Do You Cause Your Own Stress? How To Stop a "Toxic Cycle"

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Do You Cause Your Own Stress? How To Stop a "Toxic Cycle" We tend to talk about stress as if it is something that happens to us — the result of too many demands and too little time and patience to handle them. Fallon Goodman understands this feeling. “As a new mom, I can relate,” she says. “The hours blow by as I try to balance running a lab, keeping my kid alive and happy, and contributing to our household.” Continued here

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Einstein on Free Will and the Power of the Imagination We are accidents of biochemistry and chance, moving through the world waging wars and writing poems, spellbound by the seductive illusion of the self, every single one of our atoms traceable to some dead star. In the interlude between the two World Wars, days after the stock market crash that sparked the Great Depression, the German-American poet and future Nazi sympathizer George Sylvester Viereck sat down with Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879–April 18, 1955) for what became his most extensive interview about life — reflections ranging from science to spirituality to the elemental questions of existence. It was published in the Saturday Evening Post on October 29, 1929 — a quarter century after Einstein’s theory of relativity reconfigured our basic understanding of reality with its revelation that space and time are the warp and weft threads of a single fabric, along the curvature of which everything we are and everything we know is gliding. Considering the helplessness individual human beings feel before the immense geopolitical forces that had hurled the world into its first global war and the decisions individual political leaders were making — decisions already inclining the world toward a second — Einstein aims in his sensitive intellect at the fundamental reality of existence: Continued here

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Recipe: Boxty pancakes and bacon for St Brigid's Day St Brigid is Ireland's foodie saint. One of the nation's three patron saints and the most associated with food (particularly farming and dairying), the Irish celebrate her for the first time this year with a new public holiday on 6 February. St Brigid's Day itself, also known as Imbolc or Óimelg, falls on 1 February marking the beginning of spring in the ancient Celtic calendar. Associated with miraculous abundance of food and a powerful figure in Irish pre-Christian folklore, Brigid was brought under the church and proclaimed a saint. Continued here

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The 10 most iconic jewels through history The iconic Koh-i-Noor diamond is just one of the famous jewels to be in the news recently – at the centre of a story about the upcoming coronation of King Charles. And last month, Kim Kardashian turned heads when she purchased a stand-out crucifix pendant, worn frequently by Diana, Princess of Wales, for the sizeable sum of £163,800. The US reality TV star, who also acquired Jackie Kennedy's Cartier Tank watch in 2017, is said to be building a collection of jewellery that celebrates the women who have inspired her. "An illustrious past can add huge value to a jewel, all the more so if that previous owner was extremely glamorous and had built a jewellery collection, like Princess Margaret or Elizabeth Taylor," Helen Molesworth, curator of jewellery at London's V&A, tells BBC Culture. Of course, a jewel is primarily valuable for its quality and aesthetic beauty, she notes, adding that "the jeweller who created it can add cachet if they're a well-known designer", but it's most often a piece's provenance that will define it as truly exceptional. Across time, a number of remarkable gemstones and exceptional jewellery designs have acquired histories that have rendered them indisputably iconic or downright infamous. From emblems of devout love to symbols of colonial conquest, from "cursed" diamonds to emboldened style choices – here we reveal the stories behind 10 of the world's most legendary pieces of jewellery. Continued here

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The song expressing a nation's defiance Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and home of the continent's biggest democracy, is set to select a new leader in a few days. After the #EndSARS peaceful protests that were quelled by the shooting of young protesters in October 2020, a revolutionary spirit lingers in the air. For this election, Nigerian youths have come forward to register to vote en masse, making up nearly 40% of the total. It's a collective defiance that finds its voice in one of the most charged songs by Nigeria's legendary activist and musician, Fela Kuti, the father of Afrobeat. More like this: - The exhilarating songs of street protests - How Afrobeat was formed - The song that changed the US Continued here

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Climate change in urban Nigeria - 4 factors that affect how residents adapt Humboldt Scientist at the Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University Prof. Mulala Danny Simatele is a professor of environmental management and sustainability science at the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies as well as the Global Change Institute. Continued here

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Albanese government to appoint Coordinator for Cyber Security, amid increasing threat to systems and data The federal government is further stepping up its efforts to improve Australia’s protection against increasing cyber threats, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday announcing the establishment of a Coordinator for Cyber Security. The aim is to “ensure a centrally coordinated approach” to the government’s cyber security responsibilities. This would include coordinating and “triaging” action after a major incident. Continued here

