upworthy
Heroes

Thanks to a new invention, sponges may soon help save shooting victims.

After getting FDA approval, this handy device will soon be making its way to first responders.

While debate over how to reduce gun violence carries on, there's a new tool that might, at least, help victims of it.

It's called the XSTAT, and it's a wonderful, ridiculously simple invention that's sure to save lives in coming years.

Invented by John Steinbaugh, a former U.S. Army special forces medic, XSTAT was the result of a request from the Army for something to replace gauze, the go-to battlefield wound-packer for decades. Steinbaugh decided to see whether it'd be possible to replace gauze with sponges that can both absorb blood and apply pressure to gunshot or shrapnel wounds.

Here he is discussing his invention in a 2014 episode of "PBS NewsHour."


Simple! Effective! Life-saving! GIF from "PBS NewsHour."

Sponges are injected into the wound, clotting the blood.

The sponges are coated with blood-clotting chemicals and have been shown to stop bleeding after just 20 seconds (as opposed to three to five minutes with gauze).

Here's what it looks like in action. (Pretend that the opening in this Erlenmeyer flask is a bullet wound and the blue liquid is blood.)


Sponges are injected into the wound. GIF from "PBS NewsHour."


Within seconds, they clot the wound, expanding and applying pressure. GIF from "PBS NewsHour."

This helps buy precious time to get the victim to a surgeon.

As Dr. Martin Schreiber — chief of trauma at the Oregon Health and Science University and colonel in the Army Reserve — tells PBS, the difference between 20 seconds and three minutes can mean the difference between life and death.


GIF from "PBS NewsHour."

"According to the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, 30 to 40 percent of civilian deaths by traumatic injury are the result of hemorrhaging," reads the FDA's notice of approval for the XSTAT 30 (the version made for first responders, paramedics, police officers, and the like). "Of those deaths, 33 to 56 percent percent occur before the patient reaches a hospital."

Of course, the XSTAT is not a cure-all. There are some catches involved.

For one, certain factors like the size and shape of the wound will determine whether the XSTAT 30 is the most effective option. And, of course, this is merely to help buy time for a victim to get to a hospital, at which point the sponges (marked with an "X" that will show up on X-rays) need to be removed.

But it's a quick, simple update to some old technology.

I could watch this GIF all day. GIF from "PBS NewsHour."

If there's one thing we can take away from this invention, it's that solutions don't always need to be sophisticated.

Sometimes the best inventions and innovations come from the simplest ideas. For example, take this gravity-powered light that's been popping up in countries where electricity is scarce.

Behold! The gravity light! GIF from Therefore.

So whether it's updating a battlefield staple like gauze or using forces of nature to stand in for electricity, look around! You never know where the next great invention will come from.

To learn more about this invention and its uses, check out this video from "PBS NewsHour."

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Joy

5 things that made us smile this week

Grab your tissues and read some seriously good news.

Grab your tissues and get ready for some seriously good news.

True

After a harrowing election season, we could all use an emotional pick-me-up. Thankfully, the internet never fails to deliver. Check out five uplifting stories we’ve found that made us smile this week.

Enjoy—and don't forget to share the love!

1. This toddler's adorable reaction

@vita.paskar This is when things start to get exciting 🥹 when they begin to understand! #fyp #christmas #target #toddler ♬ Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

Victoria Paskar’s son Ellis had just been born last December, so when it came to appreciating the magic of the holiday season, it wasn't something he was really able to do. This year, however, that’s changed: In an adorable TikTok video, Paskar caught the moment when Ellis (now a toddler) notices the lit-up trees and holiday decorations. So magical and pure in every way.

2. More meals for seniors in need

Subaru - Share the Love Event and Meals on Wheels

Hunger is a national problem, and one that Subaru is helping to fix. Thanks to the Subaru Share the Love Event, Subaru has delivered more than 4.6 million meals and friendly visits to seniors facing hunger and isolation. Since 2008, Subaru is the largest automotive donor to Meals on Wheels—and they’re just getting started. With every new Subaru sale, Subaru and its retailers donate at least $300 to charities like Meals on Wheels.

3. This five-year-old piano prodigy brings down the house with Mozart

Alberto Cartuccia Cingolani wows audiences with his amazing musical talents.Pianoforte/Facebook

A clip of a five-year-old performing at the 10th International Music Competition in Italy is now going viral, and it’s no surprise why. To little to even reach the pedals with his feet, Alberto Cartuccia Cingolani still wows the audience with a masterful performance of a Mozart piece. According to his mother, Alberto had participated in seven national and international music competitions and won first place in all of them, all by the time he was four and a half. It’s like he’s channeling Amadeus himself.

