years.
“This is pure magic,” Formula E driver Lucas di Grassi told CNN after being introduced to the trucks. “That’s the real-world application of EV. Making it cheaper, more efficient and greener.”
(WATCH di Grassi talk about the groundbreaking truck in the video below)
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Chris Barrington with teacher Michell Girard – by Jimmy Bennett / JMB Fishing Foundation
Chris Barrington with teacher Michell Girard – by Jimmy Bennett / JMB Fishing Foundation
A 30-year-old man with special needs has been given a whole new lease on life thanks to his former teacher who he had not seen in years.
Two months ago, police found Chris Barrington wandering the streets of Gatesville, Texas. Since Barrington’s father had been struggling with late-stage leukemia, he had lost the ability to move, leaving him unable to care for his son.
Barrington, who can only function at the cognitive level of a 6-year-old, had been lost in the city for two days before he was picked up by police officers. He told the department that he had no other living family members—but he did remember the name of Michell Girard, his former junior high school teacher.
It had been years since Girard had been in contact with her former student, but when police reached out to her about Barrington’s predicament, she couldn’t help but feel responsible for him.
“I said ‘what happens if I don’t take him? Will he get in a group home?’ They said, ‘no he’ll go in to an institution,’” Girard told KWTX. “I said not on my watch he’s not.”
Girard then took Barrington into her care. Since his father passed away on August 1st, Girard has been applying to become the young man’s official guardian.
Not only that, she threw him his first ever birthday party earlier this month.
“He’s never had a birthday present, a birthday party, he’s never had Christmas, thanksgiving, nothing,” she added. “So this year is going to be full of firsts.”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by ABC News
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Leonardo DiCaprio has always been an outspoken environmental activist and conservationist—and now, he is helping to lead the fight against the wildfires raging through the Amazon rainforest.
While wildfires in the Amazon are not uncommon, there has been an increase of 32,000 blazes recorded in Brazil this year compared to the same time in 2018. This week alone, there have been about 9,000 fires recorded throughout the region.
That’s why the Hollywood actor is contributing $5 million to the Amazon Forest Fund: an emergency response fund created by the Earth Alliance earlier this week.
The Earth Alliance was created by DiCaprio and philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth last month. The independent nonprofit has thus far recruited teams of scientists and conservationists to protect vulnerable ecosystems, promote renewable energy growth, and secure the rights of indigenous people worldwide.
“Earth Alliance has formed an emergency Amazon Forest Fund with an initial commitment of $5 million to focus critical resources on the key protections needed to maintain the ‘lungs of the planet,’” reads the organization’s website. “These funds will be distributed directly to local partners and the indigenous communities protecting the Amazon, the incredible diversity of wildlife that lives there, and the health of the planet overall.
Collectively, the fund will help finance conservational groups such as the Instituto Associacao Floresta Protegida, Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), Instituto Kabu, Instituto Raoni, and Instituto Socioambiental.
This emergency fund is not the only way that governments and citizens are helping to fight the Amazon wildfires. Tree-planting search engine Ecosia says that they recorded a 1,150% increase in downloads as global media coverage of the wildfires intensified earlier this week.
The group uses ad revenue to finance tree-plants around the world. Since their launch, the nonprofit tech group says that they have helped to plant over 650 million trees around the world. On an average day, they usually welcome 20,000 new users—but on Thursday, over 250,000 new users downloaded the search engine.
Additionally, the Bolivian government recruited the help of the largest airtanker in the world to help firefighters extinguish the blazes from above.
The Colorado-based B747-400 SuperTanker, which was deployed to Bolivia earlier this week, is capable of discharging more 19,000 gallons of water per trip.
Quote of the Day: “I can only have peace of mind when I forgive rather than judge.” – Gerald Jampolsky
Photo: by Michael Levine-Clark, CC license, cropped, via Flickr
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Millions of Americans have started a business on the side that allows them to pursue their passions, while boosting their incomes, according to a new survey.
A poll of 2,000 adults with full-time employment found that more than one-quarter of them have already turned a hobby into a side hustle while staying in their current jobs.
And more than half, 55 percent, admitted that they would like to turn their passions into a money-making venture, but have yet to take the leap.
