Hero scientists just found a way to make ice cream melt more slowly.

Based on my personal calculations, approximately 600 trillion ounces of ice cream go to waste each year because of melting.

And you don't even want to know how many spritzes of 409 it takes to clean it up off the kitchen floor. Or how many children's tears are shed in the process.

That cone is about two seconds away from disintegrating entirely. Photo by George Thomas/Flickr.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that maintaining optimal ice-cream-eating conditions has been one of humanity's most vexing puzzles for centuries.

The joy of a frosty ice cream cone in the heavy, sweltering summer heat is so immense, yet so fleeting. Eat it too quickly, you get brain freeze. Too slowly, and you've got liquid Neapolitan running down your hand.

It's enough to make anyone feel a little ... heated.

Here's the new scoop: Scientists just found a way to make our ice cream melt a little more slowly in the summer.

Dippin' Dots were supposed to be the future. Sadly, the company went bankrupt in 2011. Photo by newwavegurly/Flickr.

A team from Edinburgh and Dundee universities in Scotland recently discovered that a naturally occurring protein called BsIA can help ice cream stay frozen longer.

See, an ice cream's melt-rate is usually based on something called its "overrun," or, in other words, how much air and other non-dairy stuff is in it. Cheaper ice cream brands use more emulsifiers, which is just a fancy word for things added to processed foods to help stabilize them so they melt more slowly. Premium ice cream brands (you know, the ones where the brand name is written in cursive) use a much higher percentage of natural ingredients and flavorings, so they're a lot more susceptible to melting.

According to researchers, BsIA — which naturally exists in plant roots and is used to ferment foods — helps bind together the air, fat, and water in ice cream to make it more resistant to those warm temperatures.

That means we're one step closer to rich, ultra-premium ice cream that doesn't immediately dissolve the moment you step into the sun.

And the cherry on top? This new super ice cream could hit shelves in the next three to five years.

This. Changes. Everything.

Of course, not everyone is happy about this innovation, namely family dogs and local ant colonies that typically look forward to claiming those sugary puddles of ice cream as their own.

But for the rest of us, BsIA will soon give way to an entirely new world. One where enjoying a frozen treat on a hot day is no longer a race against the clock. One where the inside of ice cream shops doesn't have to be an unbearable 15 degrees. One where life's finest decadence can be savored, not scarfed — the way it was always meant to be enjoyed.

Someone get these researchers a medal. Or better yet, take them out for a sundae.

They've earned it.

You can read more about BsIA and its parent bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, in this exciting research paper. But your best bet is probably just to wait until this stuff hits shelves and give it a try for yourself.

People were struck by a photo of this single dad. So they found him. And gave him $170,000.

My faith in humanity is officially restored.

Meet Abdul Haleem al-Kader. He's been supporting this family by selling pens for the past three years.

Can't argue with that. Images via Al Jazeera English/Facebook.

Now, thanks to the kindness of strangers (and a single tweet), his life of selling pens on the streets of Lebanon may be over.

When Gissur Simonarson tweeted a photo of him selling pens in Beirut as he carried his sleeping 9-year-old daughter, it spread like wildfire.

Syrian father selling pens in the streets of #Beirut with his sleeping daughter #Lebanon #Syria http://pic.twitter.com/KOz4mjW1rd— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015

Touched by the father's dedication, an online hunt to find al-Kader began. Conflict News took to Twitter using #GetPens and @Get_Pens to find him.

Gotten a lot of requests to help this man and his daughter. Anyone know people in Beirut able to locate him? #BuyPens http://pic.twitter.com/KOz4mjW1rd— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015

Just got an update from @carolmalouf that she will be meeting the man in an hour! Will update with photos and info =)— #BuyPens (@Buy_Pens) August 26, 2015

Thanks to the power of the Internet, they were able to find him and share even more of his story with the world.

Abdul Haleem al-Kader is a Syrian refugee and single father. Unable to find employment, he began selling pens to provide food for his children.

He left his war-torn country to create a new life for his family in Lebanon. Then, after some time in Beirut, his wife left him with their two children — ages 5 and 9 — after he refused to go back to Syria.

Moved by the story of the hardworking, single father refugee, Simonarson created an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for al-Kader and his family.

