J.K. Rowling wishes she could conjure up a spell to keep the United Kingdom inside the European Union.

The "Harry Potter" author tweeted how sad she felt after it emerged a majority of voters had opted "leave" over "remain" in the country's EU referendum.

One of Rowling's 7.5 million Twitter followers posted a desperate tweet, pleading for her to "do something" about the result. "I don't think I've ever wanted magic more," she replied.

Despite the overall voting outcome, each of the 32 voting areas in the author's home country of Scotland decisively chose to remain in the EU.

It prompted Rowling to later suggest that Scotland would now seek independence from the U.K.

"Scotland will seek independence now. Cameron's legacy will be breaking up two unions. Neither needed to happen," she wrote.

And it seems she's right, according to a statement from Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

"Scotland has delivered a strong, unequivocal vote to remain in the EU, and I welcome that endorsement of our European status,"Sturgeon said. "The people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union."

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Hawaii may be thousands of miles away, but the islands have touched those affected by the Orlando massacre with the spirit of aloha.

A group of volunteers from the island of Maui flew to the Florida city on Wednesday to honor the 49 victims of a gay nightclub shooting and help the city heal with a mile-long "Lei of Aloha."

The lei was so large, they had to divide it into three sections and deliver it to three separate memorials, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The group laid one lei in front of Pulse nightclub to honor the victims who died there. They presented another section to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, in support of medical professionals and the wounded who are in their care. The last section of the lei was displayed at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Each one "represents joy, love, and healing and peace," Lehua Kekehuna, a Hawaii representative, told WKMG Orlando. "That's what we're hoping it will do for everyone here."

Maui resident Ron Ponzo began to organize the lei-making tribute on the island days after the Orlando massacre. Nearly 400 volunteers turned out to help.

They wove ti leaves and four truckloads worth of flowers to create the symbolic gift. The lei was embellished with 49 cowrie shells, each one inscribed with a victim's name. 

After four days of nonstop work, the handmade lei was complete.

Ponzo organized a similar lei tribute for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris last year.

This time, six representatives from Maui brought the lei to Orlando for a traditional blessing.

"Even though we're 5,000 miles away and another huge ocean away, we feel the pain, we feel the shock," one of the Hawaii volunteers told WFTV9.

"We just wanted to reach out and give Orlando a hug to remind people that there's way more good people out there than there are bad people."

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"Here we go again."

These are words spoken by Shannon Brewer, director of Jackson Women's Health Organization: the last abortion clinic left in Mississippi. Her words represent the collective exhaustion felt by the pro-abortion rights community, which waits with bated breath as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt early next week. 

They are also the opening words of "JACKSON," a heartbreaking documentary portrayal of what abortion restrictions mean for the women of a Bible Belt state mired in economic, social and racial inequity -- and a bleak glimpse of what the future of America might look like if the Supreme Court decides to allow state governments to enforce needless restrictions on abortion clinics. 

In the documentary's first scene, Brewer drives to work past a throng of anti-abortion protestors lined up outside the clinic, on the sidewalks and in the parking lot. As Brewer walks through the doors into the clinic, the audience briefly inhabits a world that Mississippi women experience every day: the judgement, shame, and stigma of seeking women's health care in the state's only clinic that provides it fully. 

Filmmaker Maisie Crow directed the documentary. "This isn't an advocacy film. It's a truth-telling film," Crow told The Huffington Post. While she didn't go into making the documentary with any specific agenda, Crow said the stories themselves make the case for how damaging anti-abortion legislation is. 

In 2012, Crow read that Jackson Women's Health Organization was the last remaining abortion clinic in the entire state of Mississippi. The filmmaker said she was "shocked." She knew that this was a story she needed to tell. 

"I got on a plane and flew down there the next day," she said, and went straight to Jackson to meet with Brewer and start documenting what life is really like for women in a state with one abortion clinic. 

"JACKSON" was released earlier this month, four years after Crow's arrival in Mississippi -- and the timing of its release could not be more crucial. Any day now, the Supreme Court will announce its ruling on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, perhaps the most important abortion case in over two decades.

In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey that state governments could not place an "undue burden" on abortion clinics that ultimately prevents women from being able to access care. Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt is a similar case, with potentially devastating consequences: If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Texas's anti-abortion bill H.B. 2, this would set a nationwide precedent, allowing state goverments to adopt harmful legislation that would restrict abortion access. 

But among all of the policy-talk and politicizing of women's bodies in the courts and on the campaign trail is the actual effect that lack of health care and abortion access has on women, which makes "JACKSON" such a timely and necessary film.  

The documentary is centered around the story of one woman in particular. April Jackson is a 24-year-old pregnant mother of four who, according to Brewer, represents an incredibly common story for young pregnant women in Mississippi. Grappling with an unplanned pregnancy in an environment where contraception and abortion are hugely stigmatized, she finds herself relying on a Jackson-based Crisis Pregnancy Center, and the support of the center's adamant anti-abortion director, Barbara Beavers.

