If you're debating the most breathtaking harmonies in rock history, you might consider The Beatles' youthful blend, The Beach Boys' highly orchestrated beauty, or the stacked sweetness of Crosby, Stills & Nash. But if you're lobbying for wall-to-wall, glass-shattering power, there's only one clear winner: Queen, who famously displayed that gift on '70s epics like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Bicycle Race."Now, in a stunning tribute video, a musician and content creator pays homage to the band's multi-layered, over-the-top vocals.Jon Smith, leader of the Pennsylvania-based "theatrical rock band" Jon Smith's Voyages, details his approach in a viral Instagram clip titled "How to make your harmonies sound like Queen.""I have always been fascinated by Queen's bombastic harmonies," he writes in the caption. "Here's a little breakdown of how to achieve a similar harmony style!" Using a memorably vocal-rich section of 1978's "Don't Stop Me Now," he channels his inner Freddie Mercury to build an operatic web of vocals, piece by piece. See on Instagram "Like an atom bomb"In the video, Smith starts by recording a snippet of lead vocal (in this case, "like an atom bomb about to whoa-oh, whoa-oh, oh-explode!"). He then records that part two additional times to thicken it up. Next, he repeats this triple-take process for two harmony vocals, and then again one octave higher for each harmony, adding a lower-octave line for some bass presence. As he sings each line a cappella, it sounds more than a little goofy. But the full picture emerges when you hear the complete choral-style arrangement at the end.Naturally, many fans were impressed. Here are some of the best comments: "Epic!""Staggering""Dude how good is your range?? Fantastic! Love seeing things like this and playing around with harmonies!""Basically: record an entire choir

Most of us have things we want to do in life, goals we want to achieve, but find that all kinds of obstacles get in our way. Sometimes those obstacles are external things we can't control, and sometimes they are internal things we aren't consciously aware of that hold us back.For instance, certain mindsets can keep us from making progress, from negative thinking to creating rules for ourselves that don't actually exist. One example of the latter was brilliantly challenged by a vegan content creator named Liz, who had someone tell her that they'd go vegan if it weren't for their love of bacon. Her response was powerfully simple: "So do it. Go vegan but bacon." TikTok · liz

While caring for the elderly can be extremely rewarding, it comes with a specific set of challenges that aren't often discussed. Delivering high-quality care is vital for anyone in this position, but this must come with a level of patience many of us might take for granted.While visiting my own mother in the senior living home where she resides, I was able to sit down for heart-to-hearts with a few of the caregivers who work for various residents. They opened up in a way I found beautifully vulnerable and surprising. Here are their stories. (At their request, I have changed their names.)Setting boundaries with families Caregiver discusses a patient with another family member.Photo credit: CanvaA woman named Veronica shared that she often feels stuck in the middle of family disputes. "I don't like it when I'm just trying to do my job and take care of clients and I've got 20 people calling me. Sisters, wives, brothers, daughters, sons, and even best friends. Everyone has an opinion. I wish they'd have family meetings and decide what to do without sticking me in the middle."Another woman, Anne, added her two cents, saying, "Family dynamics are tricky. I want to respect how hard it is to age on everyone in the family, without feeling like I'm inserting myself in the drama."They want to be asked about their day A caregiver takes a break. Photo by Vladimir Fedotov on Unsplash Anne shares that she sometimes feels invisible. "Sometimes I wish they would ask how things are in my life. What my hopes and wishes are. I would like it if they understood that sometimes I need a day off, or that my body hurts sometimes."On a resource site for caregivers, one of the helpful tips is finding the balance between helping others and self-care. This means paying attention to their own mental and physical health needs. "Maintaining your health is crucial for being able to care effectively for your loved one. Take care of your own health by focusing on nutrition, exercise, and sufficient rest. Regular self-care routines can help you stay strong and resilient in the face of caregiving demands."Mental Health America also has a few articles dedicated to self-care as a caregiver. "If you cannot remember the last time you slept properly, ate adequately, exercised weekly, or did not feel guilty about taking a sick day, then you're probably feeling the impacts of caregiving on your mental and physical health. Ask yourself: 'What could I do to replenish myself?'"They go on to give tips: "Is there any small action that could improve my life or make me feel more content with my present state? If you're treating yourself fairly, the answer should be yes. Everyone always has some need that could be better fulfilled—caregivers are no exception."Hard to say goodbye Elderly people holding hands. Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash Sometimes, especially after a caregiver has worked with a person for more than a month or two, they develop a true bond. While the connection is genuinely satisfying, it can make the loss of that patient even harder. Mark, who has been working with senior citizens for two decades, explains how devastating the losses can feel. "I worked with a woman named Evelyn for seven years. She passed away at the age of 94. It's especially hard because when you're in this business, you might have three clients pass in the span of a few weeks."Veronica added, "Sometimes people forget how much we love the elderly we work with."These sentiments come back to decompression. Processing just one loss can be difficult. Having to do so for multiple people in a short amount of time takes extra healing time for everyone.The resource site also notes how important it is to take breaks when needed. "Caregiving can be overwhelming, so taking respite breaks regularly is important. These breaks can help prevent burnout and give you time to recharge. Schedule time for yourself to engage in activities that you enjoy and that help you relax."