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South Africa has been grey listed for not stopping money laundering and terrorism funding. What it means The Financial Action Task Force has placed South Africa on a list of countries under increased monitoring, commonly known as the grey list, after it failed to address all of the shortcomings on money laundering and the financing of terrorism that the task force identified in its 2019 evaluation of the country. The decision has serious implications for the country, more specifically its financial services sector as well as its ability to attract investment. The Conversation Africa’s political editor Thabo Leshilo talks to Philippe Burger, an economics professor and the dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of the Free State, about what the grey listing means for South Africa. Grey listing refers to a country being placed on a list of countries under increased monitoring by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. The FATF evaluates each member country’s implementation and effectiveness of measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Continued here

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Target single men to counter new Covid-19 variants, health survey of more than 45,000 people reveals Maîtresse de conférences en sciences économiques, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) It is almost three years since the World Health Organisation characterised the Covid-19 outbreak as a pandemic. Working at breakneck speed, scientists managed to produce effective vaccinations in record time. The subsequent mass production of vaccines and their rollout by governments have enabled most of us to resume our daily lives, with the pandemic gradually receding in memory. Continued here

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The government's use of the Emergencies Act was found to be reasonable, but what are the implications? On Feb. 17, the federal government’s Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry released its five-volume final report. It concluded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act. From January through February 2022, what started out as a trucker-based protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates expanded in scope, and the disruptive protest movement went well beyond complaints about public health measures. With the so-called Freedom Convoy, it became an organized plan to disrupt other people’s rights and freedoms. Continued here

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Rail accidents: Public safety and accountability suffer because of deregulation Bruce Campbell is affiliated with several nonprofit organizations: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Group of 78, the Rideau Institute for international affairs The ongoing environmental tragedy in Ohio caused by the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials — which sent toxic chemicals into the air and local waterways — will take a long time to clean up. And if a similar rail tragedy in Canada is an example, it could take even longer for residents to get answers about the cause and true damage of the accident. Continued here

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Companies oversell the self-driving capabilities of their cars, with horrific outcomes In mid-February, Tesla announced the recall of over 350,000 vehicles — more than 20,000 in Canada — due to a problem with its “Full Self-Driving Capability” system. This self-driving feature was found to possibly cause vehicles to misbehave when entering intersections or exceed the speed limits, posing a risk for safety. This is just another instance of vehicles equipped with automated driving technology falling short of their safety expectations. In September 2022, a driver on the Queen Elizabeth Way near St. Catharines, Ont., was caught asleep at the wheel of a Tesla. The vehicle appeared to be operated by a semi-automated system with no monitoring from the driver, which is in direct violation of the requirements for these systems. Continued here

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Billions have been sunk into virtual reality. To make it worth it, the industry needs to grow beyond its walled gardens Bree McEwan is affiliated with the University of Toronto, University of Toronto - Mississauga, and the UofT Data Sciences Institute. Despite recent waves of Big Tech layoffs, billions of dollars have been sunk into virtual reality (VR) hardware and software over the past few years. Continued here

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How white saviourism harms international development Professeure adjointe, International Development and Global Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa A little while ago, two comedians on a late-night show poked fun of the “white saviour complex.” It’s the idea that people of colour, whether in the Global South or in the West, need “saving” from a white western person or aid worker. Continued here

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Southeast Asian movies have never been a bigger hit at the local box office - and the boom may dampen streaming growth After premiering at Venice and picking up a swag of awards on the festival circuit, Indonesian political thriller Autobiography began its theatrical run in its home country this month. The allegorical tale looks at the lingering impact of decades of military dictatorship. It is timely, as fears grow that Indonesia appears to be retreating into its authoritarian past. Continued here

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Tiny houses and alternative homes are gaining councils' approval as they wrestle with the housing crisis Australia’s coastal cities and surrounding hinterlands have long been popular with tourists, sea-changers and retirees. But they have a darker side. In the early morning you will often find car parks crowded with cars, vans, caravans and even tents, where refugees from the housing crisis have spent the night. People of all ages, including families with children, are cooking breakfast, using the cold-water showers and packing up for another day, always trying to keep one step ahead of council officers or police. These unhoused people don’t conform to homeless stereotypes. Many have jobs and children in school and no serious mental or physical health problems. They simply cannot find an affordable home to rent, or have lost or are unable to buy a home of their own. Continued here