Through April's heartbreaking story we see what life without access to reproductive health care looks like for so many women: poverty, depression, lack of education and lack of child care. 

Women in situations like April's -- lacking access to education, critical services and left with few options -- are particularly susceptible to an often overlooked part of the anti-abortion movement: the Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) that typically set up shop near local abortion clinics to offer support to women who are struggling with what to do about an unexpected pregnancy. 

CPCs are local centers where pregnant and often vulnerable women are manipulated into carrying their pregnancies to term instead of having an abortion. Many of them are partially funded by the government. 

Baby clothes, diapers and baby beds are offered in exchange for faith-based and anti-abortion, abstinence-only counseling. From the outside they look like medical centers, but offer absolutely no medical services, short of an occasional sonogram. 

Through April's story, and in witnessing her relationship with the CPC and Barbara Beavers, we learn that once the babies are born, there is a phenomenally disappointing lack of follow-up, long-term support.

In Brewer's role as director of Mississippi's last abortion clinic, she witnesses the many anti-abortion protestors who flock to women outside the clinic and who urge those women to call the CPCs instead. Brewer told HuffPost that the most insiduous aspect of these CPCs is the way that they instill a sense of "false hope" for young women who already have so little by making women think that they will have support, and that they will not have to raise their babies on their own. "By the time they realize that it's false hope, they've already had another baby, and they're already in the same situation or a worse situation," she said. 

But being led on by help and support (as well as necessary material objects) is such a tempting offer when there is so much stigma around abortion, Brewer told HuffPost. At the CPC, no one yells. There are no protestors telling women that they'll go to hell. There are no gruesome, heavily doctored photos of aborted fetuses. Brewer, a Mississippi native herself, said that people "don't ever just sit around and talk about abortion. The word 'abortion' doesn't even come up in your household. It's a hush-hush thing. In the south...it is a shameful, shameful act."

Crow, who's from south Texas and is no stranger to anti-abortion rhetoric, agreed:

One thing you have to understand, and it's hard for people to understand who don't live in a place like the Bible Belt, is the stigma and shame that exist in a place like Mississippi. It makes it almost impossible to even think that going and having an abortion is even something they can do. That's the scariest part. If you want to have an abortion...there are women who are drinking Clorox. 

In Mississippi, CPCs outweigh abortion clinics 38 to one. In Texas, there are over 100 CPCs while abortion providers all over the massive state continue to close their doors after failing to meet absurd state regulations, leaving women across Texas with easier access to CPCs than women's health centers. 

The CPCs receive funding from religious anti-abortion groups, and offer no long-term benefits whatsoever; contraceptive counseling is completely off the table. Instead, pregnant women sit in counseling sessions with unqualified counselors who encourage praying and abstinence. 

In 2014, NARAL investigated many of Texas's CPCs and found that, "many CPCs present themselves as medical clinics even though they are not health care facilities and the information they provide about abortion and sexual health is largely inaccurate." On top of the way that CPCs target vulnerable women and provide no actual support, these CPCs are also a total waste of taxpayer dollars.

NARAL found that an existing state program actually funds, as of 2014, 38 of Texas's CPCs. According to NARAL's investigation, "As of 2014, there are 38 CPCs that receive state funding through the Texas Pregnancy Care Network (TPCN), the sole contractor of the Texas Alternatives to Abortion Program. The TPCN disperses their money to CPCs, adoption agencies and maternity homes. As of 2014, 62 percent of the funded organizations are CPCs."

More and more women in Texas are already leaving the state to have abortions -- an expensive and not always accessible option -- and the prevalence of CPCs is growing. On Tuesday of this week, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin had Lexington's remaining abortion clinic closed, resulting in a clinic in Louisville being the state's last abortion provider. Clinics all over America have faced anti-abortion legislations, making access for women increasingly difficult. 

In almost every month of 2016, women's access to reproductive health care has been threatened. As early as next week, the Supreme Court could rule on Whole Woman's Health vs. Hellerstedt, thus dictating whether more and more women across American will share April's fate. 

"JACKSON" serves as a grim warning of what restrictive abortion legislation across the U.S. actually looks like for the people it affects the most: women. 

Here we go again. 

Watch Shannon Brewer and Maisie Crow in an interview with The Huffington Post below. 

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On June 13, the Simon and Garfunkel classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water" became a rallying anthem at a London vigil for the 49 victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida one day earlier. 