Meet Abdul and Reem. They are Syrian Refugees living in Beirut, #Lebanon & need your help! http://t.co/LFyCGjosMB http://pic.twitter.com/QCNXcCEtYJ— #BuyPens (@Buy_Pens) August 27, 2015

An empathetic public helped reach the initial goal of $5,000 in 30 minutes. As of Tuesday afternoon, they've raised over $170,000 (> 3,400% of the original goal). To put this in perspective: He made about $35 on a good day from selling pens.

Simonarson is teaming up with UNICEF to get the money to al-Kader and his family, as well as make sure they remain safe amid all the media attention.

The success of the #BuyPens campaign shows just how relatable his determination and love for his children are.

The campaign's success serves as a reminder of our common humanity. While most of us have not had to leave our home due to civil war, many of us know (or are) people working hard for a better life. His resiliency and dedication struck a chord with people around the world because the desire to do anything possible to help our loved ones is truly universal.

If #BuyPens proves anything, it

To make this story even sweeter, al-Kader wants to pay the kindness forward to help other Syrian refugees.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said: "I hope this campaign grows to help all Syrians. I hope other Syrians get a campaign the way I got a campaign, and people can see the conditions they are in."

If you want to contribute to the campaign, visit the Indiegogo page here.

For more info on Abdul Haleem al-Kader and the search for him, visit BuzzFeed News.

Meet the man who changed American baseball for the Japanese forever.

On September 1, 1964, Masanori "Mashi" Murakami came in as a relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants against the Mets in New York.

Though the Giants ended up losing 4-1, he allowed no runs in his debut, and to boot, he became the first ever Japanese man to play in Major League Baseball.

Murakami in his Giants uniform. Photo by National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York. Used with permission.

Murakami had been a baseball prodigy in Japan, playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball league while he was still in high school.

He made his Japanese pro debut in 1962 for the Osaka-based Nankai Hawks, when he was only 19 years old. According to the History Channel, Murakami threw his pitches with a sidearm delivery, a deceptive style that was then common in Japan but less so in the United States.

The Giants heard about Murakami through Tsuneo "Cappy" Harada, an American businessman who had been living in Japan (and apparently earning himself a great nickname). Harada had been scouting Japanese players for the Giants, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame blog, and Murakami stood out as exceptionally talented.

Throwing out the first pitch during a game at the Tokyo Dome in 2014. Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images.

In 1964, as a part of an exchange program, he left his home country and headed to Arizona, where he would participate in spring training with a Giants-affiliated minor league team.

Within the same year, a then-20-year-old Murakami found himself pitching in front of a crowd of about 40,000 people at Shea Stadium in his MLB debut against the Mets.

"I go to the fence and the door opens, and I go in," Murakami recently told The Guardian. "I'm walking to the mound, that time, wow. But [being] inside [the field] is very different. Maybe if I get nervous, it's not good. Now, I think OK, make me relax. The stands, the people. I can hear, but I don't know what they're saying. I understood a little English."

Murakami shakes hands with Chicago Cubs pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada at the Tokyo Dome in 2014. Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images.

Murakami, it seems, wasn't trying to make it big or be a hero.

"I was never thinking of the major leagues," he said in July. "I just wanted to pitch."

His impact on American baseball was long-lasting, even if his playing career was not.

Murakami was a relief pitcher with the Giants for the rest of the 1964 season and continued into the next year, but he only appeared in 54 games during that span. After a contract dispute between the Giants and the Nankai Hawks, he went back to play in Japan until the early-1980s.

Though he is now sometimes referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of Japanese baseball," his historic achievement did not immediately become a watershed moment.

Signing autographs before a July 1995 legends game at The Ballpark (now Globe Life Park) in Arlington, Texas. Photo by Paul Buck/AFP/Getty Images.

Robert K. Fitts, who wrote "Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer," told Boston-based WBUR that Murakami's quick exit from the MLB was more about contractual obligations than his ability on the field.

"After Mashi returned to Japan, Major League Baseball and Japan Professional Baseball came to an agreement that each side would respect the reserve clauses of the other country's contracts," Fitts told WBUR in August. "Now back then there was no free agency, players were tied to their teams until they retired or were traded. So, in effect, that agreement kept all Japanese players in Japan."

Murakami being honored before a 1995 game in San Francisco. Photo by John G. Mabanglo/AFP/Getty Images.