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What is trauma insurance and what do I need to know if I am considering getting it? Trauma insurance (also known as crisis cover or critical illness insurance) is not a widely understood cover. Many people don’t even know it exists. So, what is trauma insurance, when does it pay out and how is it different to private health insurance? Continued here

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Australia's red goshawk is disappearing. How can we save our rarest bird of prey from extinction? Australia’s red goshawk once ruled the skies. But now this almighty raptor, affectionately known as The Red, has become our nation’s rarest bird of prey. We were shocked to discover The Red had completely disappeared from more than a third (34%) of its range. The species is almost certainly extinct in New South Wales and the southern half of Queensland. Continued here

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It's been 3 years since COVID entered New Zealand -- here are 3 ways to improve our response February 28 marks three years since COVID was first reported in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since then there have been major advances in our understanding of this infection and the tools and strategies to combat it. Here we describe three big opportunities to improve our response as we enter the fourth year of the pandemic. Continued here

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Is there a vaccine for RSV or respiratory syncytial virus? After almost 60 years, several come at once You might not have heard of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. But it caused more than 100,000 global deaths in 2019, making it a leading cause of death in children under one year old. In Australia, child deaths are thankfully rare. But infection sends thousands to hospital each year, particularly babies and young children. Continued here

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We're told Pentecostal churches like Hillsong are growing in Australia, but they're not anymore - is there a gender problem? Rosie Clare Shorter has attended evangelical Anglican churches for most of her life. She currently attends a Uniting church. The conventional narrative about Australian Christianity is that Pentecostal churches – most famously, Hillsong – are bucking the trend of declining attendance at the big denominations (such as Catholic and Anglican churches). That in fact, Pentecostal churches continue to grow. Continued here

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Can ideology-detecting algorithms catch online extremism before it takes hold? Ideology has always been a critical element in understanding how we view the world, form opinions and make political decisions. However, the internet has revolutionised the way opinions and ideologies spread, leading to new forms of online radicalisation. Far-right ideologies, which advocate for ultra-nationalism, racism and opposition to immigration and multiculturalism, have proliferated on social platforms. Continued here

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School attendance rates are dropping. We need to ask students why Today federal and state education ministers are meeting to talk about school attendance. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has repeatedly flagged this as a key concern. As he told Channel 7’s Sunrise last week: We’ve seen attendance at schools drop over the last ten years amongst boys and girls from five-year-olds to 15-year-olds. Whenever I ask the question to the experts, why are we seeing attendance rates drop, I get crickets. That’s not good enough. Continued here

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'Build back better' sounds great in theory, but does the government really know what it means in practice? In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins promised to invest billions in disaster-hit communities to “build back better”. But building community and infrastructure resilience will take more than just cash. In our 2018 book, Resilient Post Disaster Recovery through Building Back Better, my co-authors and I argue for a systematic approach to disaster recovery that focuses on building resilience. This can be achieved by using the principles of building back better and embedding these in all disaster recovery practices. Continued here

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Labor's lead reduced in a NSW Newspoll four weeks before election; Voice support steady Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The New South Wales state election will be held in nearly four weeks, on March 25. A Newspoll, conducted February 20-23 from a sample of 1,014, gave Labor a 52-48 lead, a two-point gain for the Coalition since a September NSW Newspoll. Primary votes were 37% Coalition (up two), 36% Labor (down four), 12% Greens (steady) and 15% for all Others (up two). Continued here

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This freaky slime mould from HBO's The Last of Us isn't a fungus at all - but it is a brainless predator In HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us, human civilisation has fallen in the face of a fungal takeover triggered by climate change. The show’s opening credits and creature designs are inspired by the slime mould Physarum polycephalum. But while the show’s “infected” (i.e. zombies) are meant to be victims of a fungal pandemic, slime moulds are not actually fungi at all. Continued here

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What is delirium? Delirium is a sudden decline in a person’s usual mental function. It occurs when signals in the brain aren’t sending and receiving properly, causing confusion in thinking and altered behaviour or levels of consciousness. Delirium isn’t a disease – it’s a clinical syndrome or condition that is usually temporary and treatable. It’s often mistaken for dementia because both conditions have similar symptoms, such as confusion, agitation and delusions. If a health-care professional doesn’t know the patient, it can be difficult to tell the difference. Continued here

