We love to see an inclusive school community that supports every student. Ethan Slater, a seventh grader from New Jersey, recently went viral for something pretty incredible. You’ve likely seen the Whitney Houston challenge trending on social media. Fans listen to her 1992 hit, “I Will Always Love You.” After Whitney sings, “But above all things, I wish you love,” fans hit a percussion instrument on the beat right before she sings the infamous big ending. It’s not easy to do, but Ethan Slater, who has Down syndrome, made it look like nothing. The best part wasn’t when he hit the drum on the beat; it’s what happened next that will have you grabbing for the tissues. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @camatotois Ethan Slater’s Entire School Erupted As soon as Ethan Slater nailed the perfect bang on the drum, the whole school community began cheering. Ethan ran straight ot his teacher, Jessica Vigil, for a huge hug. Jessica told NBC News she loved seeing the school embrace Ethan’s growth and helping him “shine” during his big moment. When asked how he felt about his accomplishment, Ethan gave the camera a huge thumbs up. The original video, posted to Instagram, shows just how excited Ethan Slater’s school community was. “That’s my boy!!!!! Thank you to the whole school and community for loving him as fiercely as we do,” his mom wrote. “What also isn’t seen here—right after he nailed it, he ran to his teachers for bear hugs, then went student to student spreading his joy. The cheers throughout the entire gym were incredible, but the way he celebrates with pure love might be even better,” another person shared. The moment touched so many hearts. “I love it when kids are kids and are genuinely excited over things like this. The feeling that boy must have had. Oh, I am tearing up,” someone wrote. This story’s featured image can be found here.

Friday's Final Word

With an appearance on Friday’s CBS Mornings, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss made her formal on-air debut on one of the network’s flagship newscasts and she made it count as it was to both promote Saturday’s airing of a town hall she had taped earlier this week with Erika Kirk and set the tone for what should be the network’s future of embracing a diversity of views. The fullest depiction came in the second half of her appearance as featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers echoed the need for honest debate, so he made sure to tell viewers Erika’s late husband “Charlie Kirk was controversial in his life” and “[s]ome of his critics called his organization racist, xenophobic, sexist, homophobic.” After a long clip of Weiss asking Erika about some of Charlie’s comments that said “critics” would label as incendiary, Duthiers followed up by wondering what Weiss would say to those declaring it “harmful to platform” the Kirks. Watch as Weiss leveled a response that will hopefully serve as a north star for CBS News and any liberal network looking to regain the public’s trust after decades of self-inflicted hits and overinflated egos (click “expand” to read in full): MORE OF THIS, PLEASE: Important comments from CBS News editor-in-chief @BariWeiss to colleague @VladDuthiersCBS about having conversations with those we disagree with, even if you may think someone is controversial and wrong... CBS’s Vladimir Duthiers: “So, Bari, when I… pic.twitter.com/Sw2xHrgV7w — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 12, 2025   I just fundamentally disagree with the idea that we shouldn’t be able to speak across divides. That doesn’t mean that there are not lines. The question, of course, is whether or not Charlie Kirk crossed those lines and, in my view, you hear me quote many of the controversial things he said — needless to say, there are many things Charlie Kirk said in his life that I vehemently disagree with, but, to me, that’s not the point. The point is that we are walking into an abyss as a country if we accept the idea that words are violence, but violence, if directed at the right targets, is acceptable. I fundamentally reject that world view. The entire point of our democracy, the whole premise of it as we’re entering our 250th year is that we solve our problems by persuasion. We solve our problems by talking to one another. We don’t solve our problems by shooting one another in the neck as happened that day at that Utah college and so, to me, especially as we’re living in a world where you can live next door to someone and if you have different things on your social media feed, you can live in a different reality — and so, the point of this conversation, even if it makes some people uncomfortable, even if they disagree with something they heard on stage, I disagreed with some I heard on stage. The point, that’s the whole nature of the democratic process and this conversation and this whole series that we’re going to be announcing in the coming days, the point is to revive that in a moment this country needs it. More than ever. Going to break, co-host and incoming CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil doubled down on this and, while perfectly accurate, need to be repeated over and over going forward in this new era after, again, a decades-long stench of bias: [I]f you’re watching the news on whatever channel you’re watching, you agree with everything you hear, you’re getting it wrong and second, if you’re only getting those one lines as somehow a summary of a person’s whole life or way of thinking, that’s not true persuasion and that’s not democracy. As we wrote when Dokoupil was named Evening News anchor, count on NewsBusters to continue providing complete coverage of CBS and calling balls and strikes as to whether this new thinking prevails, fails, or is merely lip service. But rewinding to the beginning, Dokoupil set the tone by playing a clip of Kirk in the town hall telling Weiss she “never agree[s] with political violence” and while “we can blame everyone else” from the perpetrator to elected officials, real change starts when we all “tak[e] responsibility.” Back live, Dokoupil asked Weiss to explain why she had Kirk serve as the lead-off for what will be a series of CBS News townhalls at a time when “there are tough conversations and people often don’t feel they can have them because they can’t speak openly about certain topics and ideas.” Weiss first stated the reality that, as a result of her husband’s murder, Erika is now leading “the most important conservative organization in the country” and thus will have enormous sway “over the direction of the right, especially after Trump.” Having said that, Weiss gave CBS News viewers a perspective that was likely unfamiliar to many of their liberal base, which was the country’s in a dangerous place because someone was murdered “practicing the most fundamental of American rights” in “trying to persuade people with words” and the fallout has devolved into celebrations and conspiracy theories: .@BariWeiss in her @CBSMornings debut, promoting her town hall tomorrow with @MrsErikaKirk and taking aim at those who celebrated Charlie’s assassination and the conspiracy theorists claiming she had something to do it... “I think Erika Kirk is a victim of what could be a very,… pic.twitter.com/lU3t3Vrlw0 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 12, 2025   “What matters is that because — she speaks about this in the interview, the brain rot that social media is allowing to spread, the way that it is detaching us from humanity, from our ability to talk to one another and our ability to discern the truth from just out and out lies is something that is incredibly important as a theme,” Weiss added. Co-host Gayle King asked Weiss to weigh in on Erika embracing her Christian faith in this time of enormous pain. Weiss replied that, as someone’s not Christian, Kirk’s belief in Christ was been “powerful” to witness and that someone could hold the duality of forgiving the alleged shooter while still embracing the need for him to face the criminal justice system. CBS’s @BariWeiss on @MrsErikaKirk’s Christian faith being her rock since Charlie’s murder... “I’m not Christian, but bearing witness to something that in her is clearly very deeply held and sincere was quite powerful and powerful for everyone in the audience. I think the thing… pic.twitter.com/34YnGxotsV — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 12, 2025 To see the relevant CBS transcript from December 12, click here.

