Category: Trending

Fear of flying—aerophobia, in technical terms—is an extremely common phobia, affecting around 25 million adults in the U.S. alone. Some people grit their teeth and white-knuckle their way through their fear, while others find themselves unable to get on an airplane at all because of it.

Such a fear is understandable, really. Hurtling through the sky at 500 miles per hour, tens of thousands of feet above the Earth’s surface, isn’t exactly the way humans were designed to get from place to place. (We may have evolved with the brain power and ingenuity to make it happen, but that doesn’t mean we automatically go along for the ride without our sense of self-preservation kicking in.)

One of the triggers for people with aerophobia is turbulence—the occasional shaking and pitching of an aircraft when it hits certain conditions in the atmosphere. Even people who are comfortable flying can find turbulence disconcerting sometimes, especially when it creates a sudden dropping sensation. Turbulence is normal, but it doesn’t feel normal when you’re sitting in a chair 30,000 feet from solid ground. It feels chaotic and out of control.

Anna Paul, a popular TikTok star from Australia, has shared a helpful visual for people freaked out by turbulence in a video that has more than 19 million views.

Paul explains that a pilot shared the analogy of a plane flying through the air being like an object suspended in jello. There’s pressure on all sides, so even if the jello is shaken—and the object shaken along with it—the pressure suspends the object.

In other words, a plane is not going to suddenly drop down out of the sky due to turbulence, in the same way that an object won’t drop out of the middle of a bowl of jello.

Watch:

@anna..paull

Fear of flying tip ✈️❤️

The jello analogy is also used by aerophobia experts. Therapist Les Posen specializes in flying phobias, and he shows his clients a model airplane suspended in raspberry jello to illustrate the fact that turbulence won’t cause a plane to drop out of the sky. He even goes a step farther by having clients smell the jello, and then advises them to eat some raspberry candy or juice on the plane to remind themselves of the analogy, using their senses to calm their nerves.

At the end of her video, Paul said there’s never been a plane crash from turbulence, but that’s not quite true. In 1966, a flight (BOAC 911) coming out of Tokyo broke apart in midair due to unexpected severe turbulence. However, that was a very long time ago. Monitoring of meteorological conditions has greatly advanced since then, as have the designs of modern aircraft and the skill of pilots, so experts will tell you that turbulence is not something to worry about.

If imagining air pressure as jello doesn’t really work for you, it may be helpful to have a visual of what turbulence actually is. For that, Captain Stuart Walker, who has been flying for 30 years, explains the four main types of turbulence, what causes them and what pilots do to avoid them or reduce their impact. He also explains what passengers can do to minimize their chances of feeling turbulence on a flight, such as sitting over the wings or toward the front of the plane and flying earlier in the day when temperatures are not as likely to cause air disturbances.

Whether you prefer hospital-food-based analogies or no-nonsense, scientific explanations, the bottom line is that turbulence feels far scarier than it actually is. A shaking plane is not going to drop from the sky, modern aircraft can withstand a great deal of movement midair and pilots are highly trained to handle turbulence.

And remember: Commercial airline travel really is the safest way to get to where you’re going, statistically speaking. So next time you fly, kick back, relax and imagine you’re suspended in jello, knowing you’re in capable hands when the turbulence starts.

This article originally appeared on 06.23.22

There is one request that unites all women and girls no matter their political affiliation or socioeconomic status, and that’s telling them to smile when they’re just minding their business. Think of it like a fairly universal “don’t” when interacting with women, unless you’re a photographer hired to take their photo.

A mom on TikTok found herself reaping the consequences of telling her 9-year-old daughter to smile when she was rehearsing a performance for her school. To say her daughter was not amused would be an understatement. The mom, whose TikTok name is Anniesgotabun, shared a video before and after her daughter’s performance.

The caption of the video read “mistakes were made” complete with the facepalm emoji and the hastag #parentingfail. In the first part of the video you can clearly see her daughter going through the motions of the musical production looking unenthusiastic. The mom explains her error via text overlay explaining “my daughter had her final rehearsal for the school musical yesterday.”

The video cuts to the mom with text that read, “Afterward, I regrettably said the one thing that no female *ever* wants to hear. ‘Try to smile more.’’’ The result was interesting to say the least and it certainly made the mom rethink her well-meaning advice. During the actual show, the little girl made sure her point was made by staring directly in her mother’s eyes the entire time … smiling.

