Could Hanabie win over a crowd of muddy, drunk British rock fans? You bet

The Last Dinner Party: “We’ve been creative little weirdos.”

In 2010, Peter Lammer’s life changed forever. After a motorbike accident, he was left with an injured leg. Even several surgeries couldn’t help as much as he had hoped. This would be devastating for anyone, of course, but this was especially true for this passionate Austrian chef. Every medical professional said that he wouldn’t be able to have a standing job anymore. This news left Peter feeling hopeless. Little did he know at the time, however, that one day he’d become a cook who flies. How? With the help of his friend, Bernhard Tichy, a carpenter and mountaineer who runs a zipline adventure center. Together, they worked to create a one-of-a-kind accommodation that would allow Peter to keep doing what he loves. See Peter in action in the video below! @abcnewsaus The Austrian cook was told by experts that he’d never be able to work again in a job where he needed to be on his feet all day. To personalise your news & stay in the know, download the ABC News app via the link our bio. #ABCNews #Chef #Austria #Work ♬ original sound – ABC News Australia As the above video shows, Peter’s restaurant includes rails on the ceiling. This allows him to navigate around the entire space on a C-shaped bracket that includes an adjustable seat. This method has proven to be a great way for Peter to move around, and work, with ease. In fact, he’s been doing this for years now! Chef “Flies” so He Can Cook, Allowing Him to Continue His Dream Job “It gives people with limited leg strength hope again,” Bernhard says. Both Peter and Bernhard are determined to spread that hope to as many people as possible. In fact, they’re working with the Austrian government to help other disabled folks get back to work. Best of all, they’re keeping cost in mind. To do that, they aren’t selling their patent. This way, the price of this product, called Standing Ovation, will be affordable to more people. “This can be used in so many jobs! Brilliant,” one person shares online, with another adding, “As a bartender with chronic pain this gives me so much hope for the future of service and hospitality.” You can find the source of this story’s featured image here! The post Cook Was Told He Couldn’t Work On His Feet, So He Chose To “Fly” Instead appeared first on InspireMore.

When this grandpa was feeling lonely, he knew exactly who to invite for a sleepover. His sweet granddaughter was not only more than happy to come over, but she was also thrilled that he had asked her! Megan Elizabeth shared some heartwarming screenshots from their text conversation on social media. Her relationship with her grandfather is too precious for words! In her video, Megan explained that the 92-year-old had called her up to tell her that he felt alone. Her grandpa had sounded so upset over the phone that she jumped at the invitation to stay at his house for a sleepover. @notmeganelizabeth1016 Crying One of the best memories i have w/ him ? I miss him so much #grandpavanhoy #rip #vanhoyfamily #onthisday #meganelizabeth #grandpavanhoyupdate ♬ original sound – Megan Elizabeth “His health is declining so I take any opportunity to see him,” she wrote in her clip. Of course, you can’t have a sleepover without snacks, so Megan asked her grandpa if there were any foods he’d like her to bring. Since he could only eat “soft things” at this point, he asked for applesauce, mashed potatoes, and strawberry ice cream. Soon, his granddaughter arrived with a bundle of delicious treats! It sounds like these two had a blast together. While they enjoyed their snacks, they watched grandpa’s “favorite black and white murder mystery show.” Megan captured the sweetest footage of the elderly man enjoying his strawberry ice cream in his pajamas! Grandpa was an excellent host during this sleepover. He made sure his granddaughter’s room was in top shape before she came over. One of her late grandmother’s dolls was waiting for her on the freshly made bed. Megan’s grandfather even provided her with a flashlight “in case I got scared.” Screengrab from TikTok “Staying here brings back so many good memories from my childhood,” the young woman wrote in her video. “I love my grandpa so much.” Sadly, Megan shared in the comments section that her grandfather has since passed away. “Can’t believe this was two years ago today,” she said. “Not a day goes by I don’t think of all our memories together.” What a beautiful reminder to never pass up an opportunity to spend time with our loved ones! We never know how much time anyone has left on earth. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Lonely Grandpa Asks Granddaughter For A Sleepover — And She Delivers Perfectly appeared first on InspireMore.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Celia Cruz, the renowned “Queen of Salsa,” has been the first Afro-Latina to appear on a US quarter, as part of the 2024 American Women Quarters Program.  