4. An adopted man reunites with his bio mom and forms a "sweet" connection

Lenore Lindsey and Vamarr HunterABC 7 / YouTube

When 50-year-old Vamarr Hunter decided to take a genealogy test to find his biological mother, he had no idea how close he had already been to finding her. After a genealogy test, Hunter discovered that his mother, Lenore Lindsey, who had given him up for adoption as an infant, was actually the owner of “Give Me Some Sugar” in South Shore Chicago—Hunter’s favorite bakery. The two experienced an “immediate connection” after meeting, and after Lindsey suffered a stroke, Hunter stepped in to manage the bakery full-time. No, you’re crying.

5. A teacher uses AI to inspire her classroom

Now this is wholesome: An elementary teacher in Turkey named Gülümser Balci used artificial intelligence to create images of her students as their future selves in their dream jobs. Each kid is shocked and delighted to see themselves as adults, living out their dreams.

For more things that'll make you smile, check out all the ways Subaru is sharing the love this holiday season, here.

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Education

Why didn't people smile in old photographs? It wasn't just about the long exposure times.

People blame these serious expressions on how long they had to sit for a photo, but that's not the whole picture.

Public domain images

Photos from the 1800s were so serious.

If you've ever perused photographs from the 19th and early 20th century, you've likely noticed how serious everyone looked. If there's a hint of a smile at all, it's oh-so-slight, but more often than not, our ancestors looked like they were sitting for a sepia-toned mug shot or being held for ransom or something. Why didn't people smile in photographs? Was life just so hard back then that nobody smiled? Were dour, sour expressions just the norm?

Most often, people's serious faces in old photographs are blamed on the long exposure time of early cameras, and that's true. Taking a photo was not an instant event like it is now; people had to sit still for many minutes in the 1800s to have their photo taken.

Ever try holding a smile for only one full minute? It's surprisingly difficult and very quickly becomes unnatural. A smile is a quick reaction, not a constant state of expression. Even people we think of as "smiley" aren't toting around full-toothed smiles for minutes on end. When you had to be still for several minutes to get your photo taken, there was just no way you were going to hold a smile for that long.

But there are other reasons besides long exposure times that people didn't smile in early photographs.

1800s photographsWhy so serious? Public domain

The non-smiling precedent had already been set by centuries of painted portraits

The long exposure times for early photos may have contributed to serious facial expressions, but so did the painted portraits that came before them. Look at all of the portraits of famous people throughout history prior to cameras. Sitting to be painted took hours, so smiling was out of the question. Other than the smallest of lip curls like the Mona Lisa, people didn't smile for painted portraits, so why would people suddenly think it normal to flash their pearly whites (which were not at all pearly white back then) for a photographed one? It simply wasn't how it was done.

A smirk? Sometimes. A full-on smile? Practically never.

"Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci, painted in 1503Public domain

Smiling usually indicated that you were a fool or a drunkard

Our perceptions of smiling have changed dramatically since the 1800s. In explaining why smiling was considered taboo in portraits and early photos, art historian Nicholas Jeeves wrote in Public Domain Review:

"Smiling also has a large number of discrete cultural and historical significances, few of them in line with our modern perceptions of it being a physical signal of warmth, enjoyment, or indeed of happiness. By the 17th century in Europe it was a well-established fact that the only people who smiled broadly, in life and in art, were the poor, the lewd, the drunk, the innocent, and the entertainment […] Showing the teeth was for the upper classes a more-or-less formal breach of etiquette."

"Malle Babbe" by Frans Hals, sometime between 1640 and 1646Public domain

In other words, to the Western sensibility, smiling was seen as undignified. If a painter did put a smile on the subject of a portrait, it was a notable departure from the norm, a deliberate stylistic choice that conveyed something about the artist or the subject.

Even the artists who attempted it had less-than-ideal results. It turns out that smiling is such a lively, fleeting expression that the artistically static nature of painted portraits didn't lend itself well to showcasing it. Paintings that did have subjects smiling made them look weird or disturbing or drunk. Simply put, painting a genuine, natural smile didn't work well in portraits of old.

As a result, the perception that smiling was an indication of lewdness or impropriety stuck for quite a while, even after Kodak created snapshot cameras that didn't have the long exposure time problem. Even happy occasions had people nary a hint of joy in the photographs that documented them.

wedding party photoEven wedding party photos didn't appear to be joyful occasions.Wikimedia Commons

Then along came movies, which may have changed the whole picture

So how did we end up coming around to grinning ear to ear for photos? Interestingly enough, it may have been the advent of motion pictures that pushed us towards smiling being the norm.

