'It's crazy, for sure': meet the stars of Musical.ly

Thirteen-year-old twins Max and Harvey Mills have 2.5m followers on the lip-synching app. Will global fame follow?

Paul Mills is using his phone to live-stream footage of his twin sons while they record their first music video. Max and Harvey Mills, who are 13, are lip-synching to music by Shawn Mendes, the Canadian singer who got his break on the now doomed Vine video app (two albums later, Mendes, 18, is preparing for his second world tour). "Bleedin’ till I can’t breathe, shaking, falling on to my knees." The brothers mouth the words while Raja Virdi, a young videographer who has worked with Adele and Sam Smith, moves around them with his camera.

The boys stand next to each other in the skate park under the Southbank Centre in London. They wear matching black skinny jeans, bought for them by their mother, Sara. Max, who strums his guitar, has an H&M bomber jacket, black beanie (Max always wears hats, to set the twins apart) and his prized white Nike Air Force hi-tops. "These are probably the only things that are, like, show clothes," he says of the trainers later. "I wouldn’t normally wear them outside."

By 10am on this sunny morning during the half-term holiday, Paul’s phone is already running out of battery. "Right now, there are 11,732 people watching this," he says, reading the number in one corner of the screen. "That will accumulate." Comments left by fans move up the bottom of the screen almost too fast to read. "Please follow me u are so good," says marvelnick. "Love u," says Antonia_bayramxox, who adds 28 heart emojis. I move in front of the camera and introduce myself to the invisible crowd to ask why they love Max and Harvey so much. The comments speed up. "There music!" says Jxtie. "Cuz they’re so cute and talented," another fan says. "They’re amazing in every way," say Finnandolivia. Brookea_xx turns the tables: "MAX AND HARVEY PLZ ANSWER THIS QUESTION: will u ever be in Surrey??"

Emojis from fans bubble up from the bottom of the screen in a fizz of cakes, pumpkins and cherries

Xtabbycatx stands nervously by the railings beside the Thames, watching the recording. Half an hour ago, the 12-year-old was having breakfast at a hotel a mile away. She was scrolling through Instagram, where Max and Harvey have almost 250,000 followers, when she dropped her toast. "I saw their picture and they said they were here and I just freaked out and left breakfast and dragged Dad out," says Tabitha Wilson, the girl’s real name. She and her dad, Darren, 50, are visiting London from Stafford. She was hyperventilating as they crossed Blackfriars Bridge, Darren says. But why? "I watch them all the time, and they just make me happy," his daughter explains. "They’re funny and they’re really good singers and they just make me smile, and I wanted to see them."

The digital adoration is still draining Paul’s battery. Next to the comments, emojis from fans bubble up from the bottom of the screen in a fizz of cakes, pumpkins and cherries. Another number keeps count of these "likes". When Paul ends the broadcast after 35 minutes, fans have deposited 1.96m emojis. Almost 100,000 people have tuned in at some point, a figure that would delight most TV channels at this time of day. Paul plans to do more live-streaming later, "when America wakes up". But first he needs to charge his phone.

Max and Harvey are Britain’s biggest Musers, the name given to the users of Musical.ly, an insanely popular social music app. Launched in Shanghai in 2014, it began to take off last year and has quietly hit the phones of more than 140m users. That’s almost half the number of people who use Twitter, which took three years to build up a comparable following. At its simplest, Musical.ly is a music video maker combining features of Snapchat, Instagram and Vine. Its founder, Alex Zhu, came up with the idea after spotting teens on a train filming themselves listening to music on headphones.

In the app, Musers choose from a library of more than a million songs, select a 15-second snippet, then lip-synch to it exuberantly while filming themselves, typically in selfie mode. Increasingly, people perform comedy skits, dances or lip-synchs to film dialogue. Some, such as Max and Harvey, sing for real as well as lip-synch. They can add filters and Snapchat-style face adornments (selecting "swag" adds a gold chain and a black cap). Musical.lys, as the looping clips are known, are then shared with followers. Live.ly, launched in June, a live-streaming sister app, gives Musers the freedom to broadcast anything, for 20 minutes at a time on average.

The twins lead a tribe of 2.5m Musers in the UK, most of them aged 13 to 24. At the time of writing, their joint account has 2.48m followers (they gain about 10,000 new fans a day). They never drop off the top of the UK leaderboard, and routinely feature in the global top 10. In the US, home to half of all Musers, the biggest stars have more than 10m fans. Musical.ly, which has about 120 staff in Shanghai and Los Angeles, estimates that half of all American teenagers now have the app. Teen by teen, it is holding up a mirror to a new generation of digital natives, and changing the music industry.

Musical.ly features videos it likes on the app’s homepage; the sudden exposure means Musers can get very big, very quickly. The app’s biggest stars now have agents, merchandise and, in some cases, record deals. It’s why Max and Harvey, who signed up in March, are making a real-life music video, with their own voices – they want to take their success to the next level. Today’s shoot, and a session in a recording studio yesterday, have been arranged by Cassie Petrey, who runs Crowdsurf, a digital marketing firm in Los Angeles, and Tim Byrne, the British former creative director at Syco Entertainment, Simon Cowell’s label (Byrne now runs Fandom Management, also based in LA).

When Petrey was 12 and at school in Kentucky, she made an online Backstreet Boys fanzine. Years later, while working for record labels in Nashville, she alerted executives to a new website called Myspace, and ran pages for artists. Now 30, but "still a fangirl at heart", she looks for talent on Musical.ly. She says the app is changing the game. "Max and Harvey did a Live.ly a couple of days ago, and there were, like, 50,000 people watching it at once," she says by phone (the boys were fooling around at Alton Towers). "I’ve never seen live-streaming figures like that on any platform." Musical.ly also has a uniquely young audience, which partly explains the sense, outside the app, of a quiet rise to prominence. "I see kids commenting all the time that they can’t follow talent on other platforms, because their parents only let them use Musical.ly," Petrey says.

Max and Harvey had about 150,000 followers when Petrey spotted them. She says she knew immediately that they could be stars. Her job now is to work on their digital output beyond Musical.ly (they need no help there). They now have almost 10 social media profiles, including a YouTube channel (3.9m views and counting). Engagement is the buzzword in this world, and Musical.ly succeeds by appearing to blur the line between idols and idolisers. Popular Musers are part of the community that sustains them, and a couple of featured clips can be all it takes for anyone to make it big. Really big.

First came YouTube, where Justin Bieber put up his first video almost a decade ago, then Vine. "Now people are saying, ‘I want to be a Muser’, and we have the resources to make that happen," says Tiffany Au, 28, director of communications at Collab, a "digital talent network and entertainment studio" in LA. The firm helps about 400 digital creators, including Ariel Martin, better known as Baby Ariel. She is from South Florida, has just turned 16 and is by some distance Musical.ly’s biggest star with – let’s just check the latest figure – 15m fans. She got the app a little over a year ago, after a friend showed it to her. In those early days, Musers were uploading static lip-synchs. "I was like, how do I make this interesting," Baby Ariel says, "so I decided to use hand motions and thought, oh, this is actually pretty cool."

She has turned phone holding into an art form, and has been imitated by millions of Musers. In one recent clip, she lip-synchs to the Chainsmokers’ hit Closer (it ambitiously rhymes "back seat of your Rover" with "tattoo on your shoulder"). Turning her phone into a choreographic aid, she makes it move around her face in time with the music, like a hummingbird sizing up a flower. While she chews gum through an exaggerated smile, mouthing the words "so baby pull me closer", she uses her free hand to draw the camera in. She says her clips can take between 20 and 90 minutes to create.

Before long, Baby Ariel was getting recognised. "This girl came up to me in Old Navy and I was like, ‘No way, this is crazy. This is not a real thing’." She later left school to study online, so that she could devote more time to Musical.ly, alongside her mother Sharon. She is now a "social media influencer" with aspirations to act. She speaks to me from LA between auditions at Disney and Nickelodeon. She is also in town to join Jacob Sartorius on his US tour. Sartorius, 14, has more than 12m fans, and now records original music. Sweatshirt, his first single ("Girl, you can wear my sweatshirt, ’cause you’re the only one I hold, And I don’t want you to be cold") made the iTunes top 10 and has more than 35m YouTube views. At the Troubadour club in Santa Monica, where, in 1970, Neil Diamond introduced Elton John to America, Baby Ariel DJ’d while Jacob Sartorius of Oklahoma performed Sweatshirt to a sellout crowd.

Fans are desperate to meet star Musers – and each other. When 17-year-old Violet Summersby noticed this in comments, she arranged a meet-up in New York. A dozen or so big names mingled with about 300 fans. Fifteen free events followed in cities across the US. Now the co-founder and CEO of Muser Movement, Summersby hosted the first ticketed meet-up in LA in November. As well as encouraging engagement, she believes the app reflects a healthier relationship between young people and social media. "It doesn’t matter what you look like," she says. "If you’re funny or you’ve got something to say, you can put it out there. Social media is changing now. There was this idea that you had to look like Kim Kardashian to be famous. That’s not the case any more. You can be whoever you want to be, and that’s now acceptable. It’s not acceptable to be something that you’re not. People want to see your true self."

It’s a stirring vision, but it doesn’t immediately square with the high proportion of telegenic, zit-free teens among Musical.ly’s upper ranks, or with concerns about safety and privacy on the app. It is also clear that a significant proportion of Musers are younger than 13, the minimum age for app store downloads. There have been sporadic reports of attempted grooming via the app, and concerns about inappropriate lyrics and content; at least two UK police forces have reportedly investigated complaints by parents. But Musical.ly encourages parents to monitor use of the app, and says it removes inappropriate content within 15 minutes; it adds that concerned Musers or their parents should consider sacrificing potential fame and make their accounts private. All those I speak to, however, report seeing less nasty stuff, if any at all, on Musical.ly than elsewhere. Moreover, even if the top Musers resemble the glossy Mickey Mouse Club stars of yore, they believe that, for now at least, Musical.ly offers a freedom of expression and control that would have been alien to Britney Spears. "Musical.ly has allowed me to find who I am as a person," Baby Ariel says. "Before social media, I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to do. Now I do."