There were no other Japanese players in Major League Baseball until Hideo Nomo played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.

That helped create a pathway to the U.S. for more Japanese players, such as Ichiro Suzuki, a right fielder who still plays today and has already racked up numerous MLB awards, and Hiroki Kuroda, a pitcher who spent seven seasons with the Dodgers and New York Yankees.

Pitcher Hideo Nomo became the second Japanese-born MLB player in history when he debuted against the San Francisco Giants on May 2, 1995. Monica M. Davey/AFP/Getty Images.

There's still lots of room for growth. Asians only made up 1.9% of the Major League players in 2012, according to data compiled by the Society of American Baseball Statistics.

Regardless, Murakami will be remembered as a trailblazer. "For a long time, he was kind of a footnote in history. He was a trivia-question answer," Fitts told TIME Magazine. “But he was a true hero."

Even though Murakami's achievement did not immediately lead to more Japanese players in the majors, he showed they could play ball — which continues today.

This college's anti-rape campaign pulls no punches when it comes to the message: Don't rape.

There's no softening of an important message at this university.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison launched a new sexual assault awareness campaign this week and they're not wasting any words when it comes to making their point.

Here's a poster that's part of the campaign:

Poster by University of Wisconsin-Madison police department. Used with permission.

I mean, it seems pretty obvious: There's no consent without actual, you know, consent.

And yet it must not be so clear, given how often women are sexually assaulted, both in general and on college campuses. Furthermore, the National Institute of Justice statistics prove that rapists aren't just strange men who lurk in dark places: 9 out of 10 women assaulted on college campuses knew the perpetrator.

It's safe to conclude there's a lot of date and acquaintance rape being committed.

Hoping to educate those who aren't clear on exactly what consent is, the University of Wisconsin-Madison got right to the point.

The university's "Don't Be That Guy" campaign aims to clarify what qualifies as consent for sexual activity during alcohol use.

"We need people (young men, in particular) to know what consent is," Officer Marc Lovicott, spokesperson for the university's police department, told me. "We need them to know that consent is a clear 'yes' — not the absence of a 'no.'"

This isn't a new approach for the school.

Back in April 2015, I shared an email the school sent out following a sexual assault on campus. It struck me as notable because instead of following up the news with tips on how women can stay safe, the campus police department instead offered tips to avoid raping someone.

And they're continuing to send that message today, with posters like this:

Telling men how to avoid being rapists instead of telling women how to avoid rape should be a given, but it sure feels novel.

How many of us grew up hearing what girls and women could do to stay safe far more often than we heard anyone telling men all of the ways in which they might rape someone — and how to avoid them?

And while nobody is saying that we shouldn't take steps to keep ourselves safe in life, regardless of gender, putting the burden of preventing sexual assault on the victims is both ineffective and just plain wrong.

I asked Officer Lovicott what motivated the department to take this important step. He said they've been working on spreading information about sexual assault on campus for a while, most recently running a "Tell Us" campaign targeted toward sexual assault survivors. But they took it a step further by really listening to people's feedback:

"The campaign was successful and received positive feedback — but we heard from many who said, 'It's time to target the perpetrators.' And we agreed. We searched for a way to say 'don't rape,' and this what we came up with. We're directly targeting young men, talking about alcohol use and about consent, and we're saying 'don't be that guy.'"

The campaign is targeted specifically toward men.

To be clear, men can also be victims of rape. However, statistics show that women are victimized far more often and so the campaign has used that information to guide its focus. The National Institute of Justice notes that 1 in 6 women will be the victim of a completed or attempted rape during her life, versus 1 in 33 men.

Officer Lovicott realizes that some will take issue with this very clear message, but he's undeterred. "We know not everyone is going to like this campaign — specially, some men who feel that we're targeting them, " he told me.

"We've already heard from a handful who have called this campaign 'sexist.' We understand that — we're not going to win with everyone on this."

But this isn't about winning everyone. It's about educating and changing behavior and stopping rape, and the school is steadfast in their approach.

"[W]e believe this campaign addresses a core demographic — young men — who are responsible for the VAST majority of sexual assault cases," he said. "Something needs to be done about sexual assaults on our college campuses, and we believe this is a step in the right direction."