Photos could have captured people's natural smiles earlier—we had the technology for taking instant photos—but culturally, smiling wasn't widely favored for photos until the 1920s. One theory about that timing is that the explosion of movies enabled us to see emotions of all kinds playing out on screen, documenting the fleeting expressions that portraits had failed to capture. Culturally, it became normalized to capture, display and see all kind of emotions on people's faces. As we got more used to that, photo portraits began portraying people in a range of expression rather than trying to create a neutral image of a person's face.

Changing our own perceptions of old photo portraits to view them as neutral rather than grumpy or serious can help us remember that people back then were not a bunch of sourpusses, but people who experienced as wide a range of emotion as we do, including joy and mirth. Unfortunately, we just rarely get to see them in that state before the 1920s.

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Heroes

Dad who can't swim rescues his toddler when their car is engulfed by flood waters

Nearby homeowners took the pair in to help them.

Photo credit: Canva

Dad who can't swim saves toddler from car during flood

Flooding can be extremely dangerous, especially flash flooding that seems to come out of nowhere during a torrential downpour. That type of flooding can be deceiving because it can take over roads so quickly that you don't realize it's flooded as badly as it is. Navigating flooding roads with your young child in the backseat is a recipe for a panic attack if things go wrong.

During a particularly nasty downpour, a new dad found himself in a stressful situation with his 11-month-old toddler while attempting to make their way home. Andre Randles lives in England with his partner Paige Newsome and their child Luca. The town had been getting snow and pretty significant rain which led to Randles being sent on another route due to road closures.

But the road closures sent him on a course that resulted in driving straight into a flooded area with no way to turn around. The water covered road he and his baby were on had an unexpected and sudden dip in it which resulted in the vehicle sinking quickly. Randles didn't have time to think, just act and it's a good thing, too. The father of one doesn't know how to swim and the realization that he and his child could drown if swimming were required may have caused him to freeze with fear.


"As soon as I saw danger, saw the water coming into the car and we were no longer floating and starting to sink, something switched in me. I thought I needed to get out and get Luca out," Randles tells the BBC.

That's exactly what he did. Randles rolled down the car windows climbing out before pulling his baby out through the back window in water that came to the man's chest. It was mere seconds before the entire car was almost completely submerged in the flood waters.

Giphy

Randles recalls to SkyNews, "I saw the water rising and it just clicked in my head I need to get me and my baby out of here safe so I wound down the window, climbed out wound down his window pulled him out and the water was about chest high. So I carried him above my head to make sure he hasn't touched any of the water or anything to try to keep him dry and warm."

The deep flood waters took Randles by surprise as he shares with SkyNews that he didn't feel like it was raining heavily at the time and had driven in much heavier rain. Pictures of the vehicle began to spread on social media which prompted Newsome to comment on one of them identifying the family's vehicle.

fathers day cute baby GIFGiphy

"This is our car, such a scary experience for my partner having to pull our 11 month old baby whilst the water was flooding into the car," the young mom reveals. "Calderdale Council need to sort this out ASAP! They have been getting notified about this part of Woodhouse Road multiple times by the owners of the house next to wear our car is parked."

The entire ordeal terrified the young family, "just imagine if my partner didn’t think fast enough to get the windows open to climb out and then get my son out. I dread to think," Newsome shares in another comment about her car.


The area where this happened is prone to flooding according to residents interviewed by news stations local to them, and residents who comment on the Calderdale Council Facebook page. They've been asking for something to do be done to address the excessive flooding but so far they haven't had much luck. Thankfully for Randles, he was able to escape the flooding and seek temporary refuge with a nearby resident who allowed them to get dry while waiting for rescue vehicles to reach them.

"To think that I could've actually lost them both makes me a bit emotional, yeah it's really scary. It's just a horrible thing to think about isn't it," Newsome reflects to the outlet.

Horrible indeed, hopefully the family never has to experience such a close call like this again and baby Luca will remain none the wiser.

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Pets

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

The French Bulldog’s popularity has grown exponentially over the past decade. They were the #14 most popular breed in 2012, and since then, registrations have gone up 1,000%, bringing them to the top of the breed popularity rankings.

The AKC says that the American Hairless Terrier, Gordon Setter, Italian Greyhound and Anatolian Shepherd Dog also grew in popularity between 2021 and 2022.

The French Bulldog was famous among America’s upper class around the turn of the 20th century but then fell out of favor. Their resurgence is partly based on several celebrities who have gone public with their Frenchie love. Leonardo DiCaprio, Megan Thee Stallion, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Reese Witherspoon and Lady Gaga all own French Bulldogs.

The breed earned a lot of attention as show dogs last year when a Frenchie named Winston took second place at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and first in the National Dog Show.