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Religious schools can build a community of faith without discriminating. The law should reflect that Liam Elphick is affiliated with the Victorian Pride Lobby, an organisation that works toward equality and social justice for the Victorian LGBTIQA+ community. Robin Banks is affiliated with Outside the Box / Earth Arts Rights, and A Fairer World, both not-for-profit groups that work to promote human rights and social justice, and the inclusion of all people in the full range of societal opportunities. Continued here

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Older women are doing remarkable things - it's time for the putdowns to end It’s not easy to claim being an old woman. To start with, how can I be 75 when I feel about 40? And isn’t it shameful to be old when youth is valued? People proudly parrot statements such as, “I’m growing older but not getting old” (meaning, “How terrible to be old!”). I even heard that line quoted approvingly by one of the middle-aged hosts of the recent Australia Day Award ceremony. Then there are shop assistants who serve an old person by asking, “What can I do for you, young lady/man?” (i.e. “I see that you’re old and will mock it by calling you young”). When author Jane Caro wrote about her husband’s angry response to this example of ageism it created quite a Twitter storm. Can’t you take a joke? But, as Caro replied, “Benign ageism, hostile ageism. One often turns into the other and both make the recipients feel diminished”. Continued here

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The cockney dialect is not dead - it's just called 'Essex' now As English dialects go, cockney is one of the most influential. Long considered the preserve of working-class communities in east London, it has shaped the way people speak across the country, from Reading, Milton Keynes and even Hull all the way to Glasgow. Even Queen Elizabeth II, throughout her lifetime, began to speak in a way that was, well, a little bit less Queen’s English and a little bit more cockney. Compared to the 1950s, by the 1980s the way she said “goose”, “food” or “moon”, for instance, had changed subtly. Her later pronunciation, with the tongue a little bit further forward in the mouth, was in line with the general patterns of change in southern England. Continued here

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Wulf and Eadwacer: why I think I've solved the mystery of this Old English poem Wulf and Eadwacer occupies just a few lines in the Exeter Book, an anthology of mostly anonymous Old English poems made in the second half of the 10th century. As a relic of a literary culture largely lost, the Exeter Book is priceless. But some of its contents are very hard to understand. This includes Wulf and Eadwacer. The poem’s first editor said in 1842: “Of this I can make no sense.” Over 100 studies later, not much has changed. Continued here

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Barry Blitt’s “The Florida Book-of-the-Month Club” For the cover of the March 6, 2023, issue, the cartoonist Barry Blitt takes aim at the latest battlefield of the culture wars: education legislation. Conservatives—most notably, Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis—have embarked on a campaign to denounce the influence of schools and libraries. DeSantis's crusade has included passing Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which banned the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity before fourth grade, in March of 2022; spearheading the state's Stop WOKE Act, which prohibits any education that has the potential to cause a student to feel guilty about their race or sex; and commandeering the board of trustees, and the curriculum, of Florida's public liberal-arts college. "DeSantis's culture-war campaigns," as Benjamin Wallace-Wells wrote for this magazine recently, "have operated in American politics like a spooling synth loop: it keeps coming around." Last July, Florida passed a bill that allows for school media specialists to determine what books are included in the state's public schools; early this year, schools in the state reported library shelves that have been emptied and papered over. Continued here

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'Quantumania's Director Just Solved a Major 'Avengers: Kang Dynasty' Mystery We haven’t seen the last of Kang the Conqueror — or at least of his variants. Quantumania ends with Kang either dead or trapped in some realm even smaller than the Quantum Realm, but as the movie’s first post-credits scene revealed, there’s an army of Kangs waiting in the wings to attack. Quantumania’s post-credits scene introduced three pivotal Kang variants (all played by Jonathan Majors, of course), and while there’s been plenty of speculation over their identities, we haven’t known for sure exactly which versions of the Marvel villain were just introduced. Thankfully, in a new interview with ComicBook.com, director Peyton Reed was finally able to solve that mystery. Continued here