A dynamic tribute to a musical legend Cruz, known for her powerful voice, flamboyant style, and legendary performances, now appears on the quarter as a tribute to her larger-than-life personality. Phebe Hemphill, a medallic artist for the United States Mint, created the quarter’s design, which faced the problem of depicting Cruz’s vivacity on such a small canvas. “I knew I had to make the design for superstar Celia Cruz as dynamic as she was,” Hemphill said. Hemphill used a combination of traditional clay relief sculpting and current 3D imaging technologies to reflect the singer’s “greatness and vitality” inspired by Cruz’s famed rumba attire. Cruz’s incredible journey from Havana to the world Cruz’s legendary prominence in music stems from both her voice and her unique presence. Her improvisational lyrics, energetic dancing, and magnetic exuberance” made her a symbol of joy and resilience. Her unique style had a lasting impact, and some of her dazzling outfits are now part of the Smithsonian’s collection. The quarter’s design features Cruz in her typical flamboyant outfit, smiling with her famous slogan, “¡Azúcar!” This cry, which originated as a jest about Cuba’s strong coffee, became synonymous with Cruz and her performances, capturing the warmth and sweetness she brought to the stage. Cruz was born in Havana in 1925, and her passion for singing propelled her from local cabarets to international fame. Following the Cuban Revolution, she relocated to the United States, where her career thrived, earning platinum albums, Grammy awards, and duets with giants like Tito Puente. “I have fulfilled my father’s wish to be a teacher,” Cruz once stated, reflecting on her influence through music. “As a performer, I want people to feel their hearts sing and their spirits soar.” Celia Cruz’s journey from Havana to the global stage is one of passion, perseverance, and cultural pride. Her appearance on the United States quarter not only commemorates her tremendous history but also recognizes the significant contributions of Afro-Latinas to American culture.The post ‘Queen of Salsa’ Celia Cruz is first Afro-Latina to be honored on the US quarter first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When thinking about the fundamentals of fitness and health, it’s easy to ignore something as seemingly minor as your toes. However, these little joints, particularly your big toe joints, play an important role in your overall health and mobility. Christynne Helfrich, PT, DPT, an Illinois-based physical therapist at Hinge Health, says the big toe joint is “totally underrated.” She emphasizes that our movements start from the ground up, with the big toe serving as a lever, bending back to propel us forward. If this joint does not function properly, it can cause a series of problems throughout the body. The commonly overlooked role of the big toe Most of us take our big toes for granted, but they truly deserve more attention. These not-so-little piggies are essential for daily tasks such as walking, jogging, and keeping balance. “Your big toe significantly impacts gait, allowing for efficient weight transfer during walking and running, contributing to a smoother, more stable stride,” explains Rachel Tavel, PT, DPT, CSCS, a physical therapist based in New York City.  This movement is also essential for maintaining your balance unsupported, which can help you avoid falls and accidents. Dr. Helfrich observes that when we close our eyes while standing, our big toes automatically grip the ground, a subtle move that helps to support our entire body. Everyday tasks like climbing stairs, kneeling, and reaching for objects on high shelves rely on the proper movement of your big toes. Even the most basic actions can be difficult if these joints are not mobile enough. The total body effect of big toe mobility A lack of motion in the big toe joint can cause immediate difficulties walking, standing, or climbing stairs, typically accompanied by pain. Dr. Tavel explains that a limited range of motion can also impair agility, making movements like sprinting or jumping more difficult and uncomfortable. But the difficulties do not end at your feet.  The consequences of big toe rigidity might spread throughout your body. Dr. Kaitlyn Laube Ward, a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon, explains that discomfort in one location frequently results in compensatory movement patterns, which can cause strain and injury in other joints and muscles. For example, if your big toe does not flex readily, you may instinctively change your gait to avoid a painful bend, which could lead to hip pain, knee strain, or back problems over time.  Dr. Michael Schumacher, a podiatrist at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, explains the domino effect in greater detail. “If your big toe is stiff, you might compensate by lifting your foot earlier than usual, which shifts stress to your hip, leading to tension and discomfort,” he says. These minor alterations can compound, causing a cascade of issues that impair your general mobility and quality of life. Recognizing and assessing big toe health Assessing your big toe joint’s range of motion is the first step in understanding its health. Dr. Ward recommends assessing both passive and active ranges of motion. Passive motion entails gently moving your big toe back toward your shin or down toward your heel with your hand, whereas active motion refers to how far the toe can travel in either direction using only your foot muscles. Pulling your big toe back should result in a 65-degree angle, and the reverse direction should be 30 to 45 degrees. A weight-bearing test can also assist you in determining your big toe’s mobility. Dr. Ward suggests standing on one foot, elevating your heel off the ground but keeping your toes planted. The higher you can lift your heel without moving your toes, the more flexible your big toe joint is. Ways to boost big toe mobility Fortunately, there are various tactics you may employ to improve big toe mobility, many of which are simple to implement into your everyday routine. Walking on a regular basis is one of the most basic strategies for flexing your big toe and increasing mobility. Dr. Tavel recommends wearing supportive shoes with a big toe box to avoid squishing and keep your feet in normal alignment. Stretching and mobility exercises can assist if your big toe is stiff or painful on occasion. These exercises are critical for promoting healthy movement patterns and avoiding compensatory stress on other joints. Dr. Schumacher recommends using a soft technique when moving your big toe, comparing it to “a gentle kind of movement, not like jamming a standard transmission.” 