Where Musers find freedom and community, the music industry sees dollar signs. All the major labels make their tracks available on the app, which mobilises a bedroom battalion of promoters. In August, the label Republic reported a 23% increase in sales of Hailee Steinfeld’s Starving after a promotion on Musical.ly. In the UK, Olly Murs of X Factor fame launched a #Challenge, another popular feature of the app, to promote a single on his new album 24 HRS. He lip-synched to Grow Up while wearing face filters, including a teddy bear’s nose. "Create your own ‘Grow Up’ lip-synch video & you could win a signed copy of 24 HRS," he wrote under his Musical.ly. Thousands of Musers have done so, adding the #GrowUpChallenge hashtag to their own clips and multiplying Murs’ audience. At the time of writing, Max and Harvey have made the most-liked clip.

The established stars courting Musers are at risk of being outshone. Baby Ariel now has almost 2m subscribers to her YouTube channel, roughly the same as Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Shawn Mendes, perhaps the biggest conventional singers going for the same demographic. "We had an event at Disney, and all these Disney stars were there on the red carpet, but all the fans were around Baby Ariel," says Alex Hofmann, Musical.ly’s German-born head of operations in North America. In October, Ariel made the cover of Billboard magazine. Thanks to Live.ly, the live-broadcast app, Musers are also cashing in. Those who stream footage through the app can receive special gift emojis that fans buy for cash as in-app purchases. iTunes and Musical.ly get a cut; the rest goes to the recipient, who may reward the gift with a BFF (best fan forever) award. According to the company, the top 10 Live.ly users have each made $46,000 on average over a two-week period. "People are quitting jobs to do it full-time," Hofmann says.

Back on the banks of the Thames, Max and Harvey have moved location to the London Eye. Another superfan turns up. Milly Fincher, 13, is shaking with excitement. She had been watching the skate park Live.ly at home and begged her dad, David, to bring her into London from Surbiton. During a break in filming, she meets her heroes and is speechless. They greet her like pros. "So your name’s Milly, yeah?" Max says. She nods. "Awesome. How old are you?" She tells them. "Awesome. Would you like a picture?" They pose together. Milly posts the picture to her Instagram later: "So this happened, and I’m gonna be in a newspaper with them!" she writes, adding five screaming emojis.

"It’s still crazy, for sure," Max says while considering fame on the way to Wagamama for a lunch break (they wanted Nando’s, but it’s a bit of a walk). "Six months ago, no one would have ever approached us unless they were asking for directions," he adds, while Harvey plays Pokémon Go, occasionally glancing up to check for obstacles. "Now, people are asking people for directions for where to find us."

Fame has started to change family life, even if the money hasn’t – yet. The boys’ PO box address receives about a dozen items a day, including chocolates, fan fiction and artwork.

I ask them if Paul is secretly a pushy parent. He used to be a singer himself – musicals, mainly – and met Sara while performing on a cruise ship. He gave it up to support a family that also includes two younger children, and now works for a double glazing company. Max and Harvey laugh at the question. "Help me!" Harvey mouths silently, pretending to be a hostage.

"Part of me thinks I’d love to pause this now and come back to it when they’re 18, and had a bit more of a chance to grow," Paul says.

But the boys are way ahead. I ask where they’d like to be in five years, at 18. "Well, that’s probably when we’d like to be touring globally," Max says. Paul almost chokes on his noodles.

"Yeah, then five years later, we’ll run for president," Harvey chips in.

"Yeah, then we’ll build a massive wall," his brother adds.

Where would they build it? "Erm, between me and my brother in our bedroom," he says.

Now all three Mills boys are laughing, before Virdi, the video guy, checks his watch. It’s time to go back outside and film the last shots.


Everyone had one of these in their dorm rooms right?

There are few constants in life: Death, taxes... and the perennial appeal of lava lamps. (At least among a certain segment of college students and/or bachelors.) The ultimate mood light has just turned 50. NPR agrees that very little else needs to be said about this momentous occasion, save for this mesmerizing video.

The Lava Lamp Turns 50, Has Officially Been The Dorm Accent Of Choice For Five Decades (VIDEO)

There are few constants in life: Death, taxes... and the perennial appeal of lava lamps. (At least among a certain segment of college students and/or bac...

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7 family finance tips to get you ready for 2017:

With the New Year fast approaching, many of us are thinking of goals and priorities for the coming year. Personal and family finances should be high on the list of important areas to consider. Spending just a few minutes on some key areas of your financial life can help you start 2017 on the right financial note. Here are a 7 important items to consider:

1. Make a family budget so you understand your discretionary income. Doing a budget may not sound like fun, but it is important in helping you understand your monthly cash flow and discretionary income: the amount of money you earn after taxes, the amount you spend on essential living costs, and any leftover amount, which is your discretionary income. How much of your discretionary income you spend and how much you save may be one of the most important decisions you make in your financial life. Well-known web sites like BudgetTracker.com  or mint.com make it easy to get started. As an added bonus, in doing your budget, you may identify areas where you can save and thus increase your discretionary income.

2. Review your cost of debt and keep more of your own money. If possible, find ways to reduce the cost of your debt. Consumer debt can be costly, and it isn't tax deductible. On the other hand, home-equity lines of credit are tax deductible and may be a lower-cost source of cash than credit card debt or auto loans. If you embark on this strategy, be sure to be very disciplined and not to use your home equity line like a piggy bank.

3. Automatically increase your 401(k) or other retirement plan contributions. Raising the percentage of your income that you defer into your qualified retirement plan can be very easy. Simply call your human resources office or go to your 401(k) plan provider website and increase the contribution amount into your 401(k) or other retirement plan. A small and relatively painless annual increase, perhaps when you get a raise, can mean a big difference later in life. Also, check if your employer offers a way to automatically increase to your salary deferral percentage each year.

4. Consolidate retirement accounts. Americans are changing jobs more often than they have in the past, and this can result in multiple accounts and overlapping investments. It is not uncommon for someone to have several 401(k) plan accounts at former employers. Consolidating them takes time, and people often consider it a hassle or are simply confused by the process. Calling your 401(k) plan provider can help you start the process. You can consider adding these assets to your current employer's 401(k) plan or setting up a rollover IRA. Once the number of your accounts is reduced, it may be easier to make changes, coordinate your overall asset allocation, and track performance.

5. Analyze your risk tolerance and asset allocation. A new year is a good time to evaluate your portfolio to be sure it still reflects your current thinking on the markets and that it is structured in line with your goals and objectives. Be aware of potential style drift (a shift away from your intended asset allocation, usually as a result of market movements) and if there are areas to your portfolio that can potentially be improved upon. You may be able to complete this yourself or with the help of some online software. If not, look for a qualified financial advisor who may be able to offer his or her assessment.

6. Conduct a beneficiary review on your retirement plans, annuities, and insurance policies. The beneficiaries named in these accounts take precedent over any legal document you create. Therefore, you need to review each of these.

I recently worked on settling an estate for a client. Even though I knew this person for almost 20 years, I didn't know about an old life insurance policy. Evidently, neither did anyone else. My client's ex-wife, whom he had divorced more than 20 years earlier, was still the beneficiary on this sizable policy that paid her several hundred thousand dollars. Despite their acrimonious divorce, and even though there was no intention of enriching the ex-wife, she nevertheless received the generous insurance checks within weeks of my client's death. Worse yet, those funds increased his taxable estate, so this policy actually cost his children and other beneficiaries some money in taxes. This is a dramatic example, but it's a good reminder to verify that your beneficiaries are current and your legal documents reflect your wishes.

7. Review the adequacy of your insurance, especially if you have children. While it's great and more fun to be concerned about buying the latest American Girl doll or Star Wars Lego's kit, don't forget to consider buying life insurance to protect your children's future. The good news is that term life insurance can be relatively inexpensive. Remember, for two-earner families, you may want to insure both parents' incomes, as the surviving parent may want or need to spend more time with the children and work less. Insurance companies will typically offer up to 10 to 12 times annual income in coverage.

Making sure these areas of your financial plan are in proper order can help you start off the New Year feeling confident and empowered to reach your goals. If you and your family are resolving to improve your financial fitness, these 7 tips can be a great way to start.

7 Family Finance Tips To Consider For The New Year

Personal and family finances should be high on the list of important areas to consider with the New Year fast approaching.


They were arguably Donald Trump's most striking claims to date: a series of tweets, accusing then-President Barack Obama of wire-tapping Trump Tower during the election.

The claim appeared to come as a surprise, and was not backed up by any evidence.

First Mr Obama's spokesman, then the former US intelligence chief James Clapper denied any wiretap had been ordered.

But President Trump, via his press secretary Sean Spicer, has urged Congress to investigate the "troubling" claims, alongside its current investigations into allegations of Russian hacking during the election.

What are the Congressional committees already looking at?

Both the House and Senate intelligence committees are currently looking into the possibility of Russian interference during the 2016 election, inquiries launched in January.

They have promised wide-ranging investigations, carried out on a bipartisan basis, which will not shy away from looking into potential links between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, as well as Russian "cyber activity".

Both committees have conceded these will be time-consuming investigations, and at least one member of the House intelligence committee has expressed his annoyance at another layer being added

"Ok @PressSec, as a member of the committee onto which you've dumped this mess, I look forward to seeing your evidence," Democrat Jim Himes tweeted.

Mr Trump and his team have provided no evidence to say the phones at Trump Tower were wiretapped, and now Mr Clapper, who was then director of National Intelligence, has categorically denied such an order existed.

As intelligence director, he told NBC, he would have known about a "Fisa court order on something like this".

Could Obama have ordered the surveillance?

Mr Obama's team have outright denied any involvement, saying Mr Trump's tweets are "simply false".

