BY: ADAM THRUSH A new social initiative has launched in Nicaragua that focuses on the organization of communal spaces for the purpose of hosting makeshift libraries in rural Nicaraguan villages. ‘Barriotecas’ (literally translated to ‘neighbourhood libraries’) simply aims to provide…
Worldschooling turns the entire planet into a classroom for some lucky kids
BY: TIM O’NEAL To most people, a school is a monolithic brick building with drab paint on the interior walls. It’s where students walk in line and sit at desks. A teacher stands in front of the class and gives…
Alternative highschools use different learning strategies to teach students
BY: ELIJAH BASSETT For many of us, the word “school” evokes thoughts of long, drawn-out hours spent hunched over desks while teachers talk at us, but more and more educators are realizing that it doesn’t have to be that way.…
The City of Tomorrow: where cars drive themselves and parks take the spots of parking lots
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Presented by Ford Autonomous cars have always been a thing of mere imagination. From Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang to Back to the Future and most recently in Harry Potter, our imagination came to life on the big screen…
This is Finland’s revolutionary plan to end tobacco use in the next 2 decades
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP Finland, one of the happiest countries in the world, is once again making its way to the top of my personal list of ‘countries I need to visit.’ This is because if I plan to visit Finland…
In Canada you can legally take pictures of people if you’re on public property
BY: BROOKLYN PINHEIRO Position your camera, look up to some architecture behind your subject, click. That’s one way to take a non-obvious photo of a stranger. Or just take the photo and run away if they object. Both work. Danika…
The Countess of Castiglione smashed the patriarchy by embracing her sexuality
BY: CHARLOTTE LEFAVE Born in 1837, the Countess was bold from day one. She capitalized on her natural golden blonde hair and stunning green eyes that were rumored to change into violet, eventually using them to capture the eye of…
New media course is giving students the skills they need to distinguish fake news from real news
BY: ELIJAH BASSETT At The Plaid Zebra, we try to tell you the truth about what’s going on in the world. But, as you’ve probably heard, not everybody is so scrupulous. In the past year or so especially, the mass…
Turns out, recycling isn’t actually the best thing you can do for the environment
BY: DUSTIN BATTY Many of us remember “The 3 R’s,” the song sung every year at elementary schools to celebrate Earth Day. Though Jack Johnson’s lyrics, “reduce, reuse, recycle” are an ear-worm that has plagued many of us for the…
This Palestinian artist is using fierce makeup to address pressing global issues (photos)
Rand Jarallah is a Palestinian activist who’s using art and makeup to raise awareness about different issues that she is passionate about. Her work is thematizing gender-based violence, global warming, psychological disorders and other different issues related to activist work. As…
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…
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…
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…
This guy will show you which drugs not to use while driving
Germany is a wonderful country. It has a lot to offer: beer and Octoberfest, great outdoors, castles, sausages, cars and – Kesslers Knigge. Kesslers Knigge is German for Kessler’s Etiquette, a comedy show. The show was starring Michael Kessler, an…
Stephen Hawking has warned against it, but these scientists continue to search for contact with aliens
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS How do you say hello to a stranger? You might say hello, of course, or maybe even shake their hand. What if they don’t speak your language? You might wave, or smile, or if you’re feeling…
A look inside the brilliant new feminist magazine that’s empowering girls ages 5 to 10
BY: KRUPA JOSEPH “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams,” Eleanor Roosevelt once rightly said. The meaning is quite apparent – success is for those who dream of it. But the world that we…
Voyeuristic volcanologists watched an underwater volcano blow its load
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS Volcanic eruptions are more common that you might think. Every few decades, land-based volcanoes blow their stacks and send fiery ash, ejecta, and debris skyrocketing into the air. Pompeii, Krakatoa, and Mount St. Helens are all…
Antimatter provides a peek into a hidden world
BY: PHILIPPE DE JOCAS If you’ve ever seen a science-fiction movie in your lifetime, you’ve probably heard the word “antimatter.” Ever since its discovery, sci-fi writers of all kinds have populated their universes with antimatter blasters, antimatter drives, and antimatter…
These companies encourage their employees to get high at the office
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP It looks like 2017 may be the year that the term “gateway drug” is finally gone forever when talking about weed. Good riddance. Farewell. See ya. As more and more people who have turned their noses away…
These crazy sex studies give a little more insight on the female orgasm
BY: SAMANTHA TAPP You don’t need any convincing from science to have sex. You don’t need to be told it’s good for your physical health or your mental health for you to want to get laid. You know it’s natural,…