Must Reads

• These new pics of the sun show a solar flare and coronal loops of plasma in "unprecedented detail"
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• After leaving his Wall Street job, one millionaire became a rookie paramedic at age 41 — read his story​

Culture

James Patterson Is Giving Budding Authors Up to $50K to Complete Their Novels

Having a burst of inspiration is one thing, but actually finishing a full-length novel is quite another. Bestselling author James Patterson certainly doesn't seem to have any trouble with it, however: The 78-year-old has published over 285 books. Now, he's paying it forward to writers held up by obstacles that prevent them from completing their manuscripts — like not having enough time or money — by giving them up to $50,000 each to get to the finish line.
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Partnering with organizations like PEN America, Girls Write Now, and the Authors Guild, Patterson launched the Go Finish Your Book! campaign, which doles out grants to emerging authors. Jungin Angie Lee, one of the first 12 recipients announced Wednesday, is working on a short story collection and said the funds provided her "an extremely generous, much-needed burst of motivation and boost of confidence," per the Associated Press.
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And that's exactly the reaction Patterson, who read through hundreds of proposals to choose the grant winners, hoped to achieve. He said in a statement: "There are so many incredible stories out there that never get written because life gets in the way. I wanted to give these writers a little time, a little space, and a push to say: Your voice matters — now go finish your book."

Together With FinanceBuzz

A Rare Unlimited Cash Back Match Credit Card

Looking for a better way to tackle credit card debt? Or want to finance a major purchase? Getting a new 0% intro APR credit card can help you while easing some of the financial pressure. And the credit card experts at FinanceBuzz found one that stands out from others on the market.
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​This card offers a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers, plus 5% cash back on everyday purchases at grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations. The best part? It matches all the cash back you earn at the end of your first year — that's up to 10% back on qualifying purchases. And there's no annual fee or foreign transaction fees to worry about. Click below to see why this card is getting so much buzz.

Environment

Octopus Hugs Divers Before Grabbing Hold of Camera for a Selfie

Octopuses rarely have access to cameras — but when they do, they turn into total divas. At least, that's what happened when a giant Pacific octopus got a hold of a diver's camera off the coast of Canada's Vancouver Island and used it to conduct a mini video shoot underwater.
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Chris Mullen, a 35-year-old from northwest England, was diving with his friend, 31-year-old John Roney, when the pair encountered the sea creature. Toward the end of their hour-long dive on Aug. 4, the curious cephalopod — the largest octopus species on Earth — came out from underneath a rock before stretching out its arms to give the divers a "hug." Then, the animal took hold of Roney's camera and became a videographer itself.
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"It had his camera for about five minutes," Mullen said. "I'd already started to swim away, as I like to give them space. But as I tried to leave, it dropped the camera and started moving toward where I was going to. It was effectively following me. It briefly stopped to interact with another octopus, and then saw me up higher filming it, and it made a beeline right for me and jumped on me next. It was wild, it was crazy what was going on." Watch the video.​

Humanity

Sustainable "Swap Shop" Offers Free Used Items to Nearly 2,000 College Students

As fun as back-to-school shopping can be, there's also a dark side to purchasing all those new goodies: According to Planet Aid, the average college student produces 640 pounds of trash each year, including items like clothes, books, and furniture. So a group of students at New York University came up with a solution: a "swap shop" offering gently used items to students for free.
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An Aug. 21 TikTok posted by the university, which has garnered nearly 1 million views, attracted students to the tens of thousands of pounds of donated items that were collected throughout the spring and summer. Over 1,800 students showed up during the dayslong swap to take home jackets, jeans, microwaves, lamps, mirrors, and more — and by the time they were done, hardly anything remained.
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Not only did the project address the issue of student waste, but it also helped those who struggle to afford new things. Student volunteer Hanin Amer told NBC News, "Not all NYU students are coming from the same context, the same economic backgrounds, and so there are a lot of students and families that really appreciate initiatives like the swap shop, because it's ... alleviating a lot of the stress that comes with higher education already."

In Other News

1. The first at-home Alzheimer's treatment, a self-injecting pen, is now FDA-approved (read more)
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2. These fire-resistant, 3D-printed homes in Colorado are expected to stand strong for at least a century (read more)
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3. June Cleaver the loggerhead turtle was released into the ocean after two months in a Florida rehab center (read more)
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4. Eyes to the skies: Learn how to see what could be the strongest auroras in decades this fall (read more)
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5. Stuttering may be in our DNA, according to a new breakthrough in research on the speech condition (read more)

Inspiring Story

A dog lover's dream job

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For dogs, it's a chance to frolic with friends — and for their human handlers, it's an opportunity to create connections and build a career. The IronBark DogPark, a doggy day care in Queensland, Australia, employs young people with disabilities and those who come from at-risk backgrounds. "I get quite emotional from the change I see — from being quite reserved, quite anxious, quite withdrawn, to just coming out and feeling more confident," Jo Mcvilly, who runs the park, said of her employees. "My aim obviously with the dogs is to find their happy place, but the result is, it allows the humans to find their happy place as well."

Photo of the Day

This may look like a fantastical drawing of tree branches reaching into a teal sky, but it's actually a real-life image displaying an inside-out macro view of a cauliflower soft coral — and it's the winner of the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Ross Gudgeon took the underwater shot using a special "insect eye lens" in Indonesia's Lembeh Strait. See more contest winners.​

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Odds & Ends

🌽 An a-maze-ing way to get Wicked excited
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🐕 Meet the fluffiest addition to a cruise ship's staff
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🌝 Want to assist a moon mission?
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🚂 The world's most thrilling train rides​
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Quote of the Day

"It is such infinite delight to know that we still have the best things to do."

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– KATHERINE MANSFIELD