A warrant, if it existed, would most likely have been ordered by the Department of Justice independently of the White House.

On Sunday, former press secretary Josh Earnest told ABC: "This may come as a surprise to the current occupant of the Oval Office, but the president of the United States does not have the authority to unilaterally order the wiretapping of an American citizen.

"If the FBI decided to use their wiretapping authority in the context of the counterintelligence or criminal investigation, it would require FBI investigators, officials at the Department of Justice going to a federal judge, and making a case, and demonstrating probable cause to use that authority to conduct the investigation. That is a fact."

The only way Mr Obama could have ordered surveillance without going through the Foreign Intelligence Court (Fisa court) is if there was no US citizens involved.

In this case, considering the target is allegedly Trump Towers - which definitely involves American citizens - this would have been hard to argue.

The Fisa court has been described by CNN as possibly "the most powerful court you have never heard of".

The secretive court approves surveillance warrants under Fisa against "agents of a foreign power", mainly to either the FBI or NSA.

In this case, the reported target of the FBI's application was two Russian banks.

Any application has to be approved by 11 sitting judges.

Rumours of an order granted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) have been circulating for some time.

On 7 November - the day before the country went to the polls - former British MP Louise Mensch reported the order was approved in October..

According to Ms Mensch, it was issued in connection with a private server and activity between two Russia banks.

She also mentions - like Mr Trump in his tweets - that an earlier order had been turned down.

In January, the BBC's Paul Wood - writing in the wake of claims the Russian government had compromising material on Mr Trump - said he also knew of the Fisa order.

Neither Mr Trump nor his associates are mentioned in the order, Mr Wood reported.

The Guardian also mentions the order at about the same time.

None of them mention wiretapping of phones.

It is then seemingly not mentioned again until Mark Levin, a conservative radio host in the US, talked about it on Thursday, when he referred to it as a "silent coup".

His show was followed up with an article in Breitbart on Friday, which mentions wiretapping and "eavesdropping" sought by the "Obama administration". It is not clear how their claims were sourced.

None of this has ever been confirmed by anyone in authority.

President Trump's tweets were sent out in a flurry the next morning. It is unclear if he was aware of any of the previous reports - he does not appear to have tweeted about it before.

President Donald Trump wants an investigation, but has provided no evidence to back up his claims.


BREAKING: Deadly shooting at medical campus

Officials initially said at least one person was dead, according to KTVN.

Police said the gunman wounded four people and committed suicide, the Associated Press reported. The news organization later reported that a victim died in the shooting, according to police.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A suicidal gunman opened fire at a Reno hospital campus Tuesday, killing one person, wounding two others and sending police on a door-to-door search within the facility amid the chaos.

The Nevada Department of Public Safety said the wounded victims were in surgery and one of them is a doctor. The gunman killed himself after the shooting.

Reno Deputy Police Chief Tom Robinson didn't say how many shots were fired or what type of weapon was used, and didn't release the identities of the male shooter or the dead and injured. He said, however, that investigators were confident no one else was involved.

"They are in the middle of a crime scene," Robinson said of the two bodies still on the third floor of a four-story medical building. "We're in the middle of an investigation and we don't want to compromise that by rushing up to identify them."

Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Gail Powell said the wounded doctor is a woman but she had no more information about the shooting that happened at the Center for Advanced Medicine.

Robinson said there were about 100 people in the building when the shooting was reported at 2:05 p.m. Officers entered three to five minutes later and did "a systematic search, floor to floor, room to room," Robinson said.

"On the third floor of the building they located two people down and located two people injured and evacuated the injured parties," he said.

Renown Regional Medical Center was put on lockdown amid the chaos of the shooting as law enforcement rushed to the scene and victims were treated by doctors on the hospital campus. More than three dozen police cars, including SWAT team vehicles, surrounded the sprawling medical complex and closed off a three-block area near downtown Reno.

State Sen. Debbie Smith said she was at Renown for an appointment and was trying to leave a nearby building when the shooting occurred.

"I encountered some SWAT team guys, they said nobody was leaving," she said. "A police officer was at the door and said I couldn't go out there."

Renown Regional Medical Center posted a notice on its website less than two hours after the shooting saying that operations had returned to normal at the main hospital but police were still investigating the shooting. About two dozen witnesses were taken to police headquarters for interviews.

"The biggest piece right now is we are trying desperately to reach the next of kin," Robinson said.

At least one person was transported by ambulance from the building where the shooting happened to the Renown hospital's emergency room, less than a block away, said Scott Walquist, a spokesman for the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority.

The Center for Advanced Medicine building is a modern structure connected by a second-floor walkway to the hospital and a parking structure.

Police initially said the gunman shot four people before killing himself, but they later said he wounded two people and killed another before committing suicide.

Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Twitter that he and his staff were monitoring the situation and his thoughts and prayers were with those affected by the tragedy.

Renown Regional Medical Center is the largest hospital in northern Nevada. It has played an important role in responding to several recent tragedies in northern Nevada, including a crash at a Reno air race in 2011 that killed 11 people and a rampage at a Carson City restaurant the same year that killed three uniformed Nevada National Guard members.

Renown Regional Medical Center Shooting Leaves Multiple People Wounded (UPDATES)

There are multiple reports of a shooting at the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev.

Officials initially said at least one person was dead,

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Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno NV


By the time you show up to my office, your marriage may be over

Marriage therapy only works if both partners are committed to the process. But by the time some couples schedule an appointment, one or both partners has already checked out.

Below, marriage therapists around the country share seven reasons to head to therapy sooner than later.

"The average couple that comes in for therapy has been struggling for about six years. This means they’ve been unhappy for much longer than they needed to be. One reason to get into therapy early is to get ahead of the curve and address issues before they become problems." ― Zach Brittle, a therapist and founder of the online couples therapy series forBetter

"Couples who reach out earlier for support when things are amiss often head off a caustic, ugly pattern of hurting each other in ways that are hard to forget or forgive. Marriage therapists should be able to help partners identify the ways they express themselves when they are hurt or angry and to recognize how they may unintentionally put their partners on the defensive."― Linda Lipshutz, a psychotherapist in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

"In my opinion, the ideal time for couple’s therapy is pre-engagement. Like, way pre-engagement ― pre-ring, pre-asking-for-blessings. When you both agree that marriage to one another is a solid possibility for your future, that’s when to schedule a handful of appointments of pre-engagement counseling. So many of the issues I see from long-married couples stem from fundamental problems that could have been caught long before the wedding: People who suddenly realize two years after marriage they have opposing views on whether or not to have children. Couples who have wildly different stances on spending and saving. Couples who suffer for years due to different attitudes toward sex that emerged long after their wedding. A few sessions with a therapist who can ask the hard questions could save you from years of misery or at least let you know what you’re signing up for." ― Ryan Howes, a psychologist in Pasadena, California

"When issues remain unresolved, resentment can create a large and ugly divide between two people. This often manifests as lack of empathy, disinterest and at times, even disrespect. Go to therapy before arguments seem insurmountable because one or both of you have become apathetic." ― Talia Wagner, a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles, California

"I’d say roughly two-thirds of all relationship problems are perpetual. That means they’ll be around for the duration of the relationship and, for the most part, will be unsolvable. Couples waste a lot of time trying to solve unsolvable problems. Therapy can help you prioritize ‘repair,’ or staying connected over ‘resolution,’ which is often out of reach." ― Zach Brittle

"I often share a folksy old saying with my clients: ‘It’s best to fix the roof when the sun’s shining.’ We all know that when we’re in the midst of crisis we make hasty, impulsive decisions that strive for immediate safety instead of long-term sustainability. Maybe you’ve noticed the relationship is strained every time a partner has a job change and you see a new career shift on the horizon. The wise choice may be to go to counseling now, when things are still calm, to learn tools to cope with the changes. It’s OK to go to counseling when things seem ‘fine’ so that you are more resilient when they aren’t. Even the strongest marriages will encounter tough times eventually, and it’s good to be equipped when they come." ― Ryan Howes

"Finding yourself regularly feeling disappointed and flat about your relationship is no small thing. Getting help early is more likely to be beneficial than waiting because you’re probably both still open to change and not yet so resentful or tired, to stop wanting to try. Sadly, one of the most common mistakes couples make is to shut their eyes and keep falling deeper into resentment and avoidance of growing distance, hoping things will just magically fix themselves. Most of the time, they don’t. Don’t waste time ― life is too short." ― Debra Campbell, a psychologist and couple’s therapist in Melbourne, Australia and the author of Lovelands

By The Time You Show Up To My Office, Your Marriage May Be Over

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Children Inherit Intelligence From THIS Parent!

Most of us generally assume that intelligence is inherited from both parents. But that’s not quite the case. There’s only one parent who gets the credit and that is – drum roll please – mom!

Through extensive study , we now know that intelligence is passed on through ‘conditioned genes.’ These particular conditioned genes live in chromosome X – which women contain two of.

But wait – what exactly are conditioned genes and why do they matter? The answer, coming right up!

Conditioned genes behave differently depending on which parent they come from.

German researchers pioneered this concept back in 1984 . Robert Lehrke continued to study it in more recent years. He found that genes from dad go to the limbic system, while mom’s head straight for the cerebral cortex.

Both are areas in the brain but they do very different things. The limbic system deals with emotion, instinct and mood. The cerebral cortex handles intelligence.

In other words, when mother passes on genes associated with high intelligence, they’ll wind up right where they need to be. If dad passes on those same genes – remember, men have one X chromosome – they’ll never make it to the area that needs them.

Because of these findings, psychologists now say the best predictor of a child’s intelligence is their mother’s IQ.

Just take a moment to appreciate how ironic this discovery is. For much of human history, we’ve ascribed intelligence to men, while attributing emotions to women. These findings prove that the exact opposite is true, as far as genetic development goes.

Moms, while this definitely gives you some bragging rights, don’t get too excited. Psychologists estimate genes account for just 40% to 60% of intelligence. The rest depends on environment and parenting styles – which both parents are a part of.