That rendition, performed by the London Gay Men's Chorus, resonated not just in Britain's capital, but also the world over after footage of it was featured on The Daily Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Huffington Post, among other publications. The global response has prompted the chorus, which boasts around 200 members, to release a new studio recording of the song as a charity single. (Check out a lyric video for the single above)

Performer Matthew Peake told HuffPost that chorus members recorded "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with the Orion Symphony Orchestra weeks before the Orlando tragedy for a forthcoming album. Still, the chorus pushed for an early release so that proceeds from sales of the song could be donated to LGBT advocacy groups Equality Florida Action, Inc. and Galop.

"The course of LGBT history throughout the U.K. and the world has changed so significantly in the last 25 years," Peake, who is one of over 200 members of the chorus, said. "Some times were good and other times were horrendously bad." The song, he added, was chosen "to commemorate our combined LGBT history and [show] that we're not alone."

Talk about a stunning tribute.

Don't miss a clip of the chorus's original June 13 performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" below. 

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On June 12, 2016, a gunman opened fire at a queer nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others. The massacre was the deadliest shooting in United States history. In the days since, countless individuals have grieved the young, innocent and beautiful lives cruelly cut short through this act of hate and questioned a world in which such a sickening gesture of inhumanity could occur, again and again. 

"I was talking to someone about how, as artists, we are responsible, we have to do something," artist Terence Koh explained in an interview with The Huffington Post. He speaks softly and silvery, his voice one that immediately makes you want to temper your own in response. "He said back to me, 'We are all responsible.'"

On the evening of June 23, Koh performed a tribute to the victims of the Orlando massacre in the form of a chanting ceremony. Inspired by a ritual he witnessed at a Buddhist monastery, the Chinese-Canadian artist chanted the names of the 49 victims inside a bee chapel, a space in his ongoing exhibition at Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York. The chapel was connected to a microphone that linked to an antenna, which transmitted the sounds that moved through it into outer space, spreading Koh's message of love into the universe. 

The bee chapel features a steep mound of dark earth, on top of which rests a metal mesh structure housing the swarming insects. Their sounds, smells and vibrations fill the room. "I thought it would be nice for the bees to also listen to the names as well," Koh said, "so the bees would know the stories of the names."

Koh began the performance by blowing a shell horn, one of the sculptures featured in the "Bee Chapel" exhibition, six times into the Manhattan streets surrounding the gallery, alerting the public of the ceremony about to take place. He then proceeded to play a Tibetan gong while chanting the names of the 49 victims one by one. 

"I went to a monastery where they were chanting the name of Buddhists that had passed away," Koh recalled. "By chanting the names, they became living presences again. It's another way of storytelling. So I tried to almost sing the names, instead of just saying them, to celebrate them in a loving and beautiful way." Koh read most names in alphabetical order, except for Juan Ramon Guerrero and his partner Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, who were in love and planned to be married. Koh read their names alongside one another. 

The heart of the tribute, Koh explained, was sparked by Namu Dai Bosa, a Buddhist chant that refers to the idea, as the artist put it, "that all beings are enlightened in the past, present and future. Every atom in existence is alive and present." To fully amplify the scope of this concept, Koh broadcast the names he spoke into outer space.

"It spread all the good energy in the room out into the universe," he said. "It was like singing them like a vibration of light."

After the chant, six films played simultaneously and silently on the gallery walls, representing iconic moments in cinema for the LGBTQ community. "Beautiful People" by David Wojnarowicz, "Pink Flamingos" by John Waters, "Jihad for Love" by Parvez Sharma, "Raspberry Reich" by Bruce La Bruce, "Flaming Creatures" by Jack Smith, and "Bijou" by Wakefield Poole streamed as soundless, moving pictures, overlapping and shapeshifting into one another.

"It was almost like a nightclub," Koh said. 

As the films played on, the gallery space morphed from a performance into a gathering, with participants eating pizza and popcorn, sharing stories, being together. As Koh explained: "It made me feel like everybody in there was participating. It’s a way of human storytelling, a festive atmosphere to celebrate life."

This profound tribute to Orlando's victims is a stark departure from the work that made Koh's name known throughout the art scene in the early 2000s. Back then, Koh held the reputation of being a "bad boy" -- or at least the art world equivalent. He dressed only in white and often in monkey fur, took vows of silence before scheduled interviews, and notoriously dipped his feces in gold leaf and sold it for for half a million dollars at Art Basel Miami Beach. He first became known for his queer punk website and zine asianpunkboy.com, before evolving into a full-fledge art darling who seamlessly blended darkness and party antics. 

And then, in 2014, Koh cut off ties with his gallery representatives and moved upstate to New York's Catskills. He got rid of his cell phone, stopped reading the news, and many assumed he had quit the art world all together. "Bee Chapel" marked Koh's return to the art world, and a very different Koh it was. Meditative, somber, concerned with the essential questions of love, death and nature that make up human existence. "I want to be responsible, to bring love and light into the world," Koh expressed. 