You may be thinking, well then the advice worked and it did, if her plan was to have her daughter look like the Joker while staring deep into her soul the entire performance. Because that’s exactly what happened and the internet cannot unsee it and the parents of the other children on stage are probably wondering whose child that was.

Check out the funny video below and for the love of everything you cherish, please remember this mom’s mistake should you ever get the urge to tell a woman or girl to smile.

@anniesgotabun

Mistakes were made 🤦🏼‍♀️ #parentingfail

This article originally appeared on 12.24.22

Every human being is unique, and yet we seem to be hardwired to want to fit in with others. Sometimes, that longing for a sense of belonging can cause us to put too much stock in people’s opinions of us and lead us to change who are to please others.

One mom has taken that tendency to task in a viral video in which she uses fruit to teach her daughter a lesson in being herself. In a video shared on Facebook by the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., a Chinese mom and her daughter speak to the camera while using a dragon fruit, a banana, and two different colored peppers as props.

First, they over the difference between a fact and an opinion. “This is a dragon fruit,” is a fact. “A dragon fruit is tastier than a banana,” is an opinion. Simple enough.

“Similarly, if a kid tells you your drawing is not good or that your hairstyle doesn’t look nice, that’s just their opinion. It doesn’t mean it’s a fact,” the mom says. “We don’t need to feel sad or unhappy because of someone else’s opinion.”

Next, the mom holds up a green pepper and asks if her daughter likes it. After the girl says no, the mom asks if she’d like if she changed the green pepper to a yellow one. Again, no.

“So we shouldn’t change ourselves because of someone else’s preferences,” the mom says. “Just like you have people you like and don’t like.”

She finishes by asking her daughter what she’ll do in the future if a kid doesn’t like her or doesn’t want to play with her.

“I will find friends who like me, or friends I like, to play with,” the girl replies.

Watch:

It’s a simple analogy, but an effective one. Even adults need to be reminded sometimes that people’s opinions of us aren’t facts and shouldn’t be internalized as truths about ourselves.

“This is absolutely beautiful,” wrote one commenter. “A perfectly simple way to educate all people, not just children.”

“Everyone needs to do this with their child, wrote another. “This is a good parent teaching their child about the real world and social interactions. Someone’s opinion is just that. An opinion. No need to get upset, offended or angry about it. Take it as an opinion, the same or different from your own, and move on.”

“Agreed—and when you work on yourself it shouldn’t be for other people’s acceptance, but for yourself,” shared another.

Sometimes the simplest lessons are the ones we need to hear, whether we’re 9 or 49.

Imagine that you’re about to head to the airport for a tropical vacation when suddenly you’re so excited that you feel like you’re going to die. Your heart starts feeling like it’s rolling around in your chest, your hands are sweaty and your vision is going blurry all while you’re trying to drive to the airport. That doesn’t sound very exciting does it?

But Brené Brown, a famous therapist, is quoted saying, “anxiety and excitement feel the same, but how we interpret and label them can determine how we experience them.” The quote is from her book, “Atlas of the Heart,” where Brown is exploring 87 different emotions and experiences that comprise the human experience.

The quote, meant to be inspirational was shared to Upworthy’s social media page and people have some distinctions between anxiety and excitement that they’d like Brown to know about. Their grievances were hilarious and valid.

“Cool so I’ll just tell my body I’m having an excitement attack instead of panic attack next time. Cuz the label will make it feel better,” one commenter writes.

Is this sort of anxiety on sale somewhere? Maybe on Amazon perhaps? The level of positive thinking and self talk it would take to convince yourself that your anxiety is simply excitement seems like an Olympic level sport. If it were as simple as the short quote would have you believe then it would probably save people on unnecessary trips to the hospital.

“I’d like to experiment her kind of anxiety if it’s exciting mine lands me the hospital crying in distress. Wouldn’t say that’s exciting,” someone else jokes.

“She’s off on that one. Anxiety does NOT in any way feel like excitement. Excitement feels like excitement!!!!!,” another proclaimed.

“Ummm excitement definitely doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to pass out,” one person wrote.