Those who do get started on a business add to their annual income with an average of $14,705 per year after taxes.
14 percent of side hustlers report making up to $22,800 annually – well more that the U.S. federal minimum wage of $15,080 pre-tax, for a full-time employee working 40 hours a week.
The research was commissioned by Vistaprint – an online provider of printing services to small businesses.
Beauty and wellness was found to be the most popular side business sector, which includes hairdressers, personal trainers and dietitians.
Artists, DJs, and designers—along with retail businesses, selling in online shops—are also popular areas.
For instance, Amy Grant in Colorado designs and sells wine charms on Amazon and also Etsy.com that feature fun cabin lore, motorcycle sayings, popular movie quotes, book club titles, and rock and roll bands.
Generating extra cash was found to be the top reason Americans either have started or would like to start a side business (62 percent). But 37 percent started a side business to pursue a passion and more than a third (41 percent) did so to spend more time doing what they enjoy.
“America’s side business economy is booming, as employees increasingly look for financial, professional and personal fulfillment that may not be present in their main job,” says Simon Braier, Customer Strategy Director at Vistaprint.
And these ventures don’t always stay small.
“Side business owners can test their venture’s long-term viability, growth and marketing opportunities in a safer setting, helping them to ease the transition into full-time entrepreneurship and spend more time doing what they love.”
The study also found that more than half of entrepreneurs (59 percent) treat their enterprise as a ‘5-9’ pursuit, working on it in the evenings to fit around their workday. A typical side business takes up 16 hours a week, while 34 percent of those polled spend 20+ hours a week working on it.
Successful hustlers recommend starting with something you already enjoy, focusing on tasks which generate revenue, building a strong social media presence, and networking with people who have succeeded.
TOP 6 TIPS FOR SIDE BUSINESS OWNERS
1. Ensure your side business is something you enjoy
2. Focus on tasks that generate revenue
3. Build a strong social media presence
4. Set long term goals
5. Leverage word-of-mouth marketing
6. Network with people who run side businesses
One-quarter of those who want to start a business admitted that a lack of confidence is one of their biggest obstacles, but take it from these 500 creators, and get started today. Author Sydney Harris reminds us all that “regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
Be Sure And Share The Survey With Your Friends On Social Media – File photo by Ray From LA, CC
When Nerissa Cannon became disabled in 2013 and had to use a wheelchair full-time, she felt like she had lost her entire identity. As an active ‘outdoorsy’ person, she was not sure how she could continue doing the things she loved.
“The fear of being a burden on anyone consumed me—and as depression further weighed me down, I withdrew from friends, family, and society in general.”
Then, she found an organization called No Barriers. They reminded her of her value by teaching her to focus on the strengths she still had. She was inspired by all those who were creatively used technology and teamwork to accomplish incredible feats.
“I swore I would do my best to live a “No Barriers Life” from that point on,” she told Good News Network. “I want to inspire others to believe that even if you’re dealing with illness or injury, you don’t have to give up on your sense of adventure.”
She went rock climbing with the group’s co-founder, Erik Weihenmayer. As the first blind person to summit Mount Everest, Erik taught her that while we may have disabilities, we can learn to magnify and use each other’s strengths to gain more independence.
As a result, she was able—with the help of 27 friends and fellow climbers—to make it to the summit of the 14,000-ft peak of Mount Bierstadt in Colorado.
Photo of Nerissa Cannon and Erik Weihenmayer byLloyd Garden / No Barriers
Because she was tackling outdoor adventures again, despite her injury, Winnebago, in partnership with No Barriers, asked if she wanted to dive into a road trip with a wheelchair-ready motorhome. The journey would begin at Winnebago headquarters in Forest City, Iowa, and take her 2,300 miles—all the way to the No Barriers Summit in Lake Tahoe, California.
“While I am fiercely independent, this was not a journey I wanted to do alone. So I asked my partner of two and a half years, Kelsom Owens, to join me and my service dog Cash.” .
The journey would end up covering six states, three national parks, and multiple wilderness recreation areas. Traveling around these places forced her to go well outside her comfort zone and helped her grow by continuing to push the boundaries of what she knew she could accomplish. For example, in Badlands National Park, she stopped at an overlook that included a descent of stairs to a lower platform. To enjoy a better view, she rolled herself down the stairs by holding onto the handrail, and got back up to the top on her own.
