This jaw-dropping photo was no walk in the park – figuratively, at least.
American photographer Mike Mezeul II hiked 13 miles through the Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii so he could capture the Milky Way, the moon, and lava all in one shot.
Legendary American folk singer songwriter Bob Dylan has just been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Even though the announcement comes with an abundance of naysayers and raised eyebrows, Dylan’s history of prose and iconic poetry speaks for itself.
The 75-year-old poet has not only created 37 studio albums ranging from grinding rock and roll grooves to acoustically crooning serenades, but he has also written a whimsically mysterious collection of poems called Tarantula and Chronicles – a flowing, buttery autobiographical memoir detailing his rise to fame and his musical trials in New York City. He has also published an encyclopedia of all of his lyrics from 1961-2012.
Dylan’s hits were hailed as being revolutionary during such trying times as the Vietnam War. In his beloved single “The Times Are A-Changin”, you can hear gut-wrenching, politically charged lyrics describing the rocky cultural landscape of the 60s:
““Come mothers and fathers throughout the land And don’t criticize what you can’t understand Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand For the times they are a’ changin’!””
When Secretary of the Swedish Academy Sara Danils was asked about whether the musician deserved the prize, she simply said:
“Well of course he does — he just got it. He is a great poet in the English speaking tradition, and he is a wonderful sampler. … For 54 years now, he’s been at it and reinventing himself constantly, creating a new identity.”
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As the elevator started to go, security footage captured Ben’s quick reflexes as he scoops the pooch up and tears the leash away from its collar with his bare hands.
The owner, who had been sweating bullets as he came back downstairs started crying tears of gratitude when he saw Boo Boo was safe.
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This videographer was just taking his drone for a spin over the flooding and damage from Hurricane Matthew – he wasn’t expecting to save any lives.
But after he posted a photo of a suburban neighborhood in Hope Mills, North Carolina almost entirely underwater on Twitter, he received an incredible message.
Aspiring photographer Quavas Hart was contacted by a man in Austin, Texas saying that the flooded house in the photo was where his twin brother Chris Williams was trapped inside with his elderly dog Lana.
Chris had already tried to call 911 twenty or thirty times with no success because of the overwhelming amount of rescue help needed after the storm.
Hart was about to prep his boat for rescue when he noticed a Federal Emergency Management Agency boat nearby. He used his drone to get their attention before saying that they should follow the robot to where a man was trapped in his home.
The million to one chance that Hart would publish the specific photo of Chris’s house is a miracle that the three will never forget.
As Craig wrote on the GoFundMe page for his brother, “He later told me he didn’t realize how being trapped had affected him until he reached shore and felt that relief I guess only soldiers feel when they get back from a mission with all their friends alive.”
This 87-year-old grandma wasn’t expecting a pizza delivery boy to show up at her door– nor was she expecting him to also be delivering a message from her grandson.
Claire Olsen’s phone lines were disconnected following the wake of Hurricane Matthew, making it impossible for her to contact friends and family to let them know she was okay. Her worried grandson in Omaha, Nebraska, however, got tired of waiting and sent someone to check on her.
After calling the local Papa John’s in Palm Coast, Florida, he ordered a pepperoni pizza to be delivered to his grandmother’s house with instructions to call his phone number once they arrived.
When Lance Tyler dialed the number in front of Claire’s house, her grandson answered in a panic, still worried about the senior. Though Claire was initially confused about the unsolicited pie, her face lit up at the sound of her relative’s voice.
Lance may have received an extremely hefty tip for his good deed, but he said the whole experience was far more inspiring than any gratuity.
The younger patients of children’s hospitals might have a hard time keeping their spirits up during treatment, but this organization is showing that all it takes is a little dancing.
Dancin Power is a nonprofit organization that gives free dance lessons to children in hospice care. Since their debut in 2006, instructors have been inspiring sick kids to find joy and healing through dance.
The teachers are trained to customize their lessons for whatever disabilities the children may have. Whether they’re wheelchair-bound, or need to stay in sterilized environments, Dancin Power volunteers are ready to accommodate any hinderance.
The dancing doesn’t just give the youth joy during their illness – it also gives them a chance to exercise and have fun.