Officer Marc Lovicott, public information officer and communications specialist for the UW-Madison Police Department, shared these posters with me. You can read more about the campaign on the department's website.

A man asks online for volunteers to repaint an elder neighbor's home. He gets over 6,000 responses.

Communities. This is what they're for.

Teens. They often don't know how their words can hurt. And this is one such case ... but with a very happy ending.

Josh Cyganik has worked for Union Pacific Railroad across the street from the house below in Pendelton, Oregon, for years. One day while at work, he heard some mean words coming from nearby.

Image Josh Cyganik, used with permission.

Some snarky teens were commenting on the state of the home...

*dramatic reenactment*

...all while the owner, Leonard Bullock, was sitting on the porch! I mean. Not cool. Someone send those kids to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood class please. (I wish this existed.)

As Josh told ABC News, he did not enjoy overhearing this nonsense.

"[The teenagers] said they need to burn it and tear it down and nobody deserves that ... I saw Leonard had his head down, and I felt bad for him. After a couple of days, I knew there was something I could do to help."

Josh had worked across the street, waving as he passed, for around four years, but his first convo with Leonard was right after hearing those teens.

And it went something like, "Mind if I paint your house?"

Leonard, being the good sport that he is, was totally into that. His friend agreed! Kindness given, kindness received badge UNLOCKED!

As Josh told ABC news, Leonard was excited! He "could hardly talk he was so ecstatic."

With the homeowner's enthusiastic permission to paint the home, it was time to get some help from the community!

Suddenly, the likes started rolling in. (This is also where I start to like Facebook for being such a great place for communities to come together.)

There are over 6,000 Likes and counting on his original Facebook call for help.

Comments like:

And on the day Jason scheduled to paint, people started rolling in...

Image via Union Pacific, used with permission.

How'd it turn out?

GIF via Josh Cyganik's Facebook, used with permission.

That's what kindness looks like. Everyday kindness.

According to Josh, what he did for Leonard is what anyone would do if given the chance: "According to the media, I'm a hero. I'm not a hero. I just heard something that bothered me. Anyone would have done the same thing. Everyone has it in their heart to do things like this."

Josh and Leonard. Image via Union Pacific.

Here's to seeing more of that every day.

Original Facebook post by Josh Cyganik. You can find him on Twitter and tell him he's awesome!

Americans believe we spend around 26% of our national budget on foreign aid. Here's the truth.

"I think the U.S. spends too much money helping out other countries when we clearly have a sh*t ton of problems being ignored in our own," said a dear friend of mine.

I was asking for her thoughts on how the United States goes about helping other countries through foreign assistance. It can be a confusing and controversial topic.

As it turns out, her response is a common one.

So if the general sentiment is that we're spending too much helping other countries on things like health, economic development, and humanitarian assistance ... just how much are we actually spending?

Americans believe we spend an average of 26% of our entire U.S. budget on foreign aid.

I'm not going to go all math class on you, but to put it into perspective, our entire fiscal year 2016 budget (as it stands) is around $4 trillion. So the thinking is that over a fourth of that is being used toward other countries — or is it?

The reality is America spends less than 1% on foreign aid.

According to ForeignAssistance.gov, America spends approximately 0.8% of its entire budget on foreign aid.

Considering foreign aid is such a tiny, tiny, tinyyyyy fraction of our spending, America is really making huge strides.

Think about these five ways the U.S. has been able to improve other countries while spending less than 1% of its budget:

1. 8 million people have received life-saving HIV treatment, and 56.7 million people have received HIV counseling and testing.

Just to put that into perspective there are about 8.4 million people living in New York City. A whole New York City got saved. Cool.

And that's not all. According to USAID, more than 14.2 million pregnant women have been supported with HIV testing and counseling and provided prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission to more than 749,000 HIV-positive women. 95% of those babies were born HIV-free, which is great news for future generations.

2. Agricultural programs have helped 1 billion people in 20 years.

What's cooler than helping a million people? Helping A BILLION PEOPLE.

Malnutrition contributes up to 45% of all childhood deaths. Oof. Agricultural programs like Feed the Future are working to cut that in various, sustainable ways.

In just 2014, Feed the Future reached more than 12 million children with nutrition interventions and helped nearly 7 million farmers gain access to new tools or technologies such as high-yielding seeds, fertilizer application, soil conservation, and water management. It's teaching them how to help themselves.