“Another highlight of the trip was the time I spent at Flaming Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (above). Here we enjoyed the pristine waters and magnificent views from our kayak. And even better, I was also able to do some spur of the moment bouldering at this location, pulling myself right out of the kayak to climb the rock wall. It was an indescribable experience.”
They made sure to visit Little Wild Horse Canyon in Utah. The main attraction of that state park is a stretch of very narrow slot canyons that have been beautifully sculpted by time. “I was able to utilize my forearm crutches, and while it was exhausting to hike with crutches, I was determined to finish.”
The Winnebago, as it turns out, was a huge part of her growth on the trip. Last January the RV company unveiled three new floor plans with wheelchair-ready features, like expanded hallways, roll-in showers, lighting and controls at waist height, and more.
The integrated wheelchair lift made it easy for Nerissa to get in and out of the Winnebago on her own. And it also proved to be a big conversation piece in the small towns where they stopped along the way.
Driving the RV itself was a big fear that she wanted to conquer. While Winnebago does install custom hand controls by request, the vehicle provided did not have that feature. So, the No Barriers photographer, Ryan Salm, did most of the driving.
“Although I was incredibly intimidated, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from driving it. After some coaching from Kelsom, I drove the RV over the finish line at the No Barriers Summit in California. The personal pride I felt in that moment was a reward in itself.”
Nerissa also discovered that RV travel fosters a sense of closeness and community that is unmatched in other methods of travel. “One of the sweetest benefits on the trip was the togetherness, and camaraderie with fellow travelers on the road.”
Though previously harboring a fear of being a burden on others, especially when traveling, the innovative RV, along with the support and encouragement from the team at No Barriers, allowed her to stand (pun intended) equal to those around her.
“In a world that doesn’t always feel designed for me, having a community of like-minded friends—and, on this trip, a comfortable place to inhabit while I adventured with loved ones—was priceless.”
Auto-immune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) occur when the body’s immune cells attack healthy tissues. In the case of MS, the cells target the protective layer surrounding the nerves. While the reason for this happening is still unclear, a new medical breakthrough has opened the door to reversing any autoimmunity—and even repairing old damage.
Dr. Su Metcalfe, senior research associate at Cambridge University, discovered a switch within the immune cell that could be “reset” in order to return it to its normal activity.
One of the major elements of her promising pre-clinical trial research involves the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF): a small signaling protein that acts on stem cells in the body.
“[LIF] is able to activate these cells in order to replace damaged cells during tissue repair—for example, repair of a torn muscle,” says Metcalfe. “A further key role of LIF is to sustain a healthy central nervous system, protecting nerves and maintaining myelin.”
In 2013, she founded the Cambridge company LIF-NanoRx to further the research. Her idea was to guide a measured dose of the tiny, specialized particles to damaged nerves and repair them. However, when the LIF particles were deployed as a therapeutic agent, she found that the body broke down LIF after only 20 minutes.
Enter ultrafine nanoparticles. ‘Nano’ simply refers to the very small size. They’re so tiny that the surface area is much greater than their mass—and they actually have their own name to differentiate them from mere clumps of atoms. Their special properties and size make them uniquely suited to delivering therapies to the interior of cells.
Dr. Metcalfe brilliantly sourced nanoparticles using the same type of material as dissolving stitches. She combined them with the LIF protein to extend the life of the repair agent in the body—and thus far, her testing has been very successful. Not only does the LIF have time to reach the damaged areas and work their magic, the nanoparticles eventually dissolve within the body, leaving behind only carbon dioxide and water.
This means that Metcalfe’s “double whammy” treatment can reverse autoimmunity while simultaneously repairing the damage it has wrought on a patient’s brain.
Although Dr. Metcalfe’s research has been focused on MS, she hopes to fine-tune these discoveries to do the same for psoriasis and diabetes—and if she can develop the technique so that it can pass the blood-brain barrier, it could potentially be used to heal dementia.
“We’re not using any drugs, we’re simply switching on the body’s own systems of self-tolerance and repair,” Metcalfe told Cambridgeshire Live.