The video absolutely screams "1980s": a group of young men walk up a grassy hill with some kind of equipment on their backs, clad in short shorts and loud-looking wind breakers. But then something weird happens: as retro synthesizers blare in the background, they strap on what look like tricked-out roller skates and start gliding down a grassy hill. They perform gleeful mid-air splits, leap over tree trunks, and enjoy the editing benefits of super-cool slow-mo. What exactly is happening here? The video, which appears to be compiled from a 1984 skiing documentary, went viral in January 2026 through an X post captioned "In the 1980s many were certain summer skiing would become a thing." People responded with a blend of confusion and nostalgia—wondering if the video was even real, pointing out how dangerous this sport looked, and asking why they'd never even heard of grass skiing to begin with. "Well, why didn't it catch on?" Here are some of the best reactions:"This looks like a great way to frolic""This looks incredibly fun""LOL! The body english on the jumps is peak 80s. I wanna go back, go back, and do it all over but I can't go back I know....""Yep Still have mine but wouldn't dare nowadays.""Guessing the broken arms, legs, backs, and necks convinced people it was not a great idea. Snow is far more forgiving.""Where does one find a grassy hillside like this?""Wait…… HOW IS THIS NOT A THING?!!!! Somebody make them now!!!!! I swear I’ll buy the first pair!!!!""Looks fun until you faceplant right into dirt""80s seemed like so much fun. I’m a 90s kid and that was fun too but 80s feels like it was more raw""Fun fact: crashing hurts less and causes less damage in the snow.""Well, why didn't it catch on?" - YouTube www.youtube.com The history of grass skiingIf you're like most people in the comments, you'd probably never seen this footage, which appears to be taken from the Warren Miller documentary Ski Country. According to The Ski Journal, that film "marked the height of grass skiing in the United States," 21 years after the sport was invented by Josef Kaiser in Germany. They note an average pair of these skis "consist of 192 rolls and some 1,500 individual pieces," with variations depending on the discipline and application. The ultra niche design, The Ski Journal writes, is part of the activity’s "downfall" in the U.S. "The skis are made to be carved, and so snow-plowing and hockey-stopping aren't possible," they note, "meaning options for stopping are limited to falling or running out of momentum at the bottom of the hill." Nonetheless, the activity did have a brief moment in the sun. It's reportedly been Stateside since 1966, when it first hit Bryce Mountain Resort in Virginia. In 2024, SnowTrex Magazine notes that competitions are still held in Europe.If you want to learn more about grass skiing, check out the detailed page at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation website. - YouTube www.youtube.com

Most of us learn about the Earth's shifting tectonic plates in middle school. But in Marie Tharp's time, this fact we now take for granted was a groundbreaking, radical concept—and one that had to overcome gender bias.In 1957, Tharp, a geologist and oceanographic cartographer, and her colleague Bruce Heezen published the first bathymetric map of the Atlantic Ocean. Tharp faced considerable challenges due to sexism. For one thing, women were not allowed on the ships that collected the seafloor data used to create the maps. So, Tharp spent hours at a desk translating thousands of sonar readings from ships that would not allow her aboard.Her hand-drawn maps eventually revealed that the seafloor was covered in canyons, ridges, and mountains, all of which suggested that at some point, pieces of the Earth had moved. See on Instagram This was important because the prevailing view at the time was that the ocean floor was flat and motionless. However, Tharp's findings supported Alfred Wegener's highly controversial continental drift theory, which proposed in 1912 that today's continents once fit together as a single supercontinent, known as Pangea.Of course, we now know Pangea to be real, but not long ago, the idea was considered heresy. When Tharp reintroduced it through her findings, Heezen dismissed it as "girl talk," or an "old wives' tale," depending on the account. Either way, the context is clear. - YouTube www.youtube.com Heezen would come around in time, but the duo still had to persuade the rest of the scientific community. At that point, the supposed peaks and valleys were only conjecture. However, in 1959, when Jacques Cousteau, determined to prove Tharp wrong, lowered his underwater camera with 16-millimeter film into the middle of the ocean and a valley appeared on the footage, it became clear that she was right.Though it was primarily Tharp's groundbreaking findings that paved the way for a new understanding of the seafloor, she was still viewed as "merely a technician." As a result, Heezen received the lion's share of the credit as they continued working together, eventually mapping all of the world's oceans. Tharp would not be allowed to set foot on a research ship until 1968.But proving her tenacity, Tharp was nevertheless able to make a life-changing scientific contribution in spite of it all, because she was resourceful and believed deeply in the importance of her work. As she herself said, "I had a blank canvas to fill with extraordinary possibilities, a fascinating jigsaw puzzle to piece together. It was a once-in-a-lifetime — a once-in-the-history-of-the-world-opportunity for anyone, but especially for a woman in the 1940s."In time, Tharp did receive recognition. In 1978, the National Geographic Society awarded Tharp and Heezen (posthumously) the highly prestigious Hubbard Medal. And, in 1997, the Library of Congress named her one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century. - YouTube www.youtube.com And, of course, every time we look at a map, we witness a bit of her signature. Still, one can't help but wonder about the other women from history who secretly shaped the way we view the world today, and the pains they took to do so.