Pompeii Archaeological ParkA pile of the dry concrete mixture found at the construction site. The concrete of ancient Rome was notoriously strong. Many of the buildings, bridges, and aqueducts built by the Romans still stand today. Now, thanks to a construction site left stuck in time in the ancient city of Pompeii, scientists believe they have solved the long-running debate about why Roman concrete was so sturdy and durable. The discovery builds off of previous research in which scientists described the theory that Romans used “hot mixing” to manufacture concrete, which allowed it to “heal” itself when water caused it to crack. However, this process was significantly different than the method ancient Roman architect Vitruvius described in his treatise De architectura roughly 100 years before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Then, a construction site in Pompeii that was left well-preserved in the aftermath of the eruption was discovered. After studying this site, the researchers were able to confirm that the hot mixing method proposed previously was indeed the one used by ancient Romans in the first century C.E. Why Roman Concrete Was So Revolutionary The study, which was recently published in Nature Communications, suggests that ancient Romans used dry-heated limestone to create a highly reactive quicklime and then mixed it with volcanic ash and water. The resulting chemical reaction produced the heat that gave the concrete its self-healing properties. This hot mixing method created chunks called “lime clasts” within the concrete. If the concrete cracked and water flowed through, these clasts would dissolve, and the calcium they released would recrystallize and seal the crack. This conclusion came after researchers studied piles of dry, pre-mixed concrete ingredients found at an ancient construction site in Pompeii. Vaserman et al./Nature CommunicationsA depiction of the first three steps of the “hot mixing” method of creating concrete. “We were blessed to be able to open this time capsule of a construction site and find piles of material ready to be used for the wall,” study author Admir Masic said in a statement. “With this paper, we wanted to clearly define a technology and associate it with the Roman period in the year 79 C.E.” After studying the ingredients, as well as a wall that was in the process of being built, existing structural walls, and a wall that had been repaired with mortar, the researchers were able to conclude that the method proposed during their chemical analysis of Roman concrete back in 2023 was accurate. How The Hot Mixing Method Differs From Historical Records The construction site provided solid archaeological evidence of hot mixing. However, this method was not the one described by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect who wrote about how concrete was made. In the first century B.C.E., Vitruvius noted that concrete was made from slaked lime — or hydrated, heated limestone. The researchers believe that this method was either misinterpreted or out of date by the time construction started at the site in Pompeii nearly 100 years later. FeaturedPics/Wikimedia CommonsAncient marvels like the Colosseum were likely built using this hot mixing method. The scientists hope that this research will allow restoration workers in the ancient city to use the hot mixing method of manufacturing concrete to make repairs in a way that is true to the time period. They also hope this process will help modern concrete become more durable and longer-lasting. “The way these pores in volcanic ingredients can be filled through recrystallization is a dream process we want to translate into our modern materials,” Masic explained. “We want materials that regenerate themselves.” After reading about the secrets behind ancient Roman concrete, learn about these 33 stunning frescoes from Pompeii and the stories behind them. Then, discover the history of the preserved bodies of Pompeii’s victims. The post An Ancient Construction Site In Pompeii Is Revealing How The Romans Made ‘Self-Healing’ Concrete appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Amanda Seyfried Says Socialism Is a Gorgeous Idea Because She’ll Never Actually Have to Live Under It

Get on the Jet Ski, Gavvy Pooh: Nicki Minaj Just Destroyed Gavin Newsom in the Funniest Way Possible

Former CBS News Anchor's 'Cronkite Awards' Remarks Quietly Drop Hints of Improvement in Legacy Media

The Transportation Security Administration said Friday it is ending its labor agreement covering airport baggage screeners, moving forward with the decision despite a federal judge blocking the agency's earlier attempt this year.

President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy, Jared Kushner, has begun quiet outreach to some of Wall Street's most powerful investment firms as discussions continue over how to rebuild Ukraine after the war, the New York Post reported.