Consider your initial contribution more of a running start than a golden ticket.

Interestingly enough, dads, research shows that after your child is born, you have a much greater impact on their intelligence. Children who spend more time with their fathers wind up with higher IQ levels.


It’s pretty safe to assume that 2016 wasn’t exactly anyone’s finest hour. It was a tough year full of political disappointments, celebrity dramas, and devastating deaths. 2017 is a new chapter, though, and there’s plenty of time for us to rewrite the story. As the whole world makes their own New Year’s resolutions during the holiday season, you might notice that almost all of them are outwardly focused. People want to lose weight, go to the gym more, or start a new kind of diet. What if you made the choice to love your body more than ever in the upcoming year, though? Without trying to change what you look like?

HelloGiggles spoke with Annie Robinson, M.S., wellness coach and co-founder of Pause Breathe and Connect, who says it’s much healthier to put aside the promises that are meant to transform our physique, and instead focus on making ourselves feel more alive and healthy. In other words, let’s learn how to embrace and appreciate our body, rather than judge it. "Central to overcoming distorted perceptions of your body and self is to cultivate self-compassion and self-confidence," Robinson says. Gaining self-esteem doesn’t come from losing weight or eating less cake. It all starts by feeling more comfortable with the exact person you looked at in the mirror this morning.

Here are seven little ways you can love your body more in 2017.

You have all the reasons in the world to love who you are and be grateful for the body you’ve got here and now. Nobody can fulfill the job of being your biggest fan like you can. Let 2017 be the year when you form a daily habit that’s easy to maintain, yet packs a big punch of positivity — give yourself a daily affirmation.

Pick an affirmation or a quote that inspires you and makes you feel comfortable in your own skin. "Perhaps write it on a card and hang it on your fridge, or place it next to your bed," Robinson recommends. Every time you pass by this nugget of encouragement, you’ll feel a rush of optimism that will carry you through tough parts of your day. If this sounds too cheesy for you from the bat, don’t worry. That’s normal. But give it a shot anyway. You might be surprised at how good it feels to say nice things to yourself.

When the New Year comes knocking on our doors, we’re bombarded with dieting methods that will help us lose weight, because apparently we overate during the holidays (hogwash, in our opinion). Losing weight is the number one New Year’s resolution in America, so a there will likely be a lot of people around you who will become focused on shedding pounds.

Robinson tells HelloGiggles that shifting the focus from your diet to how you feel internally will serve you so much better in the upcoming year. "It’s not actually about what you eat or how often you go to the gym—it’s about your relationship with yourself," she says. So instead of worrying about eating less bread or less chocolate, just focus on how you can have some fun and feel more fulfilled.

Every body is different, but we’re rarely shown any diversity on the cover of magazines and on TV. The women we see are overwhelmingly thin, tall, white, and big-breasted. If you don’t have the same figure (let’s face it, most of us don’t), looking constantly at all these women’s posts on social media will likely cause our self-esteem to plummet.

One small change you can make in your social media life is to switch up which profiles you spend the most time looking at. Choose to follow the people who look more like you and you feel better represent you. You’ll be less inclined to judge or compare yourself to others.

The benefits of exercising reach far and wide, and it does so much more for your body than just helping you stay toned and fit. Working out sharpens your memory, helps you sleep better at night, and, best of all, improve your moods and boost your self-confidence. If you’re not a gym kinda gal, don’t go lift weights. If you’re not a yoga kinda gal, don’t go to all those vinyasa flow classes your friends love. Find something you enjoy, so it’s not a chore to get your heart rate up. Rather, it’s something you love doing that feels like an escape from every day life.

Robinson also urges us to move away from the "get fitter" push that often gets passed around during this time of year. It implies that "you are falling short right now," she says. Instead of convincing yourself that your fitness level isn’t good enough, just find a way to move your body that brings you joy.

It’s like that scene in Mean Girls when the four Plastics stand in front of the mirror and criticize themselves: "I’ve got man shoulders;" "My nail beds suck;" "My hairline is so weird." We’ve all done it before with our friends, and we’ve all got parts of our body that we’re insecure about. Let 2017 be the year that we stop putting ourselves down, though, and get rid of the negative dialogue in our heads. The kinder we are to ourselves, the happier our body will be.

Because of the overload of diet-based New Year’s resolutions, Robinson says it’s easy for people to "engage in disordered behaviors with food." We get obsessed with following a specific diet, and then we punish ourselves for eating too much chocolate or failing to eat enough vegetables. All that wasted energy could be better spent actually enjoying our food, rather than using it as a tool to alter our bodies.

"Social media is a mixed bag," Robinson tells HelloGiggles. "On the one hand, it can be triggering and brew competition and comparison. On the other, it can create really empowering and supportive communities that uplift and encourage people to progress on their healing journey." Moving in the New Year, it’s important to recognize who you surround yourself with online, and whether they’re lifting you up or dragging you down.

Do a Facebook and Instagram cleanse before the start of January, and get rid of all the people whose values you don’t align with. What we fill our heads with has an immense impact on how we feel about ourselves. Also, consider how much time you spend on social media. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate how quickly you pick up your phone in the morning, or how late into the night you’re scrolling through people’s newsfeed. Your time is precious. Make sure you’re spending it in a way that makes you feel happy, happy, happy.

The post 7 little ways you can love your body more in 2017 appeared first on HelloGiggles.

It’s pretty safe to assume that 2016 wasn’t exactly anyone’s finest hour. It was a tough year full of political disappointments, celebrity dramas,...


If you rub epsom salt into your hair, the unexpected effect will surprise you

Epsom salt isn't actually the table salt we all know. The mineral mixture, named for a saline spring in England, is actually a combination of magnesium and sulfate. This popular mineral is touted for its health benefits as well as uses in cleaning and gardening projects, according to SaltWorks

You can use Epsom salt in dozens of ways for health, beauty and cleaning projects. Check out just a few of the beauty and health hacks below you can do with this mineral, according to DIY & Crafts.

1. Clean your hair: If your hair is particularly greasy, you can pull excess oils right out by adding a bit of Epsom salt to your shampoo. Wash and rinse as usual.

2. Foot scrub: Winter weather can leave toes and feet dry, cracked and gross. Get rid of dry skin by combining a cup of Epsom salt with olive oil, castile soap and some essential oils and scrubbing your feet once or twice a week.

3. Bye bye frizz, hello volume: Mix equal parts hair conditioner and Epsom salt together. Heat the mixture in a pan. Then starting at the roots and working your way down, massage the mixture into your hair. Let set for 20 minutes and rinse. This works great for getting rid of frizz and adding volume to your hair.

4. Wash your face: Mix Epsom salt with liquid soap or face cream. Rub gently into your skin and rinse. You'll get a moisture boost and remove dead skin cells.

5. Deflake the lips: Mix a bit of Epsom salt with petroleum jelly and massage it into your lips to remove dead skin cells.

6. Ease a headache: If you have an aching head after a rough day at the office (or with the kids), try soaking in an Epsom salt bath. The salt-soaked bath can help relieve tension in your muscles and ease your headache.

7. Nix tummy troubles: Help ease constipation symptoms by drinking a teaspoon of Epsom salt in a glass of water. The magnesium should help get things flowing again.

8. Have a better morning after: If you had a little too much red wine last night, you can ease hangover symptoms. Sip a teaspoon in a bit of water to help flush out your system. Make sure to drink tons of water to stay hydrated, though!

9. Fade a bruise: Skip the raw meat compress and grab the Epsom salt instead. Mix two tablespoons of Epsom salt with a little water and apply it to the bruised area.

10. Get more shut-eye: Soak in an Epsom salt bath for about 20 minutes before dozing off to help you relax and loosen up for a better night's sleep.

11. Ease muscle pain: Enjoy an Epsom salt bath after a hard day at the gym or working in the yard to alleviate muscle soreness and speed recovery.

12. Remove a splinter: Apply salt to the skin over the splinter to help pull it to the surface. Bid a fond farewell to the painful tweezer method!

Wellness Mama and SaltWorks offer a few suggestions for using Epsom salt around the house and garden:

13. Plant fertilizer: Add one tablespoon of salt to tomato plant soil to encourage bigger plant growth.

14. Clean the bathroom: Mix one part Epsom salt with one part liquid dish soap, and scrub grout and tile well.

15. Water your houseplants: Mix a few tablespoons of Epsom salt with water and feed your plants as usual.

16. Deter Slugs: Sprinkle a bit of Epsom salt onto the patio to keep slugs at bay on rainy days.

17. Boost your roses: Add a tablespoon of Epsom salt to your soil to promote healthier roses.

18. Clean the washer: Fill your washing machine with hot water. Add Epsom salt and run a regular cycle to get rid of buildup on the insides of the machine.

19. Protect your plants: Add Epson salt to your grass and plants to keep bugs at bay.

20. Green up your grass: Add two tablespoons of Epsom salt to a gallon of water and sprinkle it on your grass to keep it green. The magnesium prevents yellowing.

What are some of your favorite ways to use Epsom salt? Tell us in the comments below. And pass along these helpful tips to your friends on Facebook.

20 ways to use Epsom salt around the house

It will absorb the grease if your hair is oily. #StopClickBait


At First, Her Tattoo Reads "I'm Fine." Now Watch What Happens When She Stands Up...

In a class I had with her, she opened up about her own struggles that she has faced with her own mental illness. Hearing her words made me realize that even though it can seem like you are the happiest, most intelligent, or down-to-earth human being, everyone has struggles. I sought her out not long after. She helped me find the right help that I needed.

Inspired by her college professor’s story, Miles made a pivotal decision in her life. She got a tattoo and wrote a Facebook status about her depression that has since gone viral on the platform.

Miles’s tattoo is actually an ambigram. It reads "I’m fine" from most angles, but if you look at from another angle, it can read "save me." The tattoo is a powerful symbol that represents the struggle of those who deal with depression.