“Every day we learn so much from our kids, they are so resilient and strong even when facing challenging times,” Dancin Power said on their Facebook. “We are grateful to be a positive part of their lives during those hard times. We hope that you too can find strength and resilience when facing hard times!”
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Though thousands of families in the southeastern United States are fleeing their homes because of Hurricane Matthew’s devastation, thousands more homes are opening their doors to let them in.
Thanks to Airbnb’s Disaster Response Program, hosts nearby the danger zone have been emailed requests to nullify their fees for hurricane evacuees – and many are rising to the occasion.
The program started in October 2012 following the destruction of Hurricane Sandy on the East coast because of one host in Brooklyn offering his home up for free. Over 1,000 other New Yorkers followed his example and welcomed victims and families into their own homes.
Through collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Airbnb has been educating hosts on proper response and procedure following natural disasters.
The program also helps on-site disaster relief volunteers find housing near their target areas.
“Throughout my career, I’ve seen the terrible devastation that disasters can inflict, but I’ve also seen the powerful ways that communities come together to respond and recover,” says Kellie Bentz, Airbnb’s Head of Global Disaster Relief. “At Airbnb we have a real opportunity to use our disaster response program to help these communities in a time of need. We look forward to collaborating more with agencies like FEMA around the world.”
Hilton Worldwide’s industry-leading parental leave policies now cover both hourly and salaried Team Members at Hilton’s owned and managed properties, as well as the company’s corporate offices. The new policies represent the best parental leave benefits offered by any major global hospitality company in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The benefits available to Team Members at owned and managed hotels and corporate offices with one year of service or greater include:
All new parents – including fathers and adoptive parents – receive two weeks of fully paid parental leave.
New mothers who give birth receive an additional eight weeks of maternity leave, for a total of 10 weeks of fully paid leave.
Hilton remains committed to creating an environment that supports balance between work and family for its Team Members across all areas of the company. Hilton’s hourly Team Members in the U.S., who account for approximately 75 percent of the company’s U.S. workforce, will be covered under these new parental leave policies.
The newly-implemented parental leave policies are just one example of Hilton’s commitment to offering benefits that provide greater personal and professional flexibility to Team Members. In 2015, Hilton announced a new GED Assistance program to help Team Members in the U.S. earn their high school equivalency. In addition, the company introduced 10-day advanced scheduling for hourly Team Members and continued to expand remote workforce opportunities.
“When our Team Members feel great about where they work, it is reflected in the exceptional experience that they provide to our guests,” said Matt Schuyler, Chief Human Resources Officer, Hilton Worldwide. “We are proud to continue driving significant change in our industry by introducing parental leave policies that reflect our strong support for all Hilton Team Members and their families.”
Though smart phones have taken over the attention spans of most of the population, the people of France have shown that they prefer a bit of light reading instead.
Over 32 short story vending machines have started spreading around the European country, attracting tourists and locals alike.
Installed in train stations from Grenoble to Paris, the little metal machines have ‘1’, ‘3’, and ‘5’, minute buttons for how many minutes it would take to read the given story. Once selected, a long thick strip of paper is printed out the front featuring a story for the reader. There are over 5,000 stories that are anonymously submitted and downloaded into the machines, including romance, horror, comedy, and mystery – and they’re all for free.
Short Edition, the publishing company responsible for the machines, aren’t surprised by their brain child’s success.
“The written word isn’t dead,” Christophe Sibieude, the co-founder of Short Édition, told the New Yorker earlier this year. “Smartphones have blurred the limits between our professional life and our distractions. The paper format provides a break from omnipresent screens. People may not have reacted so strongly to our vending machines six years ago, when smartphones hadn’t become essential to all parts of our lives yet.”
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4 years ago, Aiden Heath discovered that he had type 1 diabetes – and that he could get a service dog to help him manage it.
Even though certified service dogs usually cost up to $15,000, Aiden’s mom Jenni told him to start saving his pennies and he would be there in no time.
4 years later in April 2016, the 8-year-old boy had saved $6,000 in change. His inspiring story, however got him national coverage. Before he knew it, strangers had crowdfunded another $20,000 for his dream dog.
That’s when they adopted Angel, a chocolate Labrador who had passed all of her service tests.