The breed made national news in early 2021 when Gaga’s dog walker was shot in the chest while walking two of her Frenchies in a dog heist. He recovered from his injuries, and the dogs were later returned.

They’ve also become popular because of their unique look and personalities.

“They’re comical, friendly, loving little dogs,” French Bull Dog Club of America spokesperson Patty Sosa told the AP. She said they are city-friendly with modest grooming needs and “they offer a lot in a small package.”

They are also popular with people who live in apartments. According to the AKC, Frenchies don’t bark much and do not require a lot of outdoor exercise.

The French Bulldog stands out among other breeds because it looks like a miniature bulldog but has large, expressive bat-like ears that are its trademark feature. However, their popularity isn’t without controversy. “French bulldogs can be a polarizing topic,” veterinarian Dr. Carrie Stefaniak told the AP.

american kennel club, french bulldog, most popular dog

An adorable French Bulldog

via Pixabay

French Bulldogs have been bred to have abnormally large heads, which means that large litters usually need to be delivered by C-section, an expensive procedure that can be dangerous for the mother. They are also prone to multiple health problems, including skin, ear, and eye infections. Their flat face means they often suffer from respiratory problems and heat intolerance.

Frenchies are also more prone to spine deformations and nerve pain as they age.

Here are the AKC’s top ten most popular dog breeds for 2022.

1 French Bulldogs

2 Labrador Retrievers

3 Golden Retrievers

4 German Shepherd Dogs

5 Poodles

6 Bulldogs

7 Rottweilers

8 Beagles

9 Dachshunds

10 German Shorthaired Pointers


This article originally appeared last year.

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Joy

Oldest Home Depot employee in North America shares the key to living a happy life

A beautiful reminder to "treat the world like your family."

Photo credit: Canva

There's always a good reason to be kind.

We’ve all seen those videos where an influencer, posing as a regular joe, asks a person for help, and when that person does say yes to helping, the influencer repays that kindness with money, tickets to a game or some other amazing surprise.

This is the content bread and butter for Youtuber Zachery Dereniowski, otherwise known as @mdmotivator, one of the main catalysts of this philanthropic viral trend. Dereniowski has tons of videos capturing the exact moment when unsuspecting strangers had their lives changed forever, all because their generosity was recognized.

This time, our recipient ends up being the giver twice, thanks to the hard earned wisdom they depart.

In the video, Dereniowski appears at a Home Depot, and asks the friendly employee there, David Frank, and asks him for a dollar to purchase a nail since he “left his wallet at home” (this is one of Dereniowski’s signature setups).

After admitting he doesn't have any money from him, Frank asks Dereniowski what he needs the bolt for. When Dereniowski replies that it’s for his son’s desk, Frank not only decides he goes to pay for the bolt on his credit card, he marches back to the bolt aisle to select the right one for the job.

“[Why] are you gonna help me?” Dereniowski asks. To which Frank replies, “well you’re stuck and you have a problem, so we’re gonna try to help you.” Plain and simple.

It’s then we learn that only a week ago, an entire section of the Home Depot was cleared to celebrate Frank’s 100th birthday. He even made headlines as “The oldest Home Depot employee in North America.”

Dereniowski then asks Frank, “what’s the key to living a long, healthy life?”

“Treat the world like your family,” says Frank. “Be nice to them. Be sensible. That’s all.”


@mdmotivator “I am 100 years old” 🥹❤️ #kindness #homedepot #help #money #support #surprise #wholesome ♬ original sound - Zachery Dereniowski

Yep, we pretty much just got a Mister Rogers moment IRL. But Franks’s words are more than just platitudes. Research has indeed indicated that kindness can lead to longevity by giving us a sense of purpose, helping us connect to others and (perhaps most science-y of all) keeping inflammation levels down. But honestly, no amount of supporting evidence can really compare to how good we feel when being kind, compassionate and generous.

Clearly sticking to his message, when Dereniowski admits he did actually have his wallet with him and hands over $1000, Frank says that he’ll use the money to help another stranger. After he recovers from being stunned, that is.

Aside from getting a surprise grand, interactions like these are all in a day’s work for Frank. In his interview with Windsor Star, the centenarian shared that he enjoys his job because he gets to meet people and help solve their problems, saying “it keeps me busy and in the loop.” While there are certainly pros and cons to working after retirement age, this certainly shows how keeping busy can be beneficial. Not just busy, but mission oriented.

As for whether or not Frank plans to quit anytime soon, it seems he’s prioritizing “staying active.”

“What would I do? Sit at home and end up getting blisters on my rear end?” he told the Windsor star. “No way. I would never want to (spend) it that way.”