Since posting the status on Facebook, Miles has gone on to become a major voice for those who suffer from mental illnesses. She says,

You’d be surprised by how many people YOU know that struggle with depression, anxiety, or other mental illness. I may only be one person, but one can save another...and that’s all I could really ask for.

At First, Her Tattoo Reads "I’m Fine." Now Watch What Happens When She Stands Up...

Upside down, it reads "save me."
#StopClickBait


FINALLY! SRK Opens Up On Not Releasing His Film On The Same Day With Salman Khan!

Bollywood has witnessed too many competitions of actors but no competition has been as strong as that of The Khans. The Khans have ruled over Bollywood all these years and they will continue to rule as long as they are in the industry.

Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan have been in the industry for quite some time now. When the duo came together in Karan Arjun, they totally set the screen on fire and left us looking forward to more such super hits to please their fans. But somewhere in between things went haywire and our Karan Arjun split. However, the after all the speculations made by the media, both Salman and SRK cleared their woes and said that the two have got back to being good friends.

We all have been aware of the two major releases of our two favourite Khans. The typical tradition that these have been following, of releasing their movies on particular occasions continued this time too. While ‘Sultan’ released on ‘Eid,’ the release of ‘Raees’ was postponed. When the 50-year-old was asked about the reason behind this delay, here’s what he had to say,

"We have two reasons (for not releasing Raees with Sultan). One is, me and Salman spoke about it that big films have their level release wise. They should get released in at least 3500 to 4000 theatres at one time. We all have faced it at certain, point of time that two big films came together and did not get the desired theatrical release. This is quite a bog loss for the budget of the film. Till the time we have eight to nine thousand theatres for release of two big films, this cannot happen." He further added, "Second part was, we were still working on it and it was injured. I have still some portions to shoot for a day. But the film is ready. We thought of an alternate date in this year. But some other big film was coming then"

SRK mentioned that the probable release date could be January 25 or 26. However, even then his movie dates would clash with that of Hrithik’s, as ‘Kaabil’ is slated to release around that time.

When asked about that clash, he said, "We have discussed with Hrithik for ‘Kaabil’ because it has just started its shoot. So hopefully we will come out on 25th or 26th January now. We have time. A little bit of work is left. I have not given my last shot still now. I knew Hrithik’s film was coming but he had not started the film then. We talked to Hrithik and Riteish (Sidhwani), Farhan (Akhtar) are meeting him and Rakeshji (Roshan) on 11th or 12th this month. Then they will finalise on what’s to be done."

Well, looks like we’d never get to see the two releasing their movies together on one day. Moreover, it’d also be unfair to their fans, because even though they have their issues, there are fans who love SRK as much as Salman.

He doesn't want competition and the movie is not done yet. #StopClickBait


Moldova was the highest, consuming 17.4 litres of pure alcohol, per person, per year. According to Vouchercloud, that's 178 bottles of wine each (roughly two bottles per day).

Presumably, they're also the highest consumers of bacon, Berroca, and, duvets.

The UK ranked 17th in the world, on a meagre 12 litres per person, per year, just ahead of Finland and behind Croatia.

According to Vouchercloud, this is equal to 408 pints each per year, or a pint and a bit per day (more accurately zero for 5 days and then whenever a day gets the word "mad" put on the front of it 30 in one evening).

Abstinent countries (or at least officially abstinent) recorded the lowest consumption.

These were typically Islamic nations such as Pakistan, Kuwait, and the states of North Africa and South West Asia.

The US was put in 49th place, for consuming 9.2 litres per person per year.

Baltic states, South Eastern Europe, and the Caucuses dominated the top 10, but Australia represents the Anglosphere at 10th place.

These are the world's drunkest countries The list

The UK was beaten to first place by Moldova, Andorra, and Serbia. Curse you 'Dry January'! Vouchercloud merged its own survey results with data from the World Health Organisation, in order to find the most sozzled nations on Earth. Compiling results from 2010-2015, Vouchercloud created this map (below) for your delectation.


You Won’t Believe How Much Lack Of Physical Exercise Costs The Global Economy!

A study of one million people has found that physical inactivity costs the global economy $67.5 billion a year in healthcare and productivity losses, but an hour a day of exercise could eliminate most of that.

Sedentary lifestyles are linked to increased risks of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, researchers found, but activity - such as brisk walking - could counter the higher likelihood of early death linked with sitting for eight or more hours a day.

Representational image | Source: Reuters

Such inactivity is estimated to cause more than 5 million deaths a year - almost as many as smoking, which the World Health Organization (WHO) says kills 6 million a year.

Giving details of their findings at a briefing in London, the international team of researchers warned there has been too little progress in tackling a "pandemic of physical inactivity".

Ulf Ekelund, a professor at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences and Cambridge University, said that WHO recommendations for at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week was probably not enough. A quarter of adults worldwide do not meet even the WHO's recommendations.

"You don't need to do sport or go to the gym ... but you do need to do at least one hour a day," he said, giving walking at 5.6 km an hour (km/h) or cycling at 16 km/h as examples of what was needed.

People who sat for eight hours a day but were otherwise active had a lower risk of premature death than people who spent fewer hours sitting but were also less active, suggesting that exercise is particularly important, no matter how many hours a day are spent sitting.

The greatest risk of premature death was for people who sat for long periods of time and did not exercise, according to the findings, published in The Lancet on Wednesday.

In another of the series of four studies, researchers estimated healthcare costs and productivity losses for five major diseases linked to lack of exercise - heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer - cost $67.5 billion globally in 2013.

Melody Ding of the University of Sydney, who led this part of the research, said the costs occur largely in wealthier countries, but as poorer countries develop, so too will the economic burden of chronic diseases linked to inactivity.

Researchers estimated healthcare costs and productivity losses for five major diseases linked to lack of exercise - heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer - cost $67.5 billion globally in 2013.

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https://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-kHc8ja1mP4cMt.gif?labels=Author.Reuters.You Wont Believe How Much Lack Of Physical Exercise Costs The Global Economy,

$67.5 billion globally (in 2013), in healthcare and productivity losses. However data is based on a study and focuses on 'wealthier countries'.
#StopClickBait


The World's Simplest Breakfast You're Probably Too Scared to Try

To your typical eggs-and-bacon American, there’s not much about tamago gohan that makes sense. The Japanese breakfast is nothing more than a large raw egg cracked over a mound of steamed rice. If you feel like having an extra luxurious morning, you can splash the combination with soy sauce and/or speckle it with a shake or two of sesame seeds. Then, using chopsticks, you vigorously swirl the mixture into a froth and devour.

The first time I heard about tamago gohan was in college. I worked the lunch shift at a sushi bar, where I had the good fortune of joining the owner, Tencho, and my co-worker, a petite Japanese woman named Shoko, for breakfast. Each morning, Shoko would simmer a stockpot of miso soup, I’d wash and cook the rice, and Tencho would slice sashimi.

We’d then sit in the sunny corner of the restaurant, NHK news on the television, the spread before us. I’d hover above my bowl of miso soup and allow the steam to kiss my skin awake. I’d feel the warm rice quiet my grumbling gut. I’d inhale the sensuous slices of salmon, snapper, and yellowtail.

As a white kid who grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania, I had a healthy fear of salmonella. My grandmother used to pull her potato salad from the table the moment a sunbeam struck it. Tamago gohan made me a little nervous (and where was the obligatory pork product?). I'd watch my boss crack, stir, and inhale with the nonchalance associated with pouring a bowl of cereal. Did this man secretly possess an iron-lined stomach? It took Tencho several months of prodding, of him repeating, "You are not man," before I could accept a bowl of rice topped with a quivering, uncooked egg.

It quickly became one of my favorite comfort meals. Tamago gohan possesses the rib-sticking satisfaction of oatmeal, and the simplicity of sushi. The egg, when incorporated into the rice, relaxes each grain, and, with it, the rest of the morning. Pops of nuttiness, provided by the sesame seeds, punctuate every few bites. The salty spike of the soy sauce balances the grassy brashness of brewed green tea, which you hopefully also have close at hand.

As Shoko taught me, it’s rude to leave even a single grain of rice in the bowl. So I spend the last few moments of breakfast meticulously plucking the remaining morsels with the tips of my chopsticks. I cup the bowl with my hand to feel the warmth of the rice through the ceramic. The process is meditative and, ultimately, lends a sense of closure to the meal.

You probably think I’m overselling tamago gohan. But I still feel different as an eater after finishing a bowl of the stuff then, say, after a Monte Cristo. Even piled-high breakfast sandwiches can't compete with the satisfaction of finishing a simple bowl of egg and rice. And maybe Tencho’s refrain of "you are not man" was less a jab than it was a philosophy. Finishing a bowl of tamago gohan somehow makes you feel more complete.

It’s been nearly a decade since I last ate with Tencho and Shoko, but I still crave our breakfasts—and the bowls of tamago gohan that accompanied them. Occasionally, on a lazy Sunday, I’ll shuffle into the kitchen, rinse a cup or so of rice, steam it in a pot, gently crack an egg over the mixture, and then sit down to reminisce.

1, with leftover rice Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 piece dried kombu, about the size of a playing card (optional)

To your typical eggs-and-bacon American, there’s not much about tamago gohan that makes sense. The Japanese breakfast is nothing more than a large raw e...

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This is the date Apple will unveil new iPhones

This Is The Date Apple Will Unveil New iPhones

The new iPhone will reportedly be unveiled on September 9. Although Apple hasn't officially revealed the fall event for the phone, sources familiar with the matter told Buzzfeed's John Paczkowski that the event will take place during the week of September 7 (Paczkowski has been accurate on previous Apple events.)

Wednesday will most likely be the day the event takes place given Apple's history for holding such occasions.

The event is expected to reveal the features for the new iPhone, including a Force Touch display, a better camera, and a more powerful wireless chip, according to the publication.

But that's not all. New iPads and a new Apple TV could also be announced as well.