As an artist, one takes responsibility by making work, translating the darkness that plagues the world around us into brief spurts of beauty that can reach for understanding and bring about comfort and hope. But, as Koh stated, those of us who aren't artists have a responsibility in the face of iniquity as well.

"We carry the spirit ourselves wherever we are," Koh said. "Anybody that is anywhere can take a moment to remind ourselves about the very present moment we have. There are so many amazing, positive possibilities for us as human beings, we have to remember."

He paused before speaking again. "I’m walking in the bee chapel right now and there are mementos of flowers and pictures that people left behind. I think it’s important we all come together to do things like this. There is so much fear and hate in the world, it’s our responsibility to give love and light. Whether it’s just people having a dinner and a conversation, it all spreads out. We can all make a change."

Terence Koh's "Bee Chapel" runs until July 29, 2016, at Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York. 

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There's something wonderful about taking engagement photos at home. You can wear your comfiest clothes and be totally at ease -- all without worrying about staring onlookers and passersby.

Check out some of our favorite at-home engagement shots below.

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Almost two weeks after the massacre of 49 queer people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, various communities in New York City are now preparing for their annual celebration of Queer Pride.

In wake of the tragedy in Orlando, Pride this year feels different -- community feels more crucial than ever and tenderness with one another more necessary. Brooklyn art collective The Culture Whore, whose celebrations of Pride in the past have been a response to the commercialized nature of mainstream NYC Pride, are focusing on the themes of strength and resilience for their annual celebration.  

Tonight, June 24, will see The Culture Whore, founded by Dream Dommu and Paul Leopold, celebrating "The Dragon Ball," a party and point of community connection focused on strength, fortitude and the importance of queer family.

"This party is so much about strength, power, fighting for what you believe in, fighting for who you are," Dommu and Leopold told The Huffington Post. "Our parties are always incredibly cathartic, and Pride especially is one of those times every year where our whole community comes together, and we all need that so desperately now. We felt the desecration of the sacred queer space, the club, so deeply, and we want this to be a chance for our community to take that back, and take our power back with it."

"The Dragon Ball" draws on a slew of references, including anime, "Dragon Ball Z" and "Game of Thrones." While The Culture Whore's event is one of many happening in conjunction with NYC's queer Pride this weekend, these parties have become fantastical spaces of community culture where people not only are free to explore different facets of their own personal journeys with queerness, but feel supported in a time when we need each other more than ever.

This Pride, let's explore the queer bonds that bind us together -- and the way that we can all work towards a liberated world that we all want to actually live in.

See you at "The Dragon Ball."

"The Dragon Ball" takes place tonight, June 24, in Brooklyn. Head here for tickets and information.

Want to read more about The Culture Whore? Check out their feature in our series "After Dark: NYC Nightlife Today and Days Past."

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is not throwing away his shot to make a difference, and says he's trying to be smart about using his platform to talk about issues he truly cares about.

"I am aware that every tweet is a press conference now, not so much when I was live tweeting Buffy when I had 5,000 followers," Miranda said a with chuckle in a recent interview with Judith Rodin, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. "It’s a little crazier now, but I also am aware that I have a megaphone at my disposal and it’s also more effective if I use it sparingly… so I really double down on the things that are really pressing to me, my core issues."

The Puerto Rican star and creator of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning hit "Hamilton: An American Musical" was the latest intellectual to chat with Rodin as part of the organization's "Insight Dialogues" series. The two sat down in front of a live audience to discuss inclusivity in the arts, diversity on Broadway and a particularly personal issue for Miranda: the Puerto Rican debt crisis. 

"I have a lot of family who are struggling in Puerto Rico, that’s not an abstract issue to me, that is a life or death issue occurring with my family," he said, before taking a minute to concretize the issue for Rodin and the audience: 

There’s a million reasons Puerto Rico is in the state it’s in. A lot of it comes out of this uncertain [question], "What are we to the United States?" It’s become a tax haven. There’s been a lot of problems.

What we’re trying to do now is allow them to restructure their debt because that was a thing they use to be able to do and then for some reason in 1984, when someone threw it into a bill, they couldn’t anymore. They couldn’t do what any American city can do, which is declare bankruptcy and restructure debt. And this July 1 deadline is very real. [The bill is currently] in the Senate, I would hate to see people play politics with it to the point where this thing can’t pass.

But while Miranda understands the pressing need to pass the bill currently being reviewed by Congress, he hasn't been shy about pointing out its flaws. The star wrote an op-ed in New York's El Diario/La Prensa newspaper in May on the topic, and he echoed its contents during his recent conversation with Rodin. 