3. Deaths caused by malaria in African children have dropped by 51%.

THAT IS HALF!

Foreign aid programs have helped bring malaria rates down in a historic way. A 51% drop between the years of 2000-2012 has meant that 500,000 African kids under the age of 5 have been saved each year and otherwise wouldn't have, Foreign Policy and a 2013 report from the World Health Organization explain.

4. More moms and babies are staying alive. Millions more of them.

Moms used to die in childbirth. That number has been halved. HALF! We halved it with 1% of the budget.

Deaths of children under 5 worldwide have declined from 10.8 million in 2000 to 6.3 million in 2013. That's a huge drop! And there's more reason to celebrate too. Between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality has dropped by almost 50% worldwide.

Many of these deaths can be easily prevented or treated with simple and affordable interventions, which makes me very hopeful we can help decrease these numbers even more.

5. Mobile banking is GIVING people a future ... and it is the future. And it's happening now!

No bank? No problem. We're putting banks in cell phones! Next thing you know, women are taking out loans and opening up businesses.

There are 1.8 billion people in the world with access to a phone but not to a bank. That's beginning to change. A big shift in foreign assistance is to focus on effective ways to expand poor people's access to formal financial services, and phones are proving a great way to do it.

A great example lies in Nepal. According to USAID, over 300 mobile financial services agents in 30 of 75 districts are now operating in Nepal. In 2013, banks serving Nepalese clients were expected to reach more than 19,000 new clients, with more than $2.3 million in rural loans disbursed to almost 8,000 borrowers — most of them women. That's how businesses are started and people become able to contribute to the economy. Bam! Progress.

We do have problems in our own country that need addressing. But we're also not exactly using up all our resources on other countries either!

How do you feel knowing how effective America has been with it's 1% of the budget?

If you're like these folks, you start seeing things a little differently.

Some even start to think that maybe we should could even do more.

I'm happy to know that America's budget is getting used in this way. It's a tiny sliver of money, prioritizing helpfulness, and the result is billions of safer earthlings. Oh, the possibilities!

ONE set out to ask for various thoughts about our contributions overseas. How would you answer?

Data and chart info used with permission by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

This ambulance driver drove straight past retirement. At 87, she's goin' strong.

Edna Mitchell once drove into a snowstorm to help a man who thought he was having a heart attack. He was shocked when she showed up.

It's not every day that an 87-year-old shows up in the middle of a storm to take care of you.

“What's an old woman like you doing out on a night like this?" he asked her, as she recounted to the Bangor Daily News.

She simply replied, "Do you want to go to the hospital or not?"

He sure did. And he was able to, thanks to Edna and her crew.

Just doing her job. GIFs via Humankind.

Edna is a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and — oh yeah — one heck of an ambulance driver.

She's been driving the streets of Liberty, Maine, for the Liberty Fire Department since she got her EMT certification in 1978.

37 years later, she's still behind the wheel, responding to medical emergencies as intense and urgent as you'd imagine.

"I exercise, try to stay healthy, take vitamins. I swim every day. I don't drink, smoke or swear," she told the Bangor Daily News. "I used to say I don't have any fun, but I do."

Just working on her fitness. She'd school me on push-ups!

Edna says she first became interested in the medical field during World War II in a first-aid class as a high school freshman. But it wasn't until her long teaching career came to an end that she decided to give it a try.

While many look at retirement as a time to kick back and relax, Edna went in the opposite direction — with her foot on the accelerator.

If you see her as an inspiring woman, you're not the only one. Some of her grandkids and great-grandkids have even pursued EMT careers because of her work.

It is my honor to run with Edna Mitchell," Liberty Fire Chief Bill Gillespie told USA Today. "People have a sense of relief to know that Edna is there. There's been a lot of times Liberty Ambulance wouldn't have rolled out the doors if it wasn't for Edna. She is amazing. She is a tough, tough woman."

Edna's a tough and inspiring woman, indeed. And she gives us all a joyful reminder that it's never too late to try something new.

Bravo, Edna! Hear more of her incredible story (and watch her dominate those push-ups) in this fun Humankind interview.

Humankind is a project from USA Today, and it's full of inspiring stories like Edna's. Get your fix on YouTube and Facebook!