1. Gently wiggle your big toe up and down Begin by sitting comfortably and holding your bare foot with one hand. To create space in the joint, gently hold your big toe and tug it away from the foot with your other hand. Slowly move the toe up and down the entire range of motion, pausing at the end of each range for a few seconds. Dr. Tavel recommends avoiding side-to-side movements because the big toe joint is not built for that type of motion. 2. Use a wall to bend deeper Use a wall to get a deeper stretch without using your hands. Stand facing the wall, hands flat against it for balance. Press the bottom of your toes against the wall while keeping the rest of your foot on the ground. Bend your knees and lean against the wall to intensify the stretch. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds, then repeat several times. 3. Let gravity help stretch things out To stretch your big toe in the opposite direction, Dr. Ward recommends utilizing a staircase. Stand with your toes on the edge of a step and gradually lower your heels, bringing them past the edge. This movement stretches the tips of your toes and calves. Hold for 15-30 seconds and repeat several times. 4. Give your big toe muscles a workout Strengthening your toe muscles can also improve mobility. The towel scrunch is a simple workout in which you use your toes to pull a damp hand towel toward you. Alternatively, try picking up marbles with your toes and depositing them in a cup. These exercises are portable and do not require any special equipment, making them easy to fit into your everyday routine. When to seek professional help If you’re experiencing chronic pain, can’t wiggle your toes, or don’t see any progress after these exercises, you should see a podiatrist or physical therapist. A variety of reasons, including bunions, incorrect footwear, and nerve difficulties, can contribute to big toe rigidity, and an expert can help you determine the core cause. Adding these simple but effective measures into your daily routine will help you maintain or enhance your big toe mobility, reduce the chance of compensation injuries, and keep your body moving smoothly. Remember even the tiniest joint can have a significant impact on your overall health and fitness.The post Big toe mobility: don’t overlook this humble joint’s big role in health and fitness first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Warp drives have a long history of not existing, despite their ubiquitous presence in science fiction. Writer John Campbell first introduced the idea in a science fiction novel called Islands of Space. These days, thanks to Star Trek in particular, the term is very familiar. It’s almost a generic reference for superliminal travel through hyperspace. Whether or not warp drive will ever exist is a physics problem that researchers are still trying to solve, but for now, it’s theoretical. Recently, two researchers looked at what would happen if a ship with warp drive tried to get into a black hole. The result is an interesting thought experiment. It might not lead to starship-sized warp drives but might allow scientists to create smaller versions someday. Remo Garattini and Kirill Zatrimaylov theorized that such a drive could survive inside a so-called Schwarzschild black hole. That’s provided the ship crosses the event horizon at a speed lower than that of light. Theoretically, the black hole’s gravitational field would decrease the amount of negative energy required to keep the drive going. If it did, the ship could pass through and somehow use it to get somewhere else without getting crushed. Furthermore, the mathematics behind this idea points the way toward the possible creation of mini-warp drives in lab settings. This artist’s illustration shows a spacecraft using an Alcubierre Warp Drive to warp space and ‘travel’ faster than light. What’s a Warp Drive? Could scientists build a micro- or mini-warp drive in the lab? Good questions. To understand the team’s work, let’s look at the major players in this research: warp drives and black holes. The idea is inspired by the fact that nothing can go faster than light speed. Given the distances in space, traveling to the nearest star would take years (if we could go at light speed). Going across a galaxy or to more distant galaxies would take years and many lifetimes. So, if you want to be a space-faring species, you must travel faster than light (FTL). How would you do that? This is where warp drives come in. Theoretically, they allow you to put your spaceship inside a bubble that could slip through space at FTL speeds. That’s how the starships in Star Trek (and other SF