That’s the spirit, Frank. Here’s to another go round the sun.

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Joy

A man left a note after backing into a woman's car. Their text exchanges are peak wholesome.

Humans are just wonderful sometimes.

Photo credit: Canva, @martusameri/Reddit

Woman's reaction to a note on her car has people smiling.

People leave notes on strangers' cars for a host of reasons. Sometimes it's an anonymous compliment or word of encouragement. Sometimes it's a complaint about someone's parking. Sometimes it's a sales pitch for a car wash or legal services. Sometimes it's an apology for a woopsie—opening a car door or losing control of a shopping cart, dinging a stranger's vehicle.

Often the note is where the communication ends—but not always. When a man left a note on a woman's car after accidentally backing into it, she responded to him by text and their exchange has people feeling a bit better about humanity.

The exchange took place in early November 2024, the night after the incident, and it begins:

"Hey Dan this is Katie—I got your note on my car last night. Honestly I don't really see any damage—maybe the license plate is slightly crunched? Did you just back straight into the front? I don't see anything else that wasn't already there. Unless my bumper randomly falls off while I'm driving today I think you're good. 🙂 Thanks so much for leaving the note, I really appreciate it."

First of all, Dan could have bailed after bumping her car and not left a note at all. Katie could have ignored the note and went on her merry way since she wasn't bothered by it. Or worse, she could have bilked Dan or his insurance company for money. Instead, we get to see two strangers in a wholesome exchange characterized by goodwill, good faith and good feels all around.

Dan replied back: "Hi! I think I backed into your driver door. It wasn't too hard but it was late/dark so I really couldn't see much but it looked like I may have dented the door. I wasn't sure so I just wanted to leave my number."

He wasn't even sure if he had damaged her car, but he left a note anyway.

That's some seriously good karma there, Dan.

Katie reassured him that it was already dented, to which Dan replied, "lol 🫣 thank goodness I was like OH NO WHAT HAVE I DONE."

Three cry laugh emojis from Katie, followed by, "You're totally fine. This car has 415,000 miles on it literally as long as it runs I do not care. Hope you have a great Sunday!"

Dan shared that he had gone to the liquor store on the corner to get a pen so he could leave the note because he felt terrible about the dent. "Thanks for being so great!" he wrote, adding that her car and she were "amazing."

"Omg haha that's so nice! No worries at all," Katie responded. Then they wished one another a wonderful day. Let's just sit here for a moment and relish in how lovely and wholesome that whole thing was.

People reacted by sharing similar stories of car incidents gone right.

"I had a kid leave me a note yeeeears ago on an old Chevy Malibu I was driving, and it said he’d hit my car and dented it, and to call him. I called him and said I couldn’t tell him which dent was his 😂 but that he was a good kid. We had a nice laugh together and I still think about him. I hope he still has those ethics and has had a wonderful life."

"Once in college I was driving my beater 1995 Ford Escort during a snowstorm. I slid out of a parking lot right into a car slowly traveling down the snowy street - totally my fault. I jumped out and immediately apologized profusely. He was driving something equally beater-y, like a mid-90s civic or something. After a few seconds surveying the damage, he just said 'Look, I drive a piece of shit, you drive a piece of shit. I could really care less about this honestly, so let's just move along.' We shook hands and went about our days. 10/10 best fender-bender outcome."

"Same thing a few years ago with my 2004 Explorer at a university parking lot. Someone left me a note saying they hit my car, but not which part. Spent 15 minutes trying to tell which scratch/dent was new before I texted them to not worry about it and thanks for the honesty."

Some people tried to spin the exchange into a rom-com style meet cute, but Dan clarified in the comments that he is married. ( In fact, his wife was in the car with him when it happened—they were out on a date because of course they were.)

This simple exchange between two genuinely good people with nothing to gain from being kind hit people right in their humanity.

"You sir are what we need more of in society. Good old fashioned honest person with integrity. Good karma was returned to you for being honest."

"She's a real one, too! She could have easily taken that omission about the door and milked it for cash money or put you through an insurance claim. Both of y'all seem like excellent people. This exchange really did make me smile!"

"This short little back in forth they provided us restored my faith in humanity. Both just being honest and chill."

"What a nice post. Many people would see this as an opportunity to get money or the car fixed even if not OPs fault. But make OP pay. Love the thoughtfulness and honesty of Dan. And love the thoughtfulness and honesty of Katie!"

"Two lovely people. As you get older you learn to love these types of interactions with people more and more."

In a world where bad behavior goes viral, here's to Dan and Katie for reminding us that people are so often genuinely kind and honest.

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