With Angel by Aiden’s side, she will be able to smell his blood sugar drop thirty minutes before a meter would ever register the change – she is also the best friend a boy could ask for.
“Aiden looked at me and said, ‘This is a dream,’” Jenni told WABC. “We have been so amazed by the outpouring of support,” Jenni Heath said. “He is feeling the love. … There are no words.”
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Thanks to a new bill signed by United States President Barack Obama on October 7th, all male and female restrooms in government buildings must have baby-changing facilities.
Since it was proposed in April by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in April, the bill received enthusiastic bipartisan support.
“Government needs to do more to ensure that public buildings are family-friendly. No mom or dad should ever have to worry about finding a safe, sanitary place to change their baby ― least of all in a federal building that’s paid for by taxpayers,” Cicilline stated on his website.
Even though the legislation is yet to extend to public restrooms, it is still a big step forward for parents of both genders.
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United Kingdom conservationists are jumping for joy over the births of two critically endangered newborn black rhinos.
The mothers of the calves, Grumeti and Zawadi, were both bred in captivity at the Aspinall Foundation’s Port Lympne wildlife park. In 2012, they were moved from the center in Kent, England, to Mount Kilimanjoro in Tanzania where they mated with another offspring of the park named Jamie.
Grumeti’s baby has been fondly dubbed Mobo while Zawadi’s child is awaiting its own proper name.
Damian Aspinall, chairman of The Aspinall Foundation said: “Mobo’s birth illustrates perfectly our passionate belief in the true role of modern conservation as being committed to the survival of threatened species in their natural territories. We believe this is preferable, wherever possible, to simply keeping them caged in an existence which does little for prospects of long term survival.”
Altogether, The Aspinall Foundation has successfully released eight black rhino back into the wild, as well as more than 60 gorillas and scores of other smaller primates including lemurs, langur and gibbons. Further releases are planned as part of The Aspinall Foundations vision to re-stock the wild with endangered species.
This 13-year-old just revolutionized an age-old problem in medicine using a remarkably simple method.
Anushka Naiknaware from Beaverton, Oregon became one of the top eight finalists of an international Google-run science competition after she invented bandages that notify doctors when they needed to be changed.
Using graphene nanoparticles and ink, the bandages start to display fractal patterns when they detect that moisture levels have dropped. Bandages need to be dampened in order to properly heal wounds, but changing bandages too often can be harmful to an injury. This way, medical officials no longer have to rely on guesswork.
Since she won the Lego Education Builder award for engineering, the 7th grader from Stoller Middle School was given a $15,000 scholarship, a free vacation to the Lego World Headquarters in Denmark with her parents, and a mentorship with Lego executives for entrepreneurship.
Anushka, who became the youngest recipient of the prize, plans on getting her invention patented and approved by the Food and Drug Administration so it can be put to use in hospitals worldwide.
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If you’re a fan of art, surrealism, cooking, or all three, then this bizarrely picturesque cookbook is for you.
Since Salvador Dalí’s Le Diners de Gala was published in 1973, only 400 copies are thought to remain after the first and final printing. Now Taschen, a German publishing company, is re-releasing the cookbook in hardcover to the masses.
“Les Diners de Gala is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of taste…” Dalí once said of his book. “If you are a disciple of one of those calorie-counters who turn the joys of eating into a form of punishment, close this book at once; it is too lively, too aggressive, and far too impertinent for you.”
The 136 peculiar recipes that are compiled and illustrated into the manual are all based off of actual feasts that Salvador and his wife Gala would serve at parties. From toffee with pine cones, to crayfish mountains, the book is a masterpiece of dishes that stimulate the artistic eyes as well as the taste buds.
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Mariana Walker didn’t have much time following her fight with cancer – but at least that time was made sweeter by her choir students.
Ms. Walker had been a choir teacher at Alvin Junior High School in Alvin, Texas for 17 years. Her students, after hearing about her release from hospice care, wanted to do something special as a thank you for her constant enthusiasm and encouragement.
The teens gathered outside of her house and sang a heartwarming rendition of “Ocean” by Hillsong United.
12 minutes after the kids left, Ms. Walker passed away.
“Mrs. Walker marched to a different beat,” Cindi Lee Cooper-Fields, who filmed the video, told ABC News. “She was artistic. She never wanted to be a teacher and taught for 17 years at Alvin Junior High School. Everybody deserved to have a teacher or a friend like this. She went out in style. She did it big she did it her way.”