Well, Brené the jury is definitely not out on this one. People cannot be convinced that anxiety and excitement are the same and while Brown’s quote is often shared in this short form, it’s important to remember that it’s from an entire chapter from an entire book. The chances are very high that if quoted fully in context, it would make much more sense.

Here’s some good news for conservatives: There will (probably) be no Barbie sequel. Over the summer Greta Gerwig’s Mattel movie Hoovered up gobs of money, enough to make it the 14th highest grossing movie ever made (not adjusted for inflation, of course). But like it’s “Barbenheimer” release date bud, it wasn’t made to spawn a sequel, at least according to its star.

“I think we put everything we had into this one,” Margot Robbie told The Associated Press, as caught by Entertainment Weekly. “We didn’t build it to be a trilogy or something. [Director] Greta [Gerwig] put everything into this movie, so I can’t imagine what would be next.”

Honestly, how could one even top the film’s mic drop of a punchline? Not every movie needs to have a bunch of sequels, including ones about a bunch of sentient doll living in an alternate universe. Not that fans of the film won’t get more: Mattel was quick to launch one of them extended universes, roping in big names and big auteurs to make ambitious movies about toys.

Besides, Gerwig is already busy with other projects, including tackling C.S. Lewis’ Narnia saga for Netflix, trading doll-people without genitals for a lion who’s a stand-in for Jesus Christ.

(Via EW)

The Golden State Warriors have made clear that they’re taking the In-Season Tournament very seriously, and even though their group is rather competitive due to the Sacramento Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves, they still have a chance at moving on to the knockout round. In order to do that, the team had to take care of business on Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs.

During the third quarter of action, Steve Kerr decided to cut through the tension of a pretty important game by providing a moment of comedic relief. Dario Saric got called for a foul, and Kerr decided to use his coach’s challenge in an effort to get it overturned. Apparently, Kerr didn’t like his chances all that much, because when he learned that his challenge was successful, he was nothing short of stunned.

Fortunately for all of us, Kerr was also mic’d up, and made clear while he was challenging the call that “I know I’m gonna lose.”

“How did we win?” a stunned Kerr said on the bench. “We never win!”

Kerr is capable of being pretty funny when he feels like it, and credit to him, this was a pretty funny moment that looked it came from a place of total surprise.

The names we choose to give our children can significantly impact their lives. Multiple studies from across the globe have found that a person’s name can influence their employment, social and economic outcomes.

Unfortunately, humans make snap judgments about one another, and having an unusual name can lead people to make unflattering assumptions. “We’re hardwired to try to figure out in a heartbeat whether or not we want to trust somebody, whether we want to run from somebody,” Northwestern University researcher David Figlio said, according to Live Science.

However, an increasing number of parents are giving their children non-traditional names to help them stand out. “Parents are trying to be original, almost branding their kids in an era where names are viewed on the same level as Twitter handles or a website URL,” writer Sabrina Rogers-Anderson said.

Ruby, a mother on TikTok, took a hard stance on parents giving their children names that sound childish in a post that’s received over 11 million views. Ruby says she named her kids as “adults, not babies” hoping they would never “outgrow” their names.

@rubyyvillarreal

#stitch with @nikkiruble love having nicknames as they are younger and it doesnt mean they will perfer it over their name as they get older. Just gives them options 🤷🏻‍♀️ #nicknames #babynames #babytok #adultnames #pregnancytiktok #toddlersoftiktok #momtok #momlife #babynames #babyname

“The whole concept when I was trying to look for a name and choose a name for her is I did not want her to outgrow her name,” she said in the viral video. “I wanted the name to fit her as a baby, as a toddler, as a child, and into adulthood. So, it’s like I really am happy with what I ended up with naming her and it just fits her so well.”

She captioned the video, “love having nicknames as they are younger and it doesn’t mean they will prefer it over their name as they get older. Just gives them options.”

People in the comments responded with modern names they think that kids will outgrow.

“My name is Koazy and I’m here for a job interview,” Stalker joked. “Hello sir, I am Bluey Mason Garrison! I was called in for a job interview last Tuesday,” Pastel Purr added.

“I can’t imagine knowing [a] 30-year-old named Emma or Posie,” Mikey wrote.

