BY: LAURA ROJAS So it turns out a girl named Elif Bilgin, a 16-year-old junior at Koç High School in Istanbul, Turkey, submitted a project to the 2013 Google Science Fair that won her the “Science in Action Award.” She…
Alex Martel started Amnesia Rockfest when he was only 17. This year, 200,000 punk fans flooded his hometown
By JACKIE HONG Alex Martel is living the dream. The 28-year-old native of Montebello, Quebec (population 978), founded Amnesia Rockfest, a two-day punk, metal, and alternative festival that goes down in his hometown every summer, when he was just 17…
I spent the afternoon naked in public and there was nothing weird about it (NSFW)
BY: Alex Brown/ Photos: Connor Brian “Hi, I have an interview at 3.” “All right.” “I suppose I should get naked?” “That would be appreciated.” The young woman I was talking to was named Nikki, the manager of Bare Oaks Family…
30% of food in the USA goes to waste – Fill stomachs, not landfills
BY: PILGRIM I used to know a girl who would occasionally go dumpster diving for the mass quantities of bread and baked goods that get thrown away behind supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants. Sometimes, when she was in the dumpster, the…
Is “selfie” just a short form for self-conscious?
She hates walking past reflective shop windows. Her nose hangs crooked as if sculpted by an artist with a sense of humor. Her eyes are too close together and her straw hair matches the ashen tint of her hollowed face.…
Toronto From Above: Trespassing on the city’s rooftops (photos)
By JACKIE HONG I’m close to broke, crave adrenaline rushes and killer views. My salvation this summer? Climbing stuff and taking photos. It’s free, a great workout, and rewards me with a unique vantage of a city I thought I’d…
Have we become puppets of our technology?
BY: ATLAS “How do you live?” I got used to hearing that question. It typically followed immediately after the asker discovered one of two things: that I didn’t have a cell phone or that I didn’t have Facebook. For a…
The best damn travel tips you’ll ever need
by RYAN BOLTON Travel is the best education. It’s also the ideal form of rebellion. It’s the no-bullshit way to find out who you really are and what you’re really made of. Quite possibly some of the best travel advice…
The death of consent in porn (condoms in porn California)
By GARY SEWARD INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT A well-lit room. Candles are on the surface of an IKEA style headboard. A woman, Jessica, in her twenties, black with the body of a gymnast is laying spread eagle on a plush…
Why did it take so long for the American mainstream to embrace tattoos?
BY: TYLER FYFE Tattooing has been practiced by various cultures for at least 8000 years. From New Zealand’s Maori, to Siberia’s Pazyryk nomads, little has changed in the very natural desire to modify the human body. So why did it…
Did you know you can grow mushrooms in coffee grounds?
By: PILGRIM Like a pair of ’80s stockbrokers, Nikhil and Alejandro grew their success from the decaying remains of another business. Fortunately, their success was founded in the realization that gourmet mushrooms could be grown from cafes’ discarded coffee grounds,…
Wildlife (band) lays carnage to tired clichés
BY: ATLAS Between winning the SiriusXM Indie Award for rock artist of the year and debuting a behind-the-scenes studio documentary, Toronto five-piece Wildlife is having a big year. Frontman Dean Povinsky talks about clichéd heart metaphors, Bruce Springsteen, and what…
Four solar inventions that could power our planet’s future
Somewhere on the list of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns—wedged between video games, smart watches, and cult movies—you’ll find a project that could change more than just how we spend our leisure time. Last month, the Idaho-based startup Solar Roadways…
Burlesque: Expression through sex
I’ve never been a fan of strip clubs. Sometimes, the sleaziness is what makes it fun, but mostly, they’re dingy and expensive, and they make me feel desperate. However, I try not to hold fast to this perspective, as…
Living as a god among men – The beard life
BY: RYAN BOLTON There’s a lot of fur on my face. Like if a possum gave up on life and took up permanent residence on my cheeks. I have a beard. Not a small, I haven’t shaved for three weeks beard.…
How body language can save your ass in a fight
I could feel his breath on my face. He swayed side to side as I repeated the question “is there a problem here?” The tribal-tattooed frat guy smiled and adjusted his sleeve. He looked down towards the left; pursed his…
How three fired guys started a craft beer revolution (Steam Whistle Brewing)
BY: TYLER FYFE In 1988, Greg Taylor was a bike courier pedalling nervously towards the house owned by his girlfriend’s boss, clad in a cheap-checkered-necktie. He had been invited as her “plus one” to The Upper Canada Brewing Company’s employee…
This is what drowning sounds like- AquaSonic (Underwater Band)
BY: LUC RINALDI When discussing music, people have a tendency to exaggerate originality. Stray from the typical four-chord structure and you’re innovating. Compose in an unconventional time signature—groundbreaking. Merge, defy, and subvert standard genres? Revolutionary. While most artists fail to…
Here are 4 reasons list articles are making you stupid
BY: TYLER FYFE We have begun to consume information in the same way we swallow fast food and frozen dinners. List articles are the McDouble of the mind, providing the same instant satisfaction and slow brewing disease as two hormone-injected…
How this man stopped eating food for 30 days and stayed healthy
BY: LUC RINALDI In February 2013, a twenty-something Atlanta tech entrepreneur named Rob Rhinehart posted an entry on his blog, Mostly Harmless, titled, “How I Stopped Eating Food.” In it, he detailed his frustration with food—how much time it took…