I have a lot of family who are struggling in Puerto Rico, that’s not an abstract issue to me, that is a life or death issue occurring with my family."
Lin-Manuel Miranda

 "The [bill] on the [Senate] floor is not perfect," Miranda said. "It calls for austerity from an island that can afford no more austerity. It calls for the lowering of the minimum wage to 4.25 dollars an hour, which is what I made at McDonald’s in 1993. It is not a livable wage in 2016. So it’s not perfect, but it does allow for debt restructuring and it does protect pensions on the island, which is a huge problem. So it’s in the Senate’s hands."

Another key issue for Miranda this year will be the Latino vote, in a recent interview with the The New York Times the star said he'd dedicate some time to encouraging Latinos cast their ballot in this election after his final "Hamilton" curtain call on July 9. And he explained to Rodin why it's so important for people to take the Latino vote seriously. 

"I remember, in 2008, pundits literally saying ‘Well, there’s a lot of Latinos right now, but maybe they’ll stay home,’ and they didn’t stay home. [Then] 2012 came around, 'Maybe they’ll stay home this time' and they didn’t stay home," he said. "The reality is the demographics are such that Latinos are going to be one of the largest groups in this country...so it is just vital that our voting reflects who we are and our populous, we have to make sure our voices are heard on every issue."

But Miranda's efforts to get Latinos to vote aren't necessarily aligned with a particular political party, he said he simply wants Latinos to flex their political muscle. 

"We’re not a monolith, there are Hispanic democrats and there are Hispanic republicans, but we’re not going to know what that power is unless people show up," he said. "So that’s why it’s a priority for me… the power of us as a voting bloc is still there and waiting to be tapped. I want to see us come out in record numbers, and I want to see what that does for our country."

The Huffington Post is a media partner with The Rockefeller Foundation on the "Insight Dialogues" series.

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Last Saturday, a 3,000-square-foot banner featuring a blood-stained outline of a gun and the hashtag #EndGunViolence soared over the skylines of New York, Chicago, and Orlando. The mastermind behind the aerial live art exhibition was New York-based artist CJ Hendry, whose response to the mass shooting in Orlando was informed by her Australian roots. 

"20 years ago, we had our biggest mass shooting...The year later, [Australia's] gun laws changed, and we haven't had a mass shooting since," 28-year-old Hendry told The Huffington Post. "It's my small belief that maybe Australia is a really good country to look at for inspiration." 

Hendry is a self-described draftsman, whose hyper-realistic pen drawings are rendered based off photographs. To create the banner image, she maneuvered a T-shirt into the shape of a gun (leaving the "Made in USA" tag exposed), painted the barrel with red splatters, photographed the arrangement, and spent the next week drawing it in 18-hour installments. 

 "A T-shirt represents all genders, all ages, all cultural beliefs...It's very representative and accumulative of everyone," says Hendry. 

The work intends to imply that the American manufactured gun violence epidemic is a problem facing all humanity, and Hendry hopes that the exhibition will, at the very least, inspire people to continue having the conversation about gun law reforms. 

"It was just a really big, loud way of showing what I as an artist can maybe do to help in my very small way," says Hendry. 

Watch the video above to learn more about the exhibition and CJ Hendry's process. 

Video by Savannah O'Leary

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Bill Maher turned to Jane Austen to explain the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union.

The "Real Time with Bill Maher" host referenced two of the 18th century British writer's novels on Friday, as he broke down Britain's surprise vote to exit the EU, known as Brexit.

"Forty-eight percent voted for Sense and Sensibility," he said. "And 52 percent voted for Pride and Prejudice."

The comedian said the issue of whether the U.K. should stay inside the European Union had been "hijacked by a bunch of anti-immigration isolationists who are obsessed with the idea that foreigners were stealing their jobs."

"Thank God something like that never happened here," he sarcastically added, in a clear nod toward Donald Trump.

Maher further mocked the presumptive GOP presidential candidate for being in favor of a Brexit.

"Economists all over the world are saying this is a catastrophically stupid move, as evidence they offered lots of data, lots of charts, and the fact that Trump is for it," he said.

Watch the full clip above.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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Your brain has approximately 86 billion neurons joined together through some 100 trillion connections, giving rise to a complex biological machine capable of pulling off amazing feats. Yet it's difficult to truly grasp the sophistication of this interconnected web of cells.

Now, a new work of art based on actual scientific data provides a glimpse into this complexity.

The 8-by-12-foot gold panel, depicting a sagittal slice of the human brain, blends hand drawing and multiple human brain datasets from several universities. The work was created by Greg Dunn, a neuroscientist-turned-artist, and Brian Edwards, a physicist at the University of Pennsylvania, and goes on display Saturday at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. There will be a public unveiling and a lecture by the artists at 3 p.m.

"The human brain is insanely complicated," Dunn said. "Rather than being told that your brain has 80 billion neurons, you can see with your own eyes what the activity of 500,000 of them looks like, and that has a much greater capacity to make an emotional impact than does a factoid in a book someplace."  

