BY: MATTHEW CHIN The guided meditation begins with a soothing background harmony and the view of ocean waves crashing against the shoreline. Then the narrator begins speaking, “Let the horseshit of the external world fade…
The key to higher life expectancy may be to live like a virus-infested rat
BY: KAROUN CHAHINIAN Imagine being a dirty, diseased rat that runs through sewers, filthy streets, and the grimiest corners in cities. You might put on a face of disgust or a quick and definite “no,” which is understandable when thinking about…
Are you easily distracted? Congrats—according to a recent study you’re a creative genius
BY: ROB HOFFMAN Psychologists at Northwestern University recently published a study in Neuropsychologia—an accredited journal that closely documents advancements in behavioural and cognitive neuroscience—indicating that highly creative people are easily distracted by their surroundings. The study was based on nearly…
Bulletproof, fireproof, environmentally friendly homes are being made from plastic bottles
BY: JESSICA BEUKER The streets of downtown Toronto are vibrant and busy at all times of the day. During the day business women rapidly click their heels and talk a mile a minute into their cellphones. Students hustle off to…
A Texas design student built a tiny house to shelter his broke student ass and live debt-free
BY: MATTHEW CHIN Design student Joel Weber is a third-year university student who found that living near campus was unaffordable, costing upwards of $800 per month in rent. In Texas, the average tuition at Weber’s university, the University of Texas…
These underwater greenhouse domes grow crops 20 feet below the ocean’s surface at breakneck speeds
BY: ROB HOFFMAN Sergio Gamberini was somewhere on the sandy beaches of Italy when he was struck with the unusual idea of trying to operate a greenhouse 20 feet under the ocean’s surface. Granted the idea originally comes across as…
These amazing ear buds let you customize the sound of your environment
BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA The sound of your partner grinding their teeth, the sound of your tone-deaf roommate singing in the shower, the piercing squeal of the subway slamming its brakes juxtaposed by the guy beside me playing swag music…
New adventure company lets you test your survival skills by renting a deserted island
BY: MATTHEW CHIN Maybe you watched Tom Hanks struggle to stay alive on a deserted island in Cast Away and thought “small potatoes,” or thought the entire cast of hit TV series, Lost, were massive wussies. Well guess what—it’s time…
The world’s first floating ocean colony is on track to being completed by 2020
BY: JESSICA BEUKER The idea of ocean colonization has so far only lived in the dreamt-up world of science fiction writers, and those who hold the bold notion that anything is possible. Today, it is on its way to becoming…
Overly-strict Irish abortion laws are forcing women to carry dead fetuses for weeks
BY: JESSICA BEUKER In July of 2013 controversy spread through Ireland after a law was passed allowing women to obtain abortions where their life was at risk. The law was passed after the death of Savita Halappanavar, who was refused…
Big Tobacco could make the Weed game their bitch…so why haven’t they?
BY: RYAN BOLTON North America is at a tipping point with legalizing marijuana. The shove, however, is yet to come because Big Tobacco is sitting around with a dry thumb up its ass. Big Tobacco is missing the boat. Frankly,…
Cat-loving couple quits comfortable jobs to sail the world with their cat as first mate (Photos)
BY: JESSICA BEUKER Matt and Jessica Johnson were living the American Dream—go to school, get married, buy a house, start a career. The only thing they were missing were the 2 kids expected for an average nuclear family. That all…
This NFL star walked away from a $37 million contract to buy a 1,000 acre farm to feed America’s hungry
BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA At 29, Jason Brown was unfathomably wealthy, famous and excruciatingly unfulfilled. Though the NFL had fed him the American dream with a silver spoon, Brown decided that ‘wealthy football star’ wasn’t the message he wanted etched…
An Instagrammer transforms risking his life into an art form
BY: SHAY ANSARI They should rename this building @carrly_patrice A photo posted by roof topper (@roof_topper) on Apr 10, 2015 at 5:48am PDT Life should be lived on the edge. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself…
If 18 states allow medicinal marijuana use, why is weed still classified as Schedule I?
BY: LISA CUMMING The first documented use of Marijuana was in 2727 BC when Chinese Emperor Shen Nung blazed up. Marijuana, or the dried bits from the hemp plant, has permeated popular culture since then. People have smoked it, eaten…
25 activists are biking across America to fight persecution of meditation in China
BY: JESSICA BEUKER I find it difficult to imagine a world where my core beliefs are subject to persecution. A world where I have to walk on egg shells every single day. Where I can’t freely say what I think…
Wedding bakery forced to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing business to lesbian couple
BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA In Portland, Oregon, The Bureau of Labor and Industries resolved that a wedding bakery would be forced to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian couple. Sweet Cakes By Melissa…
Bestival is an island paradise of hippies, nudists and lucid dreams (Video)
BY: CONNOR BRIAN, TYLER FYFE, ROB HOFFMAN AND MELISSA GONZALEZ If Salvador Dali and Dr. Seuss had a child born out of wedlock, it would have been conceived at Bestival. On the Toronto Islands, a nature sanctuary and nude beach…
Fathers are tweeting beautiful selfies with their daughters to prove India’s proud of its women
Twitter has become a platform for social change in India, where thousands are posting a #SelfieWithDaughter to fight back against a social stigma that puts a boot to the face of unborn fetuses whose only injustice is failing to grow…
New STI-detecting condom that changes colour might sound like a better idea than it really is
BY: JESSICA BEUKER A new condom is stirring up colourful conversations about sexually transmitted infections and sexual health. The S.T. EYE is an innovative concept that works by changing colour if an STI is detected. Currently, the idea is nothing…