For more on Apple's potential plans, here's information on a possible 4-inch iPhone 6 , or at least hope for one in the future.

The date of the new iPhone's announcement is September 9.

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Scientists just solved the mystery of these weird South American mounds

Scientists have long puzzled over what created strange mound formations in the tropical wetlands of South America, and a new study appears to have found the answer.

The mounds, which are called surales, are found throughout the Orinoco Llanos wetlands of Columbia and Venezuela, and according to research led by archaeologist and palaeoethnobotanist José Iriarte, these spectacular formations are actually massive conglomerations of worm poop.

Surales vary in size, with the largest mounds measuring up to 5 metres in diameter and up to 2 metres tall. To figure out how these gigantic lumps came to be, Iriarte, a researcher from the University of Exeter in the UK, and his team analysed the physical and chemical makeup of the mounds' soil.

The team found that up to one half of the total soil mass of the mounds is composed of earthworm casts – the muddy soil byproduct ejected from worm guts. It's not surprising that worms leave their casts behind – after all, everybody has to go sometimes – but how do their poop piles become so... comically epic?

According to the researchers, the surales form when large earthworms feed in shallow, flooded soils within the wetlands. These big guys leave their larger deposits behind, creating mini poop 'towers' that start sticking above the surface of the water. Kind of like when Saruman's tower becomes flooded in by the Ents... except with worm poop instead of an evil wizard.

After enough time, this casts tower begins to form into a mound, and the largest surales are formed when a couple of smaller mounds situated close enough fuse together.

Despite the surales' somewhat humble beginnings, now that we know how they come to be, it helps solve a riddle that has long perplexed researchers. Previous hypotheses on their formation included termite activity and a form of land erosion, but the new findings finally discount those explanations.

"This exciting discovery allows us to map and understand how these massive landscapes were formed," said Iriarte. "The fact we know they were created by earthworms across the seasonally flooded savannahs of South America will certainly change how we think about human versus naturally-built landscapes in the region."

Scientists Just Solved the Mystery of These Weird South American Mounds: They're Worm Poop

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Does Missing $2.3 Trillion Prove 9/11 Was An Inside Job?

In the carnage following the September 11 terror attacks, a number of conspiracy theories began to emerge online concerning a cover-up, with some even suggesting that the U.S. government might have been behind the attacks.

While many of these theories are easy to debunk as nonsense, there is one piece of evidence that conspiracy theorists believe hints at something more sinister – missing cash.

The Daily Star reports that the day before the horrific attacks, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admitted that the Pentagon managed to somehow lose an eye-watering $2.3 trillion (£1.72 trillion) from its budget.

While this would have been a massive news story at the time, it was completely forgotten about the next day as people around the world watched the atrocious attacks on the Twin Towers which claimed thousands of lives.

Conspiracy theorists argue that the U.S. government hijacked a plane and crashed it into the Pentagon to destroy all evidence of the missing budget, while also bolstering a campaign to increase the military budget.

Robert Crawford, a reporter on Now Daily, said:

Accounting offices in the Pentagon were blown up and accounting offices based in New York building in the World Trade Center were demolished.

125 people were killed in the Pentagon attack, many of whom were accountants.

Theorists believe that the missing trillions were spent on a ‘deep space programme’, the intent of which is unknown but sounds a combination of really cool and absolutely terrifying.

Unfortunately, a bit of digging reveals that the conspiracy theorists have gotten a bit carried away.

When Rumsfeld mentioned the missing trillions, he didn’t mean stolen. He meant lost as in they couldn’t find it in their paper trail – basically, they’d forgotten to keep the receipts.

Of course, ‘truthers’ choose to ignore this evidence and believe the missing money is proof of a secret black ops budget that funds top secret space expeditions.

In the carnage following the September 11 terror attacks a number of conspiracy theories began to emerge online concerning a cover-up.

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In a disturbing discovery revealed this week, nearly 800 children were found in a mass grave near a former home for unwed mothers and their children.

The children are believed to have been buried in a septic tank on the grounds of the home in Tuam, Ireland, between 1925 and 1961, BBC News reports. Many appear to have perished from infectious diseases or malnutrition.

The gruesome discovery was made by two boys who stumbled across the unmarked grave when they were playing near the site of St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home, which has since been converted into a housing estate.

Now, officials in Ireland are scrambling to determine how to proceed. While leaders in the Catholic Church are meeting to discuss plans for a memorial for the 796 children, Ciaran Cannon, minister of state in Ireland's Department of Education, is calling for an inquiry into the mass grave.

"The evidence to date seems to suggest that something very horrific went on there," Cannon told the Irish Independent. "Let's try and determine exactly what happened here first of all. Surely, there are people alive who have a connection with the place. I do think an inquiry is required."

Meanwhile, local historian Catherine Corless has delved into the troubled history of "The Home," a workhouse that was turned into a home for mothers and their babies in 1925 by the Sisters of Bon Secours. When Corless sought out the death certificates for the children in the mass grave, she learned there were 796 deceased, ranging from infants to 9-year-olds.

"There and then I said this isn’t right. There’s nothing on the ground there to mark the grave, there's nothing to say it's a massive children's graveyard. It's laid abandoned like that since it was closed in 1961," Corless told IrishCentral.

She is leading a campaign to raise funds for a memorial that will list the names of all the children.

Nearly 800 Children Found In Mass Grave Near Former Home For Unwed Mothers In Ireland

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Near former home for unwed mothers in Taum Ireland

near a former home for unwed mothers and their children. The children are believed to have been buried in a septic tank on the grounds of the home in Tuam, Ireland


Famed winemaker's racist tirade goes WAY beyond Paula Deen

On Aug. 22, sixth-generation Italian winemaker Fulvio Bressan sparked a firestorm when he posted inflammatory, racially charged remarks to Facebook about Cecile Kyenge, who became Italy's first-ever black government minister when she assumed the post of Integration Minister in April.

Though Kyenge, an outspoken advocate of looser immigration laws, has been a frequent target of racist public incidents in recent months, Bressan's note was particularly abusive.

An English translation of Bressan's note, courtesy of HuffPost Italy's Giulia Belardelli:

hey, dirty Black MONKEY, I DON'T PAY TAXES to lodge your GORILLA friends at a HOTEL. Please bring them to your place, where you can feel superior with your money ... Oops ... That money is not even yours: it's the money Italians give you ... You're a s***ty black gold-digger.

In response, some wine merchants and writers -- even those previously fans of Bressan and his acclaimed, 400-year-old vineyard -- have called for a boycott of his wine.

British restaurateur Jacob Kennedy went so far as to smash his stock of Bressan wine on the sidewalk in front of his London restaurant, Bocca di Lupo. Kennedy taped his protest and then posted the video on YouTube.

Yet the threat of economic ruin hasn't caused Bressan to hold back in his tirades. In the weeks since his attack on Kyenge, he's continued to post frequent screeds about minorities on his Facebook page. He writes, of course, in Italian; Belardelli summarized the gist of them:

He blames gypsies and immigrants for the Italians' economic troubles, but he seems to be mad at everyone (starting with politicians). He is particularly aggressive towards Kyenge: he shared a combined photo of Kyenge and some people burnt to death with the sentence, "Look, this is what you do to Christians on your continent." In other posts he calls her "monkey," and he often shares stories and articles about crimes committed by immigrants.

Looking beyond his own borders, Bressan also mentioned U.S. President Barack Obama in one of his vitriolic posts.

As of press time, bottles of Bressan wines were still available for sale on the websites of several different American merchants, mostly for upwards of $40 a bottle.

Fulvio Bressan, Italian Winemaker, Faces Boycott Over Racist Tirade

The normally placid world of Italian oenology is having a Paula Deen moment.

On Aug. 22, sixth-generation Italian winemaker Fulvio Bressan sparked

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jQuery and its cousins are great, and by all means use them if it makes it easier to develop your application.

If you're developing a library on the other hand, please take a moment to consider if you actually need jQuery as a dependency. Maybe you can include a few lines of utility code, and forgo the requirement. If you're only targeting more modern browsers, you might not need anything more than what the browser ships with.

At the very least, make sure you know what jQuery is doing for you, and what it's not. Some developers believe that jQuery is protecting us from a great demon of browser incompatibility when, in truth, post-IE8, browsers are pretty easy to deal with on their own.

Examples of how to do common event, element, ajax and utility operations with plain javascript.


How much do flight attendants really make?

"Friendlier service doesn’t cost a thing."

That’s what one travel writer said, after complaining about an experience on board a flight recently. But as a flight attendant with years of experience, my first thought was: Yes. It does.

Whenever I speak to people about what I do for a living, most seem to assume the money is pretty good. I did, too, before I became a flight attendant.

Despite the reputation of the job, there’s nothing glamorous about life as a flight attendant, especially in the first few years. New flight attendants who work for major carriers start out making $18,000-$20,000 a year. Flight attendants at smaller airlines and regional carriers? They make even less.

The airlines won’t tell you that, though. Ask, and they’ll refer to some stat about the median annual wage: $40,000. Sounds so much nicer, doesn’t it? Something else they won’t tell you is how long it takes to make that kind of money working a regular schedule, or the kind of flying it takes to get there when you have less than 10 years with a carrier.

"I took this job to spend what little money I make on vacations I can't afford," joked a new hire, who works 120 hours a month, after she saw me tweeting about flight attendant pay.

"But flight attendants barely work," is what I hear all the time. Don’t let the hours fool you.

A hundred and twenty hours a month may sound reasonable for your typical job on the ground, but in the air, it's insane. Working "80 hours" a month — a more regular schedule for flight attendants — actually means working many, many hours more.

We’re only paid for time in the air. That flight attendant greeting you at the boarding door, helping you find a place for your bag, guitar, crutches, wedding gown, emotional support pig? They're not being paid.

The clock doesn’t officially start ticking until the door is closed and the plane backs away from the gate. That's why flight attendants hate delays maybe even more than passengers. At my airline, when a flight is cancelled, I lose the hours, meaning I don’t get paid. I have to look for another trip — pray I can find another trip — to make up for it.