To reflect the neural activity within the brain, Dunn and Edwards have developed a technique called micro-etching: They paint the neurons by making microscopic ridges on a reflective sheet in such a way that they catch and reflect light from certain angles. When the light source moves in relation to the gold panel, the image appears to be animated, as if waves of activity are sweeping through it.

First, the visual cortex at the back of the brain lights up, then light propagates to the rest of the brain, gleaming and dimming in various regions -- just as neurons would signal inside a real brain when you look at a piece of art.

That's the idea behind the name of Dunn and Edwards' piece: "Self Reflected." It's basically an animated painting of your brain perceiving itself in an animated painting. 

Here's a video to give you an idea of how the etched neurons light up as the light source moves: 

To make the artwork resemble a real brain as closely as possible, the artists used actual MRI scans and human brain maps, but the datasets were not detailed enough. "There were a lot of holes to fill in," Dunn said. Several students working with the duo explored scientific literature to figure out what types of neurons are in a given brain region, what they look like and what they are connected to. Then the artists drew each neuron.

Dunn and Edwards then used data from DTI scans -- a special type of imaging that maps bundles of white matter connecting different regions of the brain. This completed the picture, and the results were scanned into a computer.

Using photolithography, the artists etched the image onto a panel covered with gold leaf. Then, they switched on the lights:

"A lot of times in science and engineering, we take a complex object and distill it down to its bare essential components, and study that component really well" Edwards said. But when it comes to the brain, understanding one neuron is very different from understanding how billions of neurons work together and give rise to consciousness.

"Of course, we can't explain consciousness through an art piece, but we can give a sense of the fact that it is more complicated than just a few neurons," he added.

The artists hope their work will inspire people, even professional neuroscientists, "to take a moment and remember that our brains are absolutely insanely beautiful and they are buzzing with activity every instant of our lives," Dunn said. "Everybody takes it for granted, but we have, at the very core of our being, the most complex machine in the entire universe."

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Lorna Luft surprised fans at a Wednesday concert in New York with her first-ever live performance of "Over the Rainbow," a song made famous by her mother, Judy Garland.

The singer-actress, 63, told the crowd at Feinstein's/54 Below that she'd never performed the song "not because it was too hard for me emotionally, but because I always felt you can't improve on perfection."

Pointing to the June 12 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Luft added, "I thought to myself, if I'm ever going to sing this, now is the time." (Don't miss the incredible performance in the video above) 

Luft's decision to introduce the "Wizard of Oz" classic into her concert repertoire had personal significance, too, as June 22 marked the 47th anniversary of Garland's death at the age of 47. 

A beloved gay icon, Garland is often culturally linked to the 1969 Stonewall riots, which are considered the symbolic start of the modern-day lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement. The riots themselves took place in the early morning hours of June 28, less than 24 hours after Garland's funeral and memorial services were held in Manhattan. 

"My mother would have loved the fact that people fought back, because she hated bigotry, and she hated injustice," Luft told the crowd. "And don't ask how much she would've loved that rainbow flag!" 

Earlier this week, Luft visited the Stonewall Inn, located in New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood, where a memorial to the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting had been erected. Actor-playwright Harvey Fierstein shared a snapshot of Luft kneeling beside the makeshift shrine on his official Facebook page. 

According to Luft, it was her first-ever visit to the historic venue, where she was photographed with other members of the New York theater community for a Playbill feature commemorating LGBT Pride. That experience, she said, was "so emotional." 

"To realize what happened, and to meet the owner [Kurt Kelly], and for him to say, 'This is where history was made' -- that was fascinating to me," Luft told The Huffington Post. These days, she sees the fact that Stonewall is so intertwined with her mother's legacy as an honor to her family. She said she felt particularly proud when Stonewall staff told her, "Your mom's memory is here, so we always talk to her. When something goes wrong, we say, 'Judy doesn't want that to happen.'" 

The fact that her three New York concerts, which feature music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Peter Allen and others, coincide with a Pride week that feels especially poignant in the wake of the Orlando tragedy isn't lost on Luft. 

"This past week, we've all been tested," she told HuffPost. "We've been tested with our hearts hurting. We've been tested with our minds asking, 'Why?' I think that it's so important to celebrate for the people who are not [here], and to say, 'We will walk forward,' and that we're all equal." 

"Lorna Luft Celebrates Pride Week" plays New York's Feinstein's/54 Below through June 25. Head here for details. 

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"We invite you to something epic, you know?" Jay Z raps on 1996's "Reasonable Doubt," his groundbreaking debut album about the story of a hustler and a rapper on the rise. 

Two decades later, his lyrics continue to reverberate in the voices of some of today's top artists -- Rihanna and Kanye West, for example -- having permanently altered the fabric of rap music history. 

Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of "Reasonable Doubt," and to celebrate the album's legacy Jay and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke have collaborated on a unique fan experience to bring it back to where it all began: APT 4B. 

Taking its name from Jay Z's 1990s apartment in the Marcy Projects, the Los Angeles pop-up concept shop modeled after the rapper's old digs will play home base to "Reasonable Doubt" T-shirts, hats cassettes, and more, as well as pieces from Burke's denim line Fourth of November. Fans will also be able to interact with kiosks featuring exclusive content and get a peek at "Reasonable Doubt"-inspired emojis to bridge the gap between generations of rap lovers. 

"The partnership between Biggs and I began in the spirit of independence 20 years ago and nothing has changed," Jay Z said in a statement. "For the pop-up shop series, we're working directly with store owners, supporting entrepreneurship in our communities. The shops bring to life the inspiration behind 'Reasonable Doubt'; the fans and respecting the culture."

The occasion signals a new beginning for Biggs, as Roc-a-Fella's other founders, Jay Z and Damon Dash, have largely dominated the conversation about the record label's origin story. When discussing the trajectory of a company with humble beginnings, Biggs describes himself as a "proud father," connecting the dots between artists of today and the movement he started all those years ago. 

"It all goes back to the genesis of what we did 20 years ago." Burke told The Huffington Post. "If you think about the 'Reasonable Doubt' family tree ... we introduced Kanye [West] to the market, who in turn, introduced GOOD Music. Jay Cole, Rihanna, Pusha T and Rihanna --- a lot of careers have come out of where we started."

The shop opens Saturday, June 25, and will remain open through July. 

Listen to "Reasonable Doubt" in full below: 

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Bill Cunningham, the beloved photographer known for his keen eye for street style, has died.

Cunningham died in New York on Saturday, announced The New York Times, his longtime employer. He was 87 and had recently been hospitalized for a stroke.

The photographer became a staple on the streets of New York City and often spoke of his disinterest in taking photos of famous people. "I'm not interested in celebrities with their free dresses. I'm interested in clothes," he said in a movie about his life, "Bill Cunningham New York."

Cunningham, who started out in advertising and later became a milliner, making hats under the brand William J., started contributing to the Times in 1978, getting into street style as it was first emerging on the fashion scene. In fact, long before the days of fashion blogging, Cunningham prowled the streets of New York with his friend Editta Sherman to create a series of truly breathtaking street style images.

For many Fashion Week attendees in years to come, being photographed by Cunningham would be the ultimate validation. As Anna Wintour so perfectly put it in "Bill Cunningham New York," "I've said many times that we all get dressed for Bill."

And yet, for all of his accomplishment and regard, Cunningham always maintained a sense of modesty, straying away from interviews and keeping mostly to himself. In an essay he wrote for the Times in 2002, he revealed what brought him to taking fashion photos in the first place.

"The problem is I'm not a good photographer. To be perfectly honest, I'm too shy," he said. "Not aggressive enough. Well, I'm not aggressive at all. I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it."

Also on HuffPost Style:

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To be in the European Union, or not to be? That was the question.

After the United Kingdom voted on Thursday to leave the EU, many of its citizens are now turning to poetry to deal with the uncertain aftermath.

As a petition calling for a second referendum gained momentum and #regrexit officially became a thing, the #WriteAPoemAboutBrexit hashtag also started to trend on Twitter.

Hundreds of people have now penned rhymes to express their feelings on the Brexit, with the majority (but not all) lamenting the vote to leave. Here are some of the best:

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Former pro wrestler Mick Foley has paid an emotional tribute to the city of Orlando following a chance encounter with a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

In a heartfelt Facebook post, the semi-retired sportsman -- now a best-selling author, actor and comedian -- revealed that he hadn't been sure what to expect when visiting the city on business this week.

"I wondered if I could ever find joy in the theme park capital of the world again," Foley wrote on Saturday.

Read his full tribute here:

But Foley ended up attending a memorial for the victims after randomly bumping into Christopher Hansen, a survivor of the massacre, at his hotel.

"And in doing so instantly connected to something bigger than myself; a sense of community and spirit of healing," he wrote.

Foley, who went by a slew of aliases during his decades-long career in the ring --- including "Cactus Jack" and "Mankind" -- wrote that in the wake of the horrific June 12 shooting, where a gunman killed 49 people, he "won't ever be able to look at Orlando the same way again."

To him, it will never again simply be "the theme park capital of the world."

"Instead, I will look at Orlando as the place that took the very worst that hate could dish out -- and bested it through the sheer force of love," he wrote. "It's a city that refused to be defined by the formidable forces of intolerance, ignorance and fear -- and instead chose a path of acceptance, inclusion and understanding."

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Here's a reason to raise your glass -- some Barnes & Noble stores will soon be serving meals and alcohol.

