BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS To know others, you must know yourself. Who hasn’t heard that before? But that old proverb has just taken an interesting turn in January 2017, when Irish scientists led by Dr. Calvin Coffrey of the University…
We introduced our 18-month old daughter to the joys and dangers of backpacking in the Andes
BY: TIM O’NEAL We had lost or broken, months ago, almost every electronic device we had brought with us. The only thing we had left that kept time was our point-and-shoot digital camera. It didn’t have an alarm so to…
Caribou, mammoths and humans? Hannibal Lecter and cavemen have more in common than we thought
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS Cavemen have always occupied a fascinating niche in our pop-cultural consciousness. On the one hand, we afford them the reverence and nobility that we tend to attribute to all our ancestors, the archetypical “noble savage.” Then…
This company turned a decrepit 1970s building into a green oasis that is sustainable and accessible
BY: CHARLOTTE LEFAVE Photos via WOHA. WOHA is a Singapore-based architectural organization that focuses heavily on environmentally-friendly practices. They pride themselves on concentrating on the integrity of nature, the intermingling of natural resources into the final result, and having a major reliance on…
Insomniac? Tart cherry juice could help, or at the very least give you wicked dreams
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, at least half of the population suffers from insomnia. It is estimated that 30 to 35% of adults have brief symptoms of insomnia, 15 to 20% have a short-term insomnia disorder, which…
These Fitness Centres Give A New Meaning To “Workout”
You know what they say: find a gym you like and you’ll never work out a day in your life. A cheeky edit of the original saying concerning work, only 49% of Americans over the age of 18 met the…
These magical photos will make you wish you were a part of the 1970s disco culture in New York
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP All photos via Bill Bernstein If you’re like me and you never got to experience the magic of the ’70s, you have to vicariously live through music, movies and photography taken during that period. Without experiencing the…
Here’s why after 146 years, Ringling Bros. circus has decided to close for good
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS The Greatest Show on Earth has finally shut its doors. After 146 years, 37 presidents, a great depression, and two world wars, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus – citing declining attendance rates and increasing…
What a gun auction taught me about ‘middle America’
“Do you know why Lincoln was splittin’ wood?” My grandpa’s question, inspired by the sight of decades old split rail fences lining Highway 40, abruptly broke the silence. As my phone signal aggressively cut in and out, I couldn’t help…
China scraps construction on more than 100 coal-fired power plants
BY: JESSICA BEUKER Recently China’s government urged 11 provinces to stop construction on more than 100 coal-fired power projects. The move comes as China is trying to curb the use of fossil fuels. Right now coal accounts for the majority…
The Netherlands now has the world’s first completely wind powered trains
BY: RHIANN MOORE As of January 1, 2017, 600,000 daily commuters in the Netherlands have been traveling in complete carbon neutrality. This is because the Dutch NS trains now run on 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of wind energy as a result…
Beer yoga is a thing now and it’s the only meditation you’ll ever need
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Photos via BIERYOGA/FACEBOOK What better way to relax and reminisce on the hard week that has passed than with a cold beer in hand. Maybe your first beer of the night is after you’ve indulged your mind and…
Five places in the UK made iconic by the movies
The UK has been an odd place to be this last year. All this talk of Brexit and the like, has made my home country seem like a small, disinterested island with the outside world, and only concerned about its…
I was in Nice during the attack- this is what I saw versus what you saw
BY: BROOKLYN PINHEIRO The fireworks came to an end and the eight of us turned away from the Promenade. It was Bastille Day and since we were traveling in France we anticipated a night full of celebrations. That is not…
These portraits reveal a vulnerable side of masculinity that’s rarely seen (NSFW)
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP All photos via © Tyler Udall / The Little Black Gallery Last year, CoverGirl named James Charles the brand’s first-ever male model. This was quickly followed by an announcement this year by Maybelline that they had chosen their…
Donald Trump is about to be the next President of the U.S. This is what we should learn from it.
BY: NADIA ZAIDI Like it or not, Donald Trump is going to be the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s journey into power may be the most contentious outcome in modern American politics. From media frenzy to civil outrage,…
The CIA unsealed 12 million pages of documents and published them online
The CIA published 12 millions of pages of documents online. The thing is: those documents were classified. As their web page states: The automatic declassification provisions of Executive Order 13526 require the declassification of non-exempt historically valuable records 25-years-old or…
Can meditation help you achieve your business goals?
Since 2007 there has been a 32% increase in diagnosed mental health conditions in adults with a massive 92% of college students feeling mentally distressed. The near epidemic levels of stressed out young adults is well documented. But it isn’t…
The story of Gay Bob, the controversial 1970s doll that would be just plain offensive today
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Photos via Christy Havranek/Huffington Post. 1977: what a year, one which many of you will remember clearly. Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated; palaeontologist Elso Barghoorn annouced he found a 3.4 billion year old one-celled fossil, which was the…
Why we should all be practicing Friluftsliv – Norway’s philosophy of getting back to nature
BY: KIRSTEN POWLEY By now we all know that Scandinavia has it down when it comes to happiness and society values. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Danes, notably the happiest people in the world according…