Watch they'll wait to cancel our flight to Dallas when we get to the airport... so we can sit around with angry passengers and not get paid. — Heather Poole (@Heather_Poole) February 23, 2015

Time on the ground adds up, which is why the most senior flight attendants work the best trips, longhaul flights, to maximize their time in the air. It's also why the number of hours can be misleading. Not all 12 hour trips are created equal.

I have 19 years with my airline, and I’m based at one of the most junior bases in the system: New York. It’s where most of our new hires end up, even though it's too expensive to live here on our salary. That's why so many flight attendants — including me — commute to the city (even though I live in Los Angeles). If I were based in LA, where my airline's most senior flight attendants work, I’d spend more time on the ground than in the air.

My two-day, 11 hour roundtrip from New York to Los Angeles might only take me 13 hours to complete, whereas a new hire might have to work three days (and who knows how many hours) hopping from city to city to make the same amount of time. While I’m on duty seven hours, a junior flight attendant could be on duty 12 or 14 hours. We'll be paid the same. Factor in the layovers and the time away from home, and it looks more like minimum wage than $25 an hour.

JFK-LAS: On duty: 10 hours 52 minutes. Paid: 6 hours 17 minutes. Layover: 8 hours 32 minutes — Heather Poole (@Heather_Poole) February 23, 2015

"How do you do it?" I’ve been asked by more than one flight attendant hopeful.

Enter the "crashpad," where flight attendants literally crash between trips.

In my first crashpad, there were probably 30 or 40 of us living together in a five-bedroom house. That's a guess — I have no idea how many roommates I had because people were constantly in and out at all hours of the day and night.

Six of us lived in my room alone, with bunk beds lining the walls. I spent $100 a month to stay there. I couldn’t afford anything else.

"I made $10,000 my first year and lived in San Fran," Kim Keegan, a flight attendant with a major carrier, told me. "I lived in my car for months."

That's not even the worst of it. There are flight attendants who live in the operations center at the airport.

Something tells me that’s not the image the airlines want to portray when you see us walking through the terminal. But the reality is many of us are glamorous homeless people.

"The first year I made $40,000 was in 2001. I’d been flying 10 years," said Penni Reynolds, a flight attendant with a major carrier. "It took me until 2011 to make over $40,000 again, because of all the cutbacks [after 9/11]."

Like her, it took most of my colleagues 10 years working a regular schedule to make that kind of money. Seniority matters so much it makes attendants hesitant to switch airlines. Nobody wants to start all over again, from the bottom, working crappy trips.

"But my brother's cousin's aunt's friend makes $80,000!"

This is where somebody will call me out, and tell me about a friend of a friend who is rolling it in. Well, that aunt, or friend of a friend, or second cousin twice removed (if they exist), has probably been flying for 40 years or is senior enough to hold the good trips. Good for them! The rest of us aren’t so lucky. I’m not saying it's unheard of, but the people who are making that much have been flying for decades, or are barely ever home and rarely see the light of day. What kind of life is that?

"I've never made $40,000," said Beth Henry, a flight attendant with over 15 years experience with a major carrier. "By the time I made enough hourly to get that much, I had kids and [my] husband's schedule to work around."

Chicago - New York — Heather Poole (@Heather_Poole) February 21, 2015

Same for me. I choose to work less time so I can be home to watch my son grow up, and I’m lucky I have that choice — not all my colleagues do.

Future flight attendants probably won't be so lucky, not the way things are changing (and have changed).

"Quit if you don’t like it!" may be what you're thinking right about now. I hear it whenever I write about the challenges of being a flight attendant.

Don't get me wrong: I’m not complaining, I’m explaining how it works. I want future flight attendants to know what they’re getting into before they give it all up to live "the dream." I can’t tell you how many emails I get from mothers with young children who think I make a lot of money and barely work.

I don't do this job for the money. I do it because I love it.

And anyway, quit and what? Let somebody else sleep in their car? That doesn’t make things better.

When I first started flying, things were great. I was broke — oh was I broke — but there was pool time in Miami, rollerblading in Rio, window shopping in Rome ... croissants in Paris. And if you’re lucky enough to hold the good trips, it’s still a good job.

But for most flight attendants, all we see at the end of a long day is a Holiday Inn at an industrial park a mile away from the airport. We’re lucky if there’s enough time to eat, sleep and shower.

And you wonder why I'm not smiling. I'm not mean, just tired. And probably hungry. — Heather Poole (@Heather_Poole) February 23, 2015

I feel sorry for new flight attendants today. Most of them will never make what I’m making, and they’re working under a different pay scale, with new work rules. Their days are longer and their layovers are practically nonexistent.

Now add in flights that are fuller than ever, travelers acting crazy, and whatever contagious disease is going around, and — oh yeah — terrorism, and you have to wonder: Is it still worth it? I don’t know.

Airlines are advertising new planes, flat beds, more amenities — particularly for first and business class — to try and convince the public that they are committed to making the flying experience better. But if they really want to do that, they should consider better compensating the people who are interacting most with passengers.

In the mean time, I hope flight attendants can keep smiling.

Heather Poole is a flight attendant for a major U.S. carrier, and the author of the New York Times bestseller "Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet." You can follow her on Twitter at @Heather_Poole.

Flight attendants aren't mean. They're just tired. And hungry.

airlines, uncategorized, air-travel, lifestyle, travel-leisure, flight-attendants


Injured Marine Held Salute For 3 Hours. What The Bikers Do? I'm Floored.

United States Marine Corps Veteran Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers is known to the world as The Saluting Marine for standing at attention for hours in the middle of the street during Rolling Thunder. In the video below, filmed in 2013, he held the salute for 3-4 hours while standing on concrete, surrounded by the bikers who zipped passed and around him. Despite having a broken wrist, Sgt. Chambers stood strong to perform his powerful act honoring veterans everywhere.

Sgt. Chambers stands with his makeshift memorial — boots, a rifle, flack jacket and Kevlar — displayed proudly at his feet. Over the years, families of fallen soldiers have donated personal items to symbolize their body and spirit.

The courageous feat is never lost on those who take part in Rolling Thunder. Many veterans stop on their bikes to salute to Sgt. Chambers, and thank him in return for upholding such a revered tradition.

Every Year, A Lone Marine Holds Salute For Fallen Soldiers

Every Memorial Day weekend since 1988, Rolling Thunder/Ride for Freedom has been held in Washington, DC, to raise awareness of the Prisoners of War–Missing in Action of all wars. United States Marine Corps Veteran Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers is known to the world as The Saluting Marine for standing at attention for hours in the...


Report: US Military Could Save Billions of Dollars By Doing This One Thing

A new report from the Center for a New American Security suggests that the U.S. Navy—and indeed the other military services—could save tens of billions of dollars by adopting semi-autonomous unmanned combat aircraft. Money would be saved because the Pentagon would not need to buy as many planes, nor would unmanned systems have to fly as many flight hours for training purposes. Moreover, it would afford the Navy a way to extend the reach of its carrier air wing so that naval aviation could strike deep into the heart of heavily defended enemy territory.

"The cost savings are just tremendous," said Paul Scharre, one of the authors of the study and director of the 20YY Future of Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American Security.

According to the study, the cost savings estimates top $100 billion. In fact, under the most optimistic scenario, the savings could range between $95 billion and $170 billion while a more moderate case it might mean savings of between $80 billion and $140 billion. Under the most modest case scenario, the savings range between $30 billion and $54 billion.

Scharre makes the argument that when a "pilot" or drone operator "flies" an unmanned aerial vehicle, the human is only really making macro-level decisions rather than directly flying the machine—particularly in more advanced drones. Basically, even if the pilots were to maintain their proficiency in simulators only, it would make little difference to that operator. As far as that operator were concerned, the input or data coming into the simulator would be identical whether the drone as simulated, flying over Southern California or flying over Iraq. "It may be indistinguishable to the operator," Scharre said. "They might not even know."

That means that the Pentagon could save huge sums of money because pilots would not need to fly to maintain currency or fly peacetime training missions. Only a few aircraft would be needed to retain the skills of maintenance crews for operations at home station. The rest of the aircraft could be deployed for operational usage.

"The report is really about cost," Scharre said. "The cost of the airframe is identical. If you’re building a combat aircraft it’s going to have certain requirements in terms of speed, range, low visibility, weapons and everything else—those drive the cost of the aircraft. The cockpit costs are negligible. All of the saving come out of the training hours and the hours to keep up pilot currency. But then that has follow-on effects on the number of aircraft you buy, and that’s where there are huge savings."

Right now, the Navy has 10 air wings for its fleet of 10 carriers, however only a few of those carriers are deployed at sea with an air wing onboard. The remainder of the air wings and carriers are either in training or maintenance. Even during a surge, the Navy might at best deploy six carriers and their air wings, Scharre said. With a fleet of unmanned combat aircraft, the Navy would only have to buy enough unmanned combat aircraft to fill six air wings and its maintenance pipeline—which would significantly reduce the number of jets that the service would need. "You’re not buying 10 air wings," Scharre said—but nonetheless, each deployed carrier would retain the same—if not greater—combat capability.

However, while Scharre said that he hopes the CNAS study will influence the Navy’s on-going F/A-XX or Next Generation Air Dominance analysis of alternatives (AOA), he said he recognizes the carrier air wing will never be fully unmanned. More realistically, the future carrier air wing will be a mix of manned and unmanned systems. And, indeed, Scharre said that it would be preferable to retain a combination of human and autonomous control. "I think there is a role for unmanned combat aircraft on the carrier deck from an operational standpoint," Scharre said. "But it’s unreasonable to think—and I don’t know that anyone is suggesting—that the Navy go to an all-unmanned carrier air wing."

