7.3 billion people on this planet and counting, with a growth rate of 1.5 million every week. Believing that the logical rationale echoed for decades about the threats of overpopulation were largely being dismissed as alarmist, Tom Butler, editorial director…
When it comes to behavioral tracking, there is a fine line between useful and creepy
BY: ALEKSANDRA TARABIC Unbeknownst to most, there is a tool that the Internet uses, which serves as its very own personal Google Glass—offering insights into our histories and preferences called the Digital Fingerprint. There is an industry behind this concept…
This is why being bilingual changes your personality for the better
BY: ALEKSANDRA TARABIC So goes the Czech proverb, “learn a new language and get a new soul.” As Benjamin Lee Whorf, an American linguist, maintained in the 1920s, it could be said that each language holds a worldview that its…
Photographer captures the deteriorating ghosts of Crackland
BY: SARAH ROBERTSON Sao Paulo, Brazil is the ground of the world’s second biggest crack epidemic just behind the United States. With high levels of addiction, poverty and violence, the city has garnered the nickname also known as Cracolandia or…
I spent an evening at a Death Cafe to lose my fear of dying
BY: JESSICA BEUKER It’s a rainy Wednesday evening and in the far west end of Toronto, where things are quiet and slow, the Belljar Cafe is buzzing as people begin to gather in the corner of the shop. The lights…
These nomadic Mongolians ride reindeer and hunt with wolves and eagles (Photos)
BY: ROB HOFFMAN At first, the legendary “magical connection” that the Nomadic Dukha people of Northern Mongolia share with the region’s animals and landscape seems more like myth than fact. But when you see a Mongolian elder rearing his steed…
This man single-handedly planted a tropical forest larger than central park (VIDEO)
BY: ROB HOFFMAN In 2009 local photographer and journalist, Jitu Kalita, discovered a dense forest at the centre of Majuli Island’s barren western shores. As Kalita explored the shoreline, he was nearly attacked by a man who had mistaken him…
Dark Cyanide is an 18-year old urban explorer scaling NYC’s tallest skyscrapers (Photos)
Dark Cyanide is an 18-year-old, New York City photographer who describes his work as “urban history”. In case you haven’t already guessed it, Dark Cyanide is undeterred by security guards or no trespassing signs and his curiosity has taken him…
This HD film lets you soar above the peak of Mt. Everest (Video)
Leading action sports media company, Teton Gravity Research, recently released the world’s highest quality footage of the Himalayan peaks ever released. The brief two and a half minute film features views from some of the tallest mountains in the world,…
Scientists invent a spray that puts you to sleep after one sniff
Being a night owl is not always by choice. Sure, sometimes I will find myself in a late-night Pinterest spiral, pinning pictures of cats, motivational quotes and recipes that “I’m definitely going to try tomorrow.” But more often than not,…
France passes a law requiring new rooftops to be covered with plants or solar panels
BY: TYLER FYFE Earlier this month France passed legislation in response to pressure from environmental activists that all buildings constructed in commercial zones must have sections roofed with solar panels or green spaces. According to smog readings by air pollution…
Crazy urban explorers free-climb to the tip of the second highest building in the world (VIDEO)
Last year two Russian ‘rooftoppers’ took on the Shanghai Tower, the second highest building in the world, free-climbing to the top and capturing the ascent with GoPros strapped tight to their foreheads. The climbers, Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov, represent…
Photographer captures the face of remote cultures on the brink of extinction (Photos)
From blistering semi-desert to the frigid tundra, Photographer Jimmy Nelson travelled across five continents to document the distinctive cultures that continue to live in harmony with nature. Due to globalization and implied cultural homogenization, cultures like these have become a…
Biohackers have found a way to inject night vision into human eyeballs
BY: MICHAEL LYONS An independent research organization, Science for the Masses seeks to take the scientific process out of the hands of gatekeeping institutions. Biochem researcher Gabriel Licina volunteered as a guinea pig for a solution that ultimately proved successful…
If you want to live in Miyakejima, Japan you must carry a gas mask at all times (Photos)
BY: SINEAD MULHERN About 160 kilometres south of Tokyo is the town of Miyakejima, sitting at the base of the volcano that shares its name. This town is covered with a cloud of harmful sulphur dioxide gas, spewed into the…
Urbanization is scientifically proven to be speeding up evolution in animals
BY: LAURA ROJAS Evolution is something we’ve been graciously able to observe in countless species, allowing us to trace their origins back to when they were nearly unrecognizable. For some time, we’ve also been aware that humans can trigger ‘micro-evolutionary’…
Tattooed seniors answer the question, “but what will you look like when you’re old and grey?” (Photos)
Tattoos look stylish when you’re young, but they also come with the age-old argument of “what happens when you get old?” Will the tattoos disintegrate into a wrinkled and ugly representation of lost youth—or will they give you the weathered…
A bar where you can get drunk with owls to raise conservation funds is coming to the UK.
You may have heard of owl bars or cafés, which are very popular in Tokyo, but now London, England is about to launch its own pop-up bar called Annie the Owl. Organized by Locappy, Annie the Owl hopes to raise…
Why this professor thinks porn should be shown in classrooms
BY: JESSICA BEUKER If you never suffered through the awkward and uncomfortable sex talk with your parents, then you likely attained most of your knowledge through high school sexual education. If there is anything that I remember about high school…
Architect designs an urban tree house that can clean polluted air
Architect, Luciano Pia, recently proved eco living is completely possible in an urban setting by designing a 5-story apartment complex in Turin, Italy, that lets tenants reconnect with their childhood dreams— letting them feel like they are living in an…