“There aren’t any side effects because all we’re doing is tipping the balance. Auto-immunity happens when that balance has gone awry slightly, and we simply reset that. Once you’ve done that, it becomes self-sustaining and you don’t have to keep giving therapy, because the body has its balance back.”
Depending on the interest of pharmaceutical companies and private investors for funding, human trials could begin as soon as 2020.
Seth Craven had already journeyed from the other side of the world in order to witness the birth of his son when a storm caused his final flight to be delayed—but thankfully, a compassionate airline passenger offered to go out of his way to help him.
Sgt. Craven, who had been stationed with the National Guard in Afghanistan, had just landed in Philadelphia from Kuwait when poor weather forced the airline to cancel his flight home to Charleston, West Virginia last week.
Since Craven’s wife was scheduled to deliver the baby by C-section on Friday morning, the young 26-year-old sergeant went ahead and bought another plane ticket home for early on Thursday.
Unfortunately, that flight was also delayed several times, leaving Craven stranded in Pennsylvania—and he was quickly running out of options. The previous delays had already spurred most passengers to claim rental cars, and they were all gone.
As Craven became increasingly more distressed, word of his predicament circulated amongst the passengers until it reached the ears of Charlene Vickers.
Vickers and several of her acquaintances were on a deadline to attend a health conference in Charleston on Friday afternoon—and since she is from the Philadelphia area, her car was already parked at the airport, ready for a road trip.
“They kind of pointed to this gentleman and said that ‘poor soul really needs to get back,’” Vickers told WV Metro News. “That’s when I introduced myself … and said, ‘I’m getting to West Virginia tonight, come hell or high water. So are you willing to join this crazy party of ours?’”
Without waiting for his baggage, Craven hopped into the car and traveled with Vickers for the eight-hour trip. He was dropped off at his house just after midnight, and he was standing next to his wife’s bedside when their son Cooper was born the following morning.
“If it wasn’t for Charlene I never would have made it,” Craven told the news outlet. “All she wanted in return was pictures of the baby.”
And, this is the gift of thanks she will treasure for a lifetime:
Quote of the Day: Remedy for Worry: “Get busy. Your blood will start circulating, your mind will start ticking, and pretty soon a positive upsurge of life in your body will drive worry from your mind.” – Dale Carnegie
Photo: by ehpien, CC license, cropped, via Flickr
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Park rangers are praising an anonymous little girl for being an excellent role model for park preservation after she returned a heart-shaped stone that she had taken during her visit.
According to a post from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Facebook page, rangers were surprised to receive a tiny package without any return address from a youngster who only identified herself as Karina.
The package included a small heart-shaped rock and an apology letter from the girl explaining how she’d felt guilty about taking the rock during her recent visit to the park.
“Dear park ranger,” the letter read, “Deep Creek was awesome! I especially liked Tom Branch Falls.
“I loved it so much, I wanted to have a souvenir to come home with me, so I took a rock,” it continued. “I’m sorry and I want to return it. Also, here’s a donation!”
Not only did she return the rock, she also included a drawing of the park as a bonus.
The park rangers were so touched by the gesture, they snapped some photos of the letter and the rock being returned to its home so they could publish them on social media.
“Already, you are becoming an amazing steward for the park,” wrote the rangers. “Thank you for recognizing that what is in the park should stay in the park. If every visitor took a rock home, that would mean 11 million rocks would be gone from the park every year!
“The park would definitely not be as beautiful as it was before,” they added. “Rocks in the Smokies also provide homes for hundreds of creatures, including salamanders! By leaving rocks where they are, we’re helping protect these special homes as well as the beauty of the park.”
In addition to their hopes that Karina would see their note of gratitude on Facebook, the rangers say they also wanted to inspire other readers to show the same amount of respect in the park.
“It’s more important to us that … thousands of others who visit the park see that and relate to the message and take that home with them,” education park ranger Jessie Snow told The Washington Post.
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This adorable dynamic duo is melting hearts across the internet with their father-son bonding time.
In a video that has already been viewed thousands of times, a doting dad can be seen singing and doing the “Orange Justice” dance from the Fortnite video game.
Every time he busts a move, the youngster bursts into the most contagious fits of laughter—and the resulting footage is pretty adorable.