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Jupiter's Radiation Creates a Spectacle 15 Times Brighter Than the Northern Lights Jupiter is well known for its spectacular aurorae, thanks in no small part to the Juno orbiter and recent images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Like Earth, these dazzling displays result from charged solar particles interacting with Jupiter’s magnetic field and atmosphere. Over the years, astronomers have also detected faint aurorae in the atmospheres of Jupiter’s largest moons (the “Galilean Moons”). These are also the result of interaction, in this case, between Jupiter’s magnetic field and particles emanating from the moons’ atmospheres. Detecting these faint aurorae has always been a challenge because sunlight reflected from the moons’ surfaces completely washes out their light signatures. In a series of recent papers, a team led by the University of Boston and Caltech (with support from NASA) observed the Galilean Moons as they passed into Jupiter’s shadow. These observations revealed that Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto all experience oxygen-aurorae in their atmospheres. Moreover, these aurorae are deep red and almost 15 times brighter than the familiar green patterns we see on Earth. Continued here

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You Need to Watch Steven Spielberg's Most Poorly Timed Sci-Fi Epic on HBO Max ASAP It sounds bonkers, but it’s true: once upon a time in Hollywood, Steven Spielberg came out with an alien movie that America was sort of meh about. No, not Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and certainly not E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, but War of the Worlds. An adaptation of H.G. Wells’ acclaimed novel and a remake of Byron Haskin’s 1953 film, War of the Worlds had all the ingredients to become one of Spielberg’s smash hits. Tom Cruise was headlining, Morgan Freeman was narrating, and Tim Robbins was starring... but something just felt off. Continued here

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What is Normal Blood Pressure? Less Than Half of Americans Know the Answer Stunning as it may sound, nearly half of Americans ages 20 years and up – or more than 122 million people – have high blood pressure, according to a 2023 report from the American Heart Association. And even if your numbers are normal right now, they are likely to increase as you age; more than three-quarters of Americans age 65 and older have high blood pressure. Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Continued here

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Humans Produce THC-like Chemicals Naturally -- Here's How They Work The euphoric “high” feeling that people experience when using marijuana comes from THC activating the CB1 receptors in the brain. Over the past two decades, a great deal of attention has been given to marijuana – also known as pot or weed. As of early 2023, marijuana has been legalized for recreational use in 21 states and Washington, D.C., and the use of marijuana for medical purposes has grown significantly during the last 20 or so years. Continued here

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Some Heavy Elements May Have "Surfed" to Earth on Supernova Shock Waves When stars die, they spread the elements they’ve created in their cores out to space. But other objects and processes in space also create elements. Eventually, that “star stuff” scatters across the galaxy in giant debris clouds. Later on — sometimes millions of years later — it settles onto planets. What’s the missing link between element creation and deposition in some distant world? That’s the question researchers asked themselves for years as they tried to figure out how heavy elements like manganese, iron, and plutonium showed up on Earth. It turns out they’re made in different processes, often in different parts of the Milky Way. Yet, they’ve been found layered together on Earth’s seabed. That implies they arrived about the same time, despite their different origins. Continued here

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Can Cats Tell Time? Yes, But It's Complicated If you’re a cat owner, you probably don’t need an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning, because your feline will promptly rouse you from your slumber right before your alarm is supposed to go off, begging for its expectant meal. Or maybe you’ve experienced your pet sitting by the window waiting for your return at 5 p.m. sharp, or tugging at your jeans right when you’re supposed to serve her dinner. All of these instances have one theme in common: time. Continued here

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You Need to Play the Most Iconic Puzzle Game Ever on Nintendo Switch ASAP At its best, gaming can provide a universal language. Just like music or movies, the right game can cross cultural divides like a river crossing state lines. Even if every game comes from somewhere, a few games can move from one place to another as if it was nothing. Card games like solitaire and board games like chess are good examples. Video games have done this many, many times. Perhaps none have done it so thoroughly as Tetris. The game’s first American explosion came in 1989 when it was bundled with the then-new Game Boy, and you can get that original experience right now, as it's available to play if you’ve subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. Continued here

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Ohio Train Derailment: Vinyl Chloride Exposure May Have Similar Liver Effects to Heavy Drinking Vinyl chloride — the chemical in several of the train cars that derailed and burned in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023 — can wreak havoc on the human liver. It has been shown to cause liver cancer, as well as a nonmalignant liver disease known as TASH, or toxicant-associated steatohepatitis. With TASH, the livers of otherwise healthy people can develop the same fat accumulation, inflammation, and scarring (fibrosis and cirrhosis) as people who have cirrhosis from alcohol or obesity. Continued here