stories) get across huge distances so quickly. The Star Trek ships use an energy source in a “warp core” to power warp field generators. They create the warp bubble in subspace. The ship uses that to go wherever the crew needs to be. Do Physicists Like Warp Drive? Such a warp drive is a tantalizing idea with many caveats. For example, generating a warp field requires an insane amount of energy. Some physicists suggest that it would take more energy than we’re capable of generating. Creating that energy would require huge amounts of exotic matter—something like “unobtanium”. So, that’s a problem right there. Others say that creating such a drive goes against our current understanding of spacetime physics. However, that hasn’t stopped anybody from speculating on ways to make it happen. For example, Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre had an idea for such a drive in 1994. He suggested that it could create a bubble that would shift space around an object. He has continued his research about a ship that could get somewhere faster than light. However, he and others still point out various problems with both creating and sustaining a warp drive. That includes the idea that such a drive effectively isolates itself from the rest of the Universe. Among other things, it means the ship can’t control the drive that’s making it go. So, there are a still few bugs to work out. Simulation of a black hole. About Black Holes We are most familiar with black holes in terms of stellar mass and supermassive ones. These also sport accretion disks that convey material into the black hole. For example, the central supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A* in our own Milky Way Galaxy periodically gobbles down material. Then, it emits a belch of radiation. Other, more active galaxies send out jets of material emitted as the central supermassive black hole feeds continuously. A black hole is a concentration of mass with gravity so strong that nothing, even light, can escape. In their study about black holes and warp drives, the authors used Schwarzschild black holes. These so-called simple “static” black holes curve spacetime, have no electric charge and are non-rotating. Essentially, they are good approximations for mathematical explorations of the characteristics of slowly rotating objects in space. When A Ship with Warp Drive Crosses into a Black Hole The Schwarzchild black hole is the “perfect” black hole to use in this theoretical exploration of a warp drive crossing the event horizon. To figure out the scenario, Garattini and Zatrimalov decided to mathematically combine the equations describing the black hole and the ones describing the warp drive. Among other things, they found that it’s possible to “embed” the warp drive in the outer region of the black hole. The warp bubble itself is much smaller than the black hole and needs to be moving toward it. The black hole’s gravity affects the energy conditions needed to create and sustain the warp drive. That means you can theoretically decrease the amount of negative energy required to sustain the warp bubble. In addition, the researchers suggest that if the warp bubble is moving at less than the speed of light, it effectively erases the black hole horizon. The research team also described the idea that such an occurrence could evoke the conversion of virtual particles into real ones in an electric field. If so, it could lead to the creation of mini warp drives in the lab. Changing the Black Hole a Bit Interestingly, the team also suggests that, if the warp bubble is moving slowly and is much smaller than the black hole horizon, it could increase the entropy of the black hole. However, as they state in their closing arguments, “there are potential problematic issues in other physical situations: namely, when the warp drive is completely absorbed by the black hole, it may decrease its mass, and, therefore, its entropy. Likewise, when there is a larger warp bubble passing through a black hole, it would produce a ”screening” effect and de facto eliminate the horizon, making it impossible to define the black hole entropy in the Hawking sense. If warp drives are possible in nature, these issues indicate that we still do not understand them from the thermodynamic point of view.” Warp Drive Technology Remains to be Seen So, while this research may prove valuable theoretically, and could lead to lab production of mini black holes, many questions remain. Perhaps in the future, when we understand the quantum mechanics behind both of these objects, we might find warp technology a slam-dunk. If so, then, as ships travel through black holes, we could face a weird time. For example, signals from inside a black hole could get carried out by a warp bubble merging from the singularity. That would allow us to send images or recordings of what it’s like inside the event horizon—something nobody knows about today. There’s also a chance that those fearsome black holes could make a warp drive less difficult to achieve since they won’t need so much exotic “negative energy” source material. Source: www.universetoday.com The post What if you Flew Your Warp Drive Spaceship into a Black Hole? appeared first on Anomalien.com.

This week the Italian carrier strike group centered on the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour and the frigate ITS Alpino is pulling into Tokyo Bay. The carrier strike group is taking to Japan a 13-strong air…