The major book retailer on Thursday announced plans to open four new "concept stores," which will include restaurants with waitstaff and breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, in an effort to boost its struggling sales.

The restaurants will also serve drinks, but that's not to say bookworms will soon meet tequila worms. The planned drinks menu is said to feature only beer and wine.

The first location will open this October in Eastchester, New York, about 30 miles north of New York City. It will also offer a bocce court, a fire pit and outdoor seating, The Journal News reports.

Similar stores will appear at the Galleria in Edina, Minnesota; at Palladio in Folsom, California; and at One Loudoun in Ashburn, Virginia.

"We wanted to create a better bookstore," Jaime Carey, Barnes & Noble's president of development and the restaurant group, told Fortune. “We think they’re going to drive traffic to the store and [be] keeping them in the store longer.”

Carey noted that many Barnes & Noble locations already have cafes that feature Starbucks sweets, sandwiches and beverages.

"We said, let’s have a much better food experience frankly," Carey said.

The retailer appears to be taking a page out of Starbucks' own playbook. The coffee chain in 2014 began offering "Starbucks Evenings" at select stores, featuring wine, beer and hors d'oeuvres.

Barnes & Noble's news came just a day after the retailer reported a drop in sales in its fourth quarter report. Though the company's stock price took a tumble the same day its fiscal earnings were reported, it rebounded following the announcement of the concept stores and two executive appointments. 

The company, which touts itself as the nation's largest retail bookseller, operates 640 stores in 50 states.

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"Discrepancies in how people live are sometimes hard to see from the ground," photographer Johnny Miller writes online. "The beauty of being able to fly is to see things from a new perspective -- to see things as they really are."

Miller's "Unequal Scenes" project provides that new perspective in a series of stark aerial photos that capture just how differently the rich and poor live. His series focuses on neighborhoods in South Africa, a country that experienced nearly five decades of institutionalized segregation during apartheid. Often split into two distinct fields, his photos show a bird's eye view of shacks cozied up to golf courses and sprawling housing developments situated on the edges of crowded shanty towns. 

"During apartheid, segregation of urban spaces was instituted as policy," Miller explains in a statement accompanying his series. "Roads, rivers, 'buffer zones' of empty land, and other barriers were constructed and modified to keep people separate. 22 [sic] years after the end of apartheid, many of these barriers, and the inequalities they have engendered, still exist. Oftentimes, communities of extreme wealth and privilege will exist just meters from squalid conditions and shack dwellings."

Miller insists that the goal of "Unequal Scenes" is to convey the realities of wealth discrepancies "as objectively as possible." By shooting locations like Kya Sands, Mooifontein Cemetery, Lake Michelle and Vukuzenzele from several hundreds of meters above, he creates images that show rather than tell the story of inequality in cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg and beyond. 

"I hope to provoke a dialogue," Miller concludes, "which can begin to address the issues of inequality and disenfranchisement in a constructive and peaceful way."

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In her photo series “Wonderful,” Berlin-based photographer Lena Mucha captures the young generation of the Roma, or Gitanos, an ethnic minority living on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. 

Spain has the largest population of Roma in Western Europe -- and it shares the wider Roma population’s history of persecution. While conditions and integration for the Roma community are better in Spain than in other European countries, members of the young Roma generation are often faced with exclusion and intolerance. Only five percent of Roma students in Spain complete upper-secondary education, and 25 percent of the Spanish population would not allow their children to study in the same school with Romani students.

Mucha’s intimate photos show girls in their bedrooms, or details of daily life in Roma households outside of the Spanish city. The photographer, whose work often focuses on human rights, gender and social change, says she took on this project to challenge stereotypes.

"I focused on the young generation and tried to reveal a glimpse of their world, since their future seems to offer little promise, and stereotypes, racial discrimination and social exclusion are the main factors that affect their lives,” she told HuffPost Italy.

Mucha’s photo series, "Wonderful," is on display at the Goethe Institute in Barcelona, Spain until 7 July. This piece was originally published on HuffPost Italy and has been translated into English. 

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The fashion world lost one of its most beloved photographers Saturday. With the news of Bill Cunningham's death at age 87, all corners of the internet poured forth a flood of tears, tributes and memories.

Many shared starstruck memories of spotting him for the first time, some expressed gratitude for the documentary that gave fans a peek into his otherwise elusive life, and others recounted some of the most famous quotes said by him and about him. ("We all get dressed for Bill," Anna Wintour famously said.)

As much as Cunningham is revered as a fashion fixture, he must also be remembered for his iconic status as a New Yorker. His talent and keen eye for true style are only paralleled by his presence on the NYC streets, oftentimes perched on his bicycle in that signature blue jacket, camera in hand. 

Take a look at some of the tributes to the photographer who touched so many lives.

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