(WATCH the sweet video below)
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This rescue pup has been given a whole new leash on life after she was adopted as an official “house dog” at a senior living home—just in the nick of time.
6-year-old Journey had lived in a cage in rural Virginia for most of her life. After her owner died, she was sent to an overcrowded shelter where she was scheduled for euthanasia the very next day.
Thankfully, Amy Creel of the Knine Rescue crew in Ashton, Maryland heard about the pup’s plight and jumped into action.
She and the animal welfare team arranged for Journey to be transported from the Virginia shelter to the neighboring state of Maryland. Several community volunteers helped out by taking turns driving the rescue dog for different legs of the journey until she finally arrived in Ashton.
Coincidentally, the rescue group was actually hosting an adoption event at Sunrise Senior Living Center the day after Journey arrived.
Not only was Journey the featured guest at the adoption event, she made quite an impression on everyone there. Throughout the day, she said hello to strangers, rolled over for belly rubs, and charmed all the seniors at the facility.
The elderly residents ended up being so taken with Journey that the senior center staffers adopted the pup as a “house dog” for the facility.
Journey now spends her days comforting residents, joining them for walks, welcoming visitors, and bringing joy to everyone at the senior center.
“To think that this dog who never had anyone care for her, now has a community of folks looking after her is nothing short of amazing,” Creel told Southern Living. “We are so happy for her.”
Photo by the Indonesian Young Scientists Association
Two Indonesian high-school students used local lore of a plant’s medicinal properties in their own bid to develop a cure for cancer.
The girls, who attend Palangka Raya State High School in Central Kalimantan, presented their inspiring evidence last month at the World Invention Creativity (WICO) event in Seoul, South Korea.
Anggina Rafitri and Aysa Aurealya Maharani decided to test the claims of local traditional medicine by developing a treatment extracted from the native Bajakah tree. Two weeks after performing a study on a rat with cancerous tumors, the animal was cancer-free.
The results showed that the Bajakah tree may indeed contain some kind of potent healing potential. The pair won the gold medal at the event, sparking new hope worldwide for a swift-acting cure for the disease.
Central Kalimantan Governor Sugianto Sabran hosted the two girls at the Isen Mulang Palace last week, where he told them how impressed he was, and that he was ordering the relevant agencies to help them patent their intellectual property rights to the research.
“What they found was extraordinary. Not only is it needed by the Central Kalimantan people, but Indonesia and even the world,” said the governor as reported in a translated JawaPos article.
Although the results using the rat were authentic, Prof. Dr. Aru Sudoyo, the Chairperson of the Indonesian Cancer Foundation, has reminded the public that clinical trials using human patients is a very long and unpredictable process using evidence-based medicine.
Still, the governor of Central Kalimantan has given the teenagers IDR30 million ($2,109) in grants for further research. As a next step, the students will use intermediaries to continue their efforts going forward and to get help raising additional funding, according to Prof. Dr. Budi Wiweko, the Deputy Director of the Indonesian Medical Education Research Institution (IMERI) and Faculty of Medicine at University of Indonesia.
“After such excitement, many people ask, then what will happen to the discovery of intelligent children?” Dr. Wiweko told Kompas.
Photo by the Indonesian Young Scientists Association
He admitted that it would be difficult for the students to continue alone in further clinical trials after the pre-clinical phase, so the university will offer mentorship through its Indonesian Technology Innovation for Health, and provide guidance through the Technology Transfer Office (TTO).
Dr. Wiweko’s medical institute hosts an open innovation event each year so that participants can be trained and given an understanding of how to develop their respective research.
Without usurping the accomplishments of Anggina and Aysa, the Indonesian offices will help them get at the root of what the Bajakah tree has to offer.
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Quote of the Day: “You think you’re nothing, but you’re everything.” – Francis Dunnery (from his upcoming album)
Photo: by Martin Gommel, CC license, via Flickr
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That’s because while the leaders of the two armies were negotiating, the two groups of soldiers began to chat. As they became more and more friendly, the armies decided to combine their separate rations in order to share a meal of “milk soup”, with the Protestants providing the bread and the Catholics providing the milk.
The solidarity that formed between the armies during their makeshift meal allegedly helped the conflict to resolve itself peacefully.