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Can We Change How Fast Humans Age? A New Study Is Getting Closer to the Answer Epigenetic and social factors both predict aging and health, but new research suggests one might be stronger. Can we objectively tell how fast we are aging? With a good measure, scientists might be able to change our rate of aging to live longer and healthier lives. Researchers know that some people age faster than others and have been trying to concisely measure the internal physiological changes that lead to deteriorating health with age. Continued here

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Designers Say These Are Their Favorite Cheap Products On Amazon That They Can't Live Without Decorating your home can be expensive — but it doesn’t have to be. With a little patience and a lot of creativity, you can easily refresh your entire home without blowing your monthly budget. But if you aren’t sure what’ll look good, don’t worry. I’ve reached out to a handful of designers who were more than happy to share their favorite cheap products that they use when decorating homes. From sleek flower vases to chic coffee table books, you’re sure to find more than a few items here that’ll take your home from drab to fab. Keep scrolling for more. Continued here

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Lenovo's ThinkPad Z13 Makes Eco-Conscious Tech Look Good Lenovo is making waves with the eco-friendly design of its second-gen ThinkPad Z13 laptop. The 13-inch laptop is actually brown in color with its “Flax Fiber Bronze” colorway since it incorporates natural flax fibers for its top cover. To achieve this look, Lenovo used a reinforced material made of natural fibers and bonded it to the top cover that’s made with 75 percent recycled aluminum. The natural fibers come from an agricultural byproduct from harvesting flax plant fibers. Continued here

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'Last of Us' Episode 7 Ending Explained: What Happens to Riley? The Last of Us Episode 7 forced Ellie front and center — whether she wanted to be or not. After the end of Episode 6 saw Joel and Ellie disappointed by the lack of Fireflies in the university in Colorado, the loss was only compounded when Joel found himself stabbed by a raider. Now, in Episode 7, it’s up to Ellie to take care of Joel, and it’s forcing her to remember the last time she wanted to save someone. Here’s everything you need to know about that tragic ending. Ellie manages to drag Joel into an abandoned house, but she doesn’t know what to do. This entire time, Joel’s been the teacher, the protector, and the one Ellie could rely on. Now, it’s up to Ellie to do whatever she can in return, but unfortunately, there’s not much she can do but watch Joel get worse and worse. Continued here

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50 Brilliant, Cheap Things On Amazon You'll Get A Sh*t Ton Of Use Out Of Every Day I once purchased a cheap kitchen tool out of mild curiosity, thinking it — like so many other clever ideas — would land in a drawer where I would promptly forget it. I used that tool yesterday, as I do every day, and realized that it is so necessary that I would have paid much more for it, though I’m glad I didn’t. So I started looking around my house and realized that it’s full of inexpensive and super useful items that I spent, in aggregate, less than I did on that leather armchair I never sit on. So, in honor of the hardworking tools that power our homes, here are 50 cheap things on Amazon you'll get a sh*t ton of use out of every day. Take this wireless charging pad that will power up to three phones at once while looking like a stylish desk accessory. That will likely get daily use from several people in most homes and look good at the same time. Or consider this powerful handheld vacuum that will clean everything from the couch to the car to the stairs with no wires or expensive replacement bags. And last of all is this bidet attachment that’s probably the best life upgrade you will find for less than $30. You will use it often, sing its praises, and wonder how you ever lived without it. Continued here

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How BMW is Using Hydrogen Cars to Hedge its EV Bets Fuel cells seem to be the solution to every problem that everyone has ever had with an EV. They'll do upwards of 400 miles on a tank, refuel in only a few minutes, and use about 90 percent less heavy metals than an EV. So what's the problem? The problem is the fuel. There are literally more Tesla Superchargers in San Francisco alone than there are hydrogen stations in the entirety of the U.S. Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, and plenty of others have been showing off fuel cell cars for decades, none of which have gone into mass production. But BMW still has faith, and after driving the company's new hydrogen-powered iX5, it seems like H2's time might finally be here. Continued here

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The Milky Way's Black Hole is Devouring a 278 Trillion Mile Gas Cloud Approximately 26,000 light years away, a strange and enormous cloud is being stretched and strained under the tremendous tidal forces of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. In just 13 years, astronomers expect this cloud, known as X7, to be torn to shreds by the extreme environment. But for now, according to a paper published this week in The Astrophysical Journal, the doomed cloud, 3,000 times longer than the distance from the Earth to the Sun, provides clues to the strange and extreme environment around a black hole 4 million times more massive than the Sun. Continued here

