Need to soothe election anxieties? Here are some online escapes.
The American Psychological Association found that more than half of adults are stressed about this election. Some websites have provided natural alternatives from election news.
A peaceful fall scene at a reservation in Hingham, Mass.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Some networks and website have anticipated that Americans whose nerves have been frazzled by the elections all year may need some healing by escaping from the incessant coverage of polls and pundits.
After all, the American Psychological Association’s survey last month showed that over half of adults said the election season was a “very” or “somewhat significant” source of stress for them.
One solution the association recommended was to limit media consumption – a strategy some websites took literally.
On Election Day itself, a couple of websites and cable networks decided to offer voters an alternative to election news.
The Weather Channel, for example, promised zero election coverage on Election Day and aired nine straight hours of weather scenery beginning at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
"This election night, as other networks go low, The Weather Channel goes high ... to the sky that is," the Weather Channel said in a press release, as reported by The Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Clouds! Rainbows! Autumn Splendor! And ... yes ... smooth jazz!"
Web browser Firefox posted a live camera tracking the red panda in the San Francisco Zoo for viewers to "enjoy a peaceful respite with these non-partisan red pandas."
A popular science website posted a live feed from space on its Facebook page.
"I hope the view brings comfort to anyone struggling today. You’re not alone, and all our problems look very tiny from way up here. There are no borders, no politics, no hatred. Just our beautiful blue planet," the post read.
Quartz, a publication under The Atlantic, compiled a list of calm tracks that range from rolling waves to whale sounds.
For post-election nerves, plenty of live web cams are available to help tackle anxiety from the surprising results and barrage of political analysis.
There is the live penguin cam from the California Academy of Sciences where you can tune in for feedings in the morning and in the afternoon.
If flowing tentacles in water are of more interest, check out the live jellyfish camera by the Monterey Bay Aquarium where you can see the animals close up with no fear of stings.
Can’t pick which animal you like? The website for Explore, a multimedia organization, has a collection of live animal videos on its website. Pandas chewing bamboo sticks, puppies running around a living room and tigers chilling out on the grass? They have it all.