To this day, milk soup—also known as “Kappeler Milchsuppe”—is a beloved staple of Swiss cuisine. Despite how it now involves a few more ingredients than it did on the fabled battlefield several centuries ago, culinary experts still say that milk soup can help bring people together no matter their disagreement.
A University of Adelaide-led research team has developed a new approach to purging water sources of the microplastics that pollute them without harming nearby microorganisms.
Plastic waste finds its way into oceans and rivers poses a global environmental threat with damaging health consequences for animals, humans, and ecosystems.
The researchers have developed a technique to break down the microplastics using tiny coil-shaped carbon-based magnets. Their work is published in the journal Matter.
“Microplastics adsorb organic and metal contaminants as they travel through water and release these hazardous substances into aquatic organisms when eaten, causing them to accumulate all the way up the food chain,” says senior author Shaobin Wang, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Adelaide.
“Carbon nanosprings are strong and stable enough to break these microplastics down into compounds that do not pose such a threat to the marine ecosystem.”
Although often invisible to the naked eye, microplastics are ubiquitous pollutants. Some, such as the exfoliating beads found in popular cosmetics, are simply too small to be filtered out during industrial water treatment. Others are produced indirectly, when larger debris like soda bottles or tires weather amid sun and sand.
To decompose the microplastics, the researchers had to generate short-lived chemicals called reactive oxygen species, which trigger chain reactions that chop the various long molecules that make up microplastics into tiny and harmless segments that dissolve in water. However, reactive oxygen species are often produced using heavy metals such as iron or cobalt, which are dangerous pollutants in their own right and thus unsuitable in an environmental context.
To get around this challenge, the researchers found a greener solution in the form of carbon nanotubes laced with nitrogen to help boost generation of reactive oxygen species. Shaped like springs, the carbon nanotube catalysts removed a significant fraction of microplastics from water samples in their lab over the course of just eight hours.
“It turns out that the degradation products of microplastic are completely harmless, and they can also be used as a carbon source for algae growth,” says project co-leader Dr. Xiaoguang Duan. “The microplastics are completely transformed into carbon dioxide or other harmless substances, and they will not cause any adverse or toxic effects to microorganisms or fish or other animals in water.”
Furthermore, the springs were able to remain stable themselves in the harsh oxidative conditions needed for microplastics breakdown because the coiled shape increases stability and maximizes reactive surface area. As a bonus, the minute springs became magnetic after the team included a small amount of manganese buried far from the surface of the nanotubes to prevent it from leaching into water.
“Having magnetic nanotubes is particularly exciting because this makes it easy to collect them from real wastewater streams for repeated use in environmental remediation,” says Duan.
As no two microplastics are chemically quite the same, the researchers’ next steps will center on ensuring that the nanosprings work on microplastics of different compositions, shapes and origins. They also intend to continue to rigorously confirm the non-toxicity of any chemical compounds occurring as intermediates or by-products during microplastics decomposition.
The researchers also say that those intermediates and byproducts could be harnessed as an energy source for microorganisms that the polluting plastics currently plague. “If plastic contaminants can be repurposed as food for algae growth, it will be a triumph for using biotechnology to solve environmental problems in ways that are both green and cost-efficient,” Professor Wang says.
There is nothing ordinary about this little boy’s adorable experience with his musical heroes.
5-year-old Taylor Hooper was just one of the 35,000 people who were attending the Foo Fighters’ concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland last week.
Not only is the American rock group his favorite band, it was also his first ever concert.
Taylor’s mother, Nikki Hooper, says that she and her husband have always been huge fans of the Foo Fighters. In addition to traveling far and wide to see their shows, they even named their son after the drummer, Taylor Hawkins.
So when the band was due to play in their home city, they decided it was finally time for their son to see their beloved rock and rollers in concert.
“He’s been listening to them since he was born—mainly because me and his dad are massive fans,” Hooper told BBC. “We contacted the event promoters and they said it would be no problem, but that we should be aware it would be a loud music event, so we got Taylor some special headphones. When we got there, everyone was so welcoming to him.”
Throughout the show, concert-goers continuously urged Taylor and his parents to move closer to the stage. Furthermore, Hooper helped her son stand out from the crowd by making him a sign that said he was a 5-year-old attending his first concert.
When Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl eventually caught sight of the sign and read it aloud into the microphone, the crowd began chanting for them to bring the youngster onto the stage—and that’s exactly what he did.
Upon commanding the stage managers to “bring the wee dude up here”, Grohl asked Taylor to show the crowd how to dance.
The pint-sized rocker then spent the entirety of the song busting out his cutest dance moves, making him an “internet sensation” in the process.
Our Taylor's first ever gig. Thank you to @foofighters and to all the staff & crowd. You are all so amazing. Insanely proud of our wee rockstar. Life long memories made at Vital Belfast last night 😜🤘🤘😍 pic.twitter.com/AUDEPlOzVL
“It was a proud moment for us as parents,” Hooper told BBC. “People say you want to meet your rock legends, but for me personally, nothing will beat this. It was a massive moment and I’m not at all jealous because these memories will stay with Taylor forever.”
Taylor didn’t just walk away from the show with memories, either; the band also invited him backstage to give him a number of gifts, including a pair of Taylor Hawkins’s drumsticks.
Calling a suicide prevention hotline will soon be as simple as dialing 911.
Earlier this week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) submitted a report to Congress describing the best possible method of implementing a 3-digit phone number for the federally-funded National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
The 138-page report recommends that Congress designate 988 as the new dialing code to be used for a nationwide suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline, which “would likely make it easier for Americans in crisis to access potentially life-saving resources.”
The report was created in response to the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act of 2018, which was approved in the House in a near unanimous 379-1 vote back in July 2018. It was then signed into effect by President Donald Trump the following month.
“We all know by heart to dial 911 during an emergency. We have fate and confidence that somebody who can help will be on the line. It shouldn’t be any different for someone in a mental health crisis,” said Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) in support of the bill.
Once the report’s recommendation for the new hotline number is approved in the House and Senate, thousands of people are likely to benefit from the legislation.
“Crisis call centers have been shown to save lives,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “This report recommends using a three-digit number to make it easier to access the critical suicide prevention and mental health services these call centers provide. I intend to move forward on this recommendation.
“In the meantime, my heart goes out to anyone facing a crisis. I hope they will contact 1-800-273-TALK for support today,” he added.
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A young man is being praised for his compassion towards a 91-year-old man who was sitting alone for dinner last week.
Lisa Meilander and her family had been eating at Eat’n Park in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania when she noticed how her server was interacting with a senior patron.
The server, Dylan Tetil, had dropped to one knee so he could give his full attention to the gentleman.
“The man apologized for not hearing too well,” Meilander wrote on Facebook. “He had forgotten to put in his hearing aids. He talked about how he lost his hearing during his time in the war. He was 91 years old with many stories to tell. Dylan patiently listened giving him his full attention.
“Eventually the man apologized for talking so much. ‘I’m alone now,’ he said, ‘and I don’t often have someone to talk to.’ Dylan smiled and said he enjoyed listening.
Dylan then helped the man figure pick out a meal from the menu before putting the order into the kitchen.
Meilander was so touched by the exchange, she tried to flag Dylan down so she could offer to pay for the man’s meal. Before she could, however, another patron asked Dylan the same thing—and to his surprise, Dylan said that someone else had already taken care of the check.
“I guess we weren’t the only ones eavesdropping on the conversation,” mused Meilander. “After the man received his food, Dylan came back to say he was on a break. He asked if he could sit with the gentleman as he ate. As we left the restaurant the two of them were conversing and many people seated nearby were smiling. It was a touching sight.”
Before leaving her table, Meilander snapped some pictures of Dylan chatting with the senior and published them to Facebook where they have since been shared thousands of times.
“With all of the negative stories about our youth today, this was a breath of fresh air. I wonder if I would have been as kind and attentive if I were the one working there,” she added. “One thing’s for sure, if you are ever at Eat’n Park in Belle Vernon, ask for Dylan. If he’s your waiter you’re certain to get great service.”
Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Kindness With Your Friends On Social Media…
Quote of the Day: “In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (it’s the 30th anniversary of The Baltic Way)
Photo: by swarnendu ghoshdastidar, CC license, via Flickr
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