The CNAS report is not about what the mission of a future Navy unmanned combat aircraft might be. It’s simply about the potential savings the service could achieve with increased numbers of unmanned aircraft. "We would like to see the Navy incorporate cost analysis into their AOA," Scharre said. "In particular as they evaluate manned, unmanned and optionally manned variants of an F/A-XX —that they think about cost."

Think semi-autonomous unmanned combat aircraft.

Security, , US Navy, navy, UAVs, drones, Technology, Aircraft Carrier, Military

Adopting semi-autonomous unmanned combat aircraft. Automate EVERYTHING!


Crytek Dev Explains Why E3 Demos Rarely Match the Final Game

With E3 2016 just around the corner, Crytek’s Rok Erjavec explains why some games receive demos at the expo that appear to be more polished than their retail release.

With E3 2016 nearly upon us, many gamers are excited to see exactly what the expo will have in store. With both recently announced games such as Battlefield 1 expected to offer more information than what we already know, and the obvious hope for some exciting games that have yet to be revealed, there is one concern that may rear its ugly head in a very pretty way – stunning E3 demos that do not match up to the finished product. One developer, however, has spoken out about exactly why these demos seem to offer up a much more polished experience than their final version.

Rok Erjavec, Crytek’s technical director, recently spoke about this issue with DSO Gaming. Although the interview primarily focuses on the technical side of things, particularly regarding DirectX 12, the Crytek technical director did touch on the controversy surrounding games being downgraded from their E3 demos and showcases. Although Erjavec does understand some of the problems with this strategy, the technical director feels that "in many cases, the criticism is misplaced."

Erjavec went on to explain that the nature of these demos often causes this change in perceived graphical quality. "Trade-show demos are often carefully crafted experiences where a highly-polished single area is shown during the demo," said the technical director. He continued to explain that many developers are given a task of completing a 15-minute part of the game, but with a timeframe of building it in three to six months, while the rest of the game’s content is built over 12 to 24 months.

What this comes down to, then, is not so much an attempt to deceive players, and more just the difficulty of creating a full gaming experience in a much more pressured timeframe. "In many cases there was no downgrade as such," explained Erjavec, "just the reality of producing much more content over what effectively amounts to (much) less time." However, the technical director did suggested that one kind of demo is hardly useful for the developer or for its audience, stating that "I do find gameplay showcases that aren’t running on actual hardware targets or are entirely pre-recorded a bit pointless, since games are fundamentally about interactive experiences."

Regardless of exactly how demos are misleading gamers, it’s doubtful that the most blatant perpetrators of superior demos will get a free ride from the gaming community. Games such as Aliens: Colonial Marines will live long in the memory of players, with a final version of the game so bad that it led to a long and painful lawsuit. Indeed, in spite of some stunning demo footage, it has taken until 2016 for users to make the game playable through modded content.

Although Erjavec’s comments provide a very useful context for those outside of the game development circuit, it is perhaps still important for those games with the largest discrepancies to be called out on it. After all, Ubisoft promised to change its release policies after the notoriety gained from Watch Dogs. That said, maybe with a bit more understanding of how games are made, perhaps gamers will be a little more lenient on games that only lack a little polish upon release.

With E3 2016 just around the corner, Crytek's Rok Erjavec explains why some games receive demos at the expo that appear to be more polished than their retail release.

Many developers get 3 to 6 months to complete a 15 minute part of the game for trade shows, while the rest of the game only has 12 to 24 months to be completed. #StopClickBait


Harry Potter Fans Are Seriously Losing It Over This Tattoo And I Can See Why

The design is so extraordinary because it uses UV ink, meaning that it reveals a secret message as if by magic when activated by UV light. Fans will know that the tat is a take on the Marauder’s Map, which features in the books. The map was created by James Potter, along with Serius Black, Petter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin during their time at Hogwarts.

Many users have been inspired by the tattoo and "do solemnly swear" that they will be joining the glow-in-the-dark party. However, some critics have questioned how safe the luminescent ink is, as no one knows its lasting effects.

When the snap made its way over to Reddit, one user didn’t waste any time in expressing their concern with the ink. They wrote:

"Most reputable tattoo shops are still avoiding photo luminescent inks. It’s not so much a matter of ‘proven safety’ as it is a matter of ‘garbage product’.

Most photo luminescent pigment is made by third rate suppliers and are not to the standard professionals insist upon. If Eternal or Fusion ever start making a luminescent pigment... call me, until then... I am all set."

With this in mind, it’s probably best that you do your research before you all start rushing to your local tattoo parlour. If these internet experts are anything to go by, it may do more harm than good.

In other tattoo-related news, on the next page you’ll find a heartwarming video of a grandmother’s emotional reaction to a portrait of her on her granddaughter’s arm.

The impressive tat was initially posted to Imgur by user LittleFart (what a great name). They titled the following picture: "Harry Potter Marauder’s Map Tattoo, With Words That Appear Under Black Light." The design is so extraordinary because it uses UV ink, meaning that it reveals a secret message as if by magic when activated by UV [...]

Black footsteps, and "I solemnly wear that I am up to no good" appears under a black light.  #StopClickBait


So What Exactly Can I Do With My Newly Transplanted Penis?

U.S. doctors have transplanted lungs, hearts, kidneys, livers — even faces. But surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital made history this month when they completed the country's first penis transplant.

The patient, 64-year-old Thomas Manning, sustained "severe injuries" when equipment fell on him at work in 2012, the New York Times reported. While Manning was being treated at the hospital, doctors noticed a growth on his penis and diagnosed him with life-threatening penile cancer. Doctors removed "most of his penis," leaving him with "a stump about an inch long."

Manning had to sit down to pee and couldn't have intimate relationships with women, he told the Times. But a penis transplant wasn't possible at the time. It had been attempted only twice worldwide — and only once successfully, in South Africa. But Manning "kept my eye on the prize," he said.

After three and a half years of research, surgeons at MGH performed Manning's penis transplant earlier this month, the hospital announced today. Doctors are "cautiously optimistic" that it'll return the functions Manning lost in his 2012 amputation.

Eventually, the surgery may help treat soldiers with genitourinary injuries. More than 1,300 men in the military sustained genitourinary injuries between 2001 and 2013, the Times reported in December.

"We are delighted to have taken the first steps to help those patients who have suffered silently for far too long," Dr. Dicken Ko, one of the surgeons who led the procedure, said in a statement.

More than 1,300 men in the military sustained genitourinary injuries between 2001 and 2013.

First, surgeons have to procure a donor penis matching the patient's skin tone and blood type.

"The penis donor must be fairly young and have very healthy blood vessels to prevent erectile dysfunction," Dr. Amy Friedman, medical director at LiveOnNY, said in an emailed statement on Monday. "As with any organ, if it didn't function in the donor, it won't function in the recipient."

Then, to perform the transplant, surgeons need to attach it to the patient's arteries, veins, nerves, skin and urethra.

It isn't an easy process. "The blood vessels that are attached to penis are quite small," Dr. Lee Zhao, an assistant professor of Urology at NYU Langone Medical Center who wasn't involved in Manning's penis transplant, said in a phone call Monday. He put it this way: If the artery to a kidney is 1 centimeter, the artery to a penis may only be 2 or 3 millimeters.

"The techniques to do some of the connections for those blood vessels and nerves have taken a long time to develop," Zhao said.

That's the goal. Manning's new penis will allow urine to pass through it, and doctors are "cautiously optimistic that sexual function will be restored," according to a fact sheet.

That may take time, according to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where a penis transplant program is also underway. Nerves grow at a rate of 1 millimeter per day — or 1 inch per month. "We anticipate that achieving function, including urinary and sexual functioning, could take between six to 12 months," its website says.

The procedure is similar to cases where patients have severed their own penises and need to have them reattached, Zhao said. In those situations, "patients are able to achieve erections."

As for ejaculation, "it occurs in male patients who do not have a penis," Zhao said. "That should not be affected." Like urine, the semen will flow through the reattached urethra.

Fathering children is possible, too — provided a patient's testes are still intact. In fact, the recipient of the world's first penis transplant conceived a child with his girlfriend last year, CNN reported.

Physically speaking, losing a penis isn't life-threatening, like heart failure. Are penis transplants worth a lifetime of immunosuppressant drugs, which come with a number of unpleasant side effects?

"Since there are alternative techniques for making a penis, you really have to weigh the risks and benefits of doing a penis transplant," Zhao said.

One alternative technique is constructing a "neophallus" — a new penis made from tissue from a patient's forearm or thigh. Patients with a neophallus require a penile prosthesis to achieve an erection, Zhao said. They don't need to take immunosuppressants, since their new organs come from their own bodies.

But in some cases — such as the wounded soldiers approved for penis transplants at Johns Hopkins — patients have lost too much tissue from their penises to construct a neophallus, according to Popular Science. If they want to restore their penises, transplantation is the only option.

Future transplants mean we'll need more donors. "Perhaps this will encourage additional people to understand the importance of organ donation in a much more personal way," Friedman, of LiveOnNY, said. "When people have empathy for others, they are more likely to donate."

Here's How Penis Transplants Actually Work — And What a Transplanted Penis Can Do

Health, penis transplant, penis, organ transplant, Science

Pee-pee, for sure; happy-happy bang-bang time, maybe in six months to a year. #StopClickBait


@AUS10NICHOLS moves on from @SophiaBush with actress from "Nashville"

Former "One Tree Hill" actor Austin Nichols is reportedly dating bright, young thing Chloe Bennet from "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

E! News reports the two are getting hot and heavy with PDA all over Hollywood. At 33, Nichols is 12 years older than his 21-year-old lady love.

Before getting together, this duo was all about dating others onset. Nichols was previously in a relationship with his "One Tree Hill" co-star Sophia Bush from 2006 to 2012. Bennet, also a small-screen alum (she played Hailey on "Nashville"), briefly cozied up to the musical drama's male lead Sam Palladio.

Austin Nichols & Chloe Bennet Are Reportedly Dating

Hot new couple alert!

Former "One Tree Hill" actor Austin Nichols is reportedly dating bright, young thing

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