However, a lot of people commented that names that seem like they’ll be outgrown will sound fine in the future when those names are popular with the new generation. “Kids grow up with their generation having their own names on trend. They will be normal adult names when they are grown,” Kerry wrote.

“Names grow with the generation,” Lauren added. “The name Dennis sounded like a baby name once too. Names grow up just like generations.”

@rubyyvillarreal

Replying to @19eighty_5 my kids name and the process 😬 #babynames #nicknames #babytok #adultnames #momsoftiktok #momlife #momtok #pregnancytiktok #toddlersoftiktok #babyname #babyfever

In a follow-up video, Ruby shared the names she gave her children. Her girl is named Karla Esmerelda and her boy is called Deluca.

“I just really liked how simple, how bold, and strong that the name by itself just really kind of is. Doing some research names with the letter K tend to be like very bold and powerful names, so I really wanted it with a K and not with a C,” she said.

She named her son Deluca, after a doctor on “Grey’s Anatomy.” She said she chose the name because there was nothing to connect it to, and it sounded “nice.”

This article originally appeared on 4.26.23

Days after it was revealed that Daryl Hall had filed a lawsuit and been granted a temporary restraining order against his former bandmate, John Oates, the public now knows why. According to the Associated Press, Hall sued over the fact that Oates planned to sell his half of their joint venture, which he is claiming violates their business agreement.

Filed in Nashville’s Chancery Court, the judge ruled to temporarily block Oates from completing this sale, until legal proceedings are finished. It turns out the temporary restraining order was also filed for a similar reason, citing that Oates and “others involved in his trust can’t move to close the sale of their share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judge’s order expires,” per the publication.

While the order was granted the same day Hall filed the lawsuit, a lot of the details in the filing were “under seal” and not available to the public — leaving many with still quite a few questions.

AP also points out that Primary Wave has owned a “significant interest” in the Hall & Oates song catalog for over a decade, which Hall has expressed in previous interviews that he didn’t like it being “sold off,” as he told Sky News in 2021.

Taylor Swift brought The Eras Tour to Sao Paulo, Brazil tonight, where she had a whole new set of surprise songs in store. Although some fans had suspected she would be announcing Reputation (Taylor’s Version) because of Black Friday, it seems we will all have to wait a while longer.

Swift did, however, treat the audience to a performance of one of her recent 1989 (Taylor’s Version) vault songs. As the first of the surprise set, she debuted “Now That We Don’t Talk” — which has been a favorite among fans, given it doesn’t hold back on roasting a certain rumored ex.

“I’ve never performed this one live before,” she said. “Let’s see how I do with it.”

The second of Swift’s surprise section found her taking to the piano for a gentle and emotional take of her 2010 Speak Now song, “Innocent.” It was also extra special because she hadn’t played the song live since that year’s Video Music Awards.

In the clips from the show, the crowd can be heard singing loudly along to all the words of both tracks.

Swift is set to play two more nights in Sao Paulo this weekend.

Check out Taylor Swift’s “Now That We Don’t Talk” and “Innocent” performances above.

Noah Kahan recently hopped over to perform at BBC’s Radio 1 Live Lounge, where he treated listeners to a cover of a song by someone who recently covered him. Kahan put a new spin on Olivia Rodrigo’s “Lacy,” a track from her sophomore album, Guts. (A few weeks ago, Rodrigo herself was at the Live Lounge, where she showed off her folksier side too by performing Kahan’s “Stick Season.”)

Kahan said he chose the song because it was “so beautiful and it highlights what I love so much about Olivia’s lyricism, it’s very dynamic and it just makes you feel an emotion we’ve all experienced before.”

The performance opens with Kahan’s backup band, including the choice to add a banjo to the instrumental. Kahan then leans into the quieter aspects of the song, which elevates the emotions in the lyrics. By the time he gets to the “Ooh I care, I care, I care” chorus, several vocalists back him too — adding a bunch of powerful choices to the cover.

By the time Kahan hits the second verse, he does start to lift the mood and shifts the instrumental — making it feel more like an upbeat folk song.

When Rodrigo covered “Stick Season,” Kahan also expressed praise for the pop star — mainly her choosing his song to cover, out of all the ones she could have picked. (And who can blame her? It rules.)

Check out Noah Kahan‘s take of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Lacy” above.