We already know how trees create oxygen, but what about creating energy as well?
A sustainability company known as New Wind is installing tree-shaped wind turbines all around the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France.
The biomimetic structures may not generate as much energy as conventionally-sized turbines, however the more attractive natural aesthetic will be able to harness the smaller currents throughout the city while also blending with urban environments.
The tiny spinning blades inside the “leaves” accumulate microelectricity from even the slightest breezes. Because of its sensitive design, each wind tree could generate anywhere from 15 street lamps worth of wattage to the power necessary for over 10,000 miles in an electric car
Biomimetic architecture is a practice that draws inspiration from nature’s effortless methods of survival. The engineer behind L’Arbre À Vent, Jérôme Michaud-Larivière, got the idea for his green project when he saw the leaves on the city trees moving even when there wasn’t any wind.
In a sparkling show of bipartisanship, the House of Representatives and Congress passed the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights on Friday, October 7th.
The legislation emphasizes survivors’ free access to rape kits, which are key pieces of evidence necessary for a proper court case.
Because prosecution can be expensive and time-consuming procedures, survivors often put off taking charges to court until proper affairs and resources are in order.
Yet thousands of survivors are charged money for the preservation of their rape kits or have found their rape kits destroyed by the state without their consent. Victims also report never being told their test results even after being examined.
Thanks to the new bill, however, patients will never again be charged fees for a rape kit’s preservation and will have the unalienable right of vetoing the state’s decision to destroy the evidence. Survivors will also be guaranteed notification of test results following examination.
“The uneven patchwork of laws across the country and the lack of substantive rights for sexual-assault survivors prevent them from having full access to the justice system,” California representative Mimi Walters said on the House floor. “Survivors of sexual assault have faced unspeakable trauma, and they should not face unnecessary barriers to justice.”
These 7 baby opossums were in dire straits, but thanks to a loving pup named Pretinha and her owner Stephanie Maldonado, these tiny marsupials have found a new life.
Stephanie was called to her uncle’s house when his dog attacked and killed a mother possum in his backyard.
The critter’s now-orphaned babies – who hadn’t even opened their eyes yet – must have been only a few days old when they were found strewn about the grass.
Stephanie took the helpless creatures home where she nursed them back to health – with the help of Pretinha, of course.
Since baby marsupials usually stay in their mother’s pouch for the first few weeks after birth, Stephanie wasn’t sure that they could survive without the motherly attention they needed.
Pretinha, however, rose to the maternal role beautifully.
The canine regularly snuggles with her adoptive children, licks them clean after a day’s romp, and even gives them piggy-back rides when they go out for walks.
Even though Pretinha makes a fabulous mother, Stephanie hopes to release the opossums back into the wild once they’re healthy and older.
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A British woman recently given a significant promotion in the world of aviation has shown that the glass ceiling doesn’t reach 39,000 feet.
26-year-old Kate McWilliams has recently become one of the youngest commercial airline captains in the world and the youngest female captain – ever.
“Personally, I don’t think my age matters,” Kate told the Guardian. “I’ve been through the same training and passed the same command course as every other captain, so I’ve proven myself capable regardless of my age. I do now get asked how old I am on an almost daily basis, which didn’t used to happen when I was a first officer.”
“It clearly demonstrates to other young women that it is possible to succeed as a pilot in commercial aviation,” Julie Westhrop of the International Society of Women Airline Pilots
The WBPA states that out of the 130,000 pilots worldwide, only 4,000 are women. That’s only 3.1%. Furthermore, only a speculated 450 are captains.
Smaller figures for female employment in aeronautics elicits a greater appreciation for Kate’s achievements, but their numbers should also encourage change in the industry.
EasyJet has noted this, and announced plans to encourage women in aviation.
“Currently 5% of the over 2,600 pilots employed by easyJet are female and women make up 5-6% of easyJet’s new entrant pilots. We plan to double the proportion of female new entrants to 12% over the next two years.”
Kate’s job is to captain commercial airlines – but in getting herself where she is now, she has a new purpose; namely, to serve as one of the few role models for young aspiring female pilots.
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