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25 Years Ago, a Criminally Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Beat 'The Matrix' to the Punch Much of the praise showered on The Matrix in 1999 was directed at Hugo Weaving. His memorably villainous Agent Smith could be anywhere at any time, and fittingly, few could escape the stranglehold The Matrix took on pop culture. The references, rip-offs, outfits, and moral scares were everywhere, although by the time Shrek and Scary Movie parodied it, we were all wishing they weren’t. Dark City, despite being declared Roger Ebert’s best film of 1998, didn’t enjoy relentless meme-ification. It didn’t enjoy much of anything, really, beyond a smattering of second-tier awards and a poor box office return. Most reviewers weren’t as enthusiastic as Ebert, who said the film excited him in the way A Space Odyssey and Metropolis had, but no one was too harsh either. And everyone could agree that the production design was stunning. Continued here

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Medieval babycare: from breastfeeding to developmental toys | Aeon Essays Co-sleeping was frowned upon. From the illustrated Vie et miracles de saint Louis (c1340) by Guillaume de Saint-Pathus. Courtesy the BnF, Paris From mansplaining about breastfeeding to debates on developmental toys, medieval parenting was full of familiar dilemmas Continued here

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Laura fights to protect the magnificence of wild horses running free | Aeon Videos There are some 64,000 wild horses running free on public lands in the Western United States. However, these horses, and the 28 million protected acres on which they roam, are increasingly under threat from public and private interests seeking to reduce their numbers in favour of livestock. The Fate of the Wild tracks the life and activism of Laura Leigh, who has devoted herself to fighting to protect the country’s wild horse population. Through interviews with Leigh and aerial footage of the helicopter roundups that drive the horses off the land and into into lifelong confinement, the US filmmaker Andrew Michael Ellis draws parallels with Leigh’s own experience of domestic abuse and homelessness. The resulting film celebrates her resourcefulness and grit, as well as the magnificent sight she’s fought so hard to protect: of horse herds running through wide open lands. Continued here

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Neurotech at Work The era of brain surveillance has begun. Although neuroscientists wrote off earlier iterations of neurotech devices as little better than toys, both the hardware and the software have improved dramatically, and neurotechnology has become more accurate and harder to dismiss. Today, the global market for neurotech is growing at a compound annual rate of 12% and is expected to reach $21 billion by 2026. This is not a fad. It’s a new way of living and thinking about ourselves and our well-being—personally and professionally. Continued here

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How to Make Sure You're Not Accidentally Sharing Your Location Your devices and apps really, really want to know where you are—whether it's to tell you the weather, recommend some restaurants you might like, or better target advertising at you. Managing what you're sharing and what you're not sharing, and when, can quickly get confusing. It's also possible that you have inconsistencies in the various location histories logged by your devices: Times when you thought you'd switched off and blocked location sharing but you're still being tracked, or vice versa. Continued here

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Know What Your Customers Want Before They Do Shoppers once relied on familiar salespeople to help them find exactly what they wanted—and sometimes to suggest additional items they hadn’t even thought of. But today’s distracted consumers, bombarded with information and options, often struggle to find products or services that meet their needs. Continued here

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The Truth About Blockchain Blockchain promises to solve this problem. The technology behind bitcoin, blockchain is an open, distributed ledger that records transactions safely, permanently, and very efficiently. For instance, while the transfer of a share of stock can now take up to a week, with blockchain it could happen in seconds. Blockchain could slash the cost of transactions and eliminate intermediaries like lawyers and bankers, and that could transform the economy. But, like the adoption of more internet technologies, blockchain’s adoption will require broad coordination and will take years. In this article the authors describe the path that blockchain is likely to follow and explain how firms should think about investments in it. Continued here

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ChatGPT and How AI Disrupts Industries ChatGPT, from OpenAI, shows the power of AI to take on tasks traditionally associated with “knowledge work.” But the future won’t just involve tasks shifting from humans to machines. When technology enables more people to complete a task, with help from a machine, the result is typically entirely new systems with new business models and jobs and workflows. AI will be no different: To truly unlock the potential of ChatGPT, the world will need new and different kinds of organizations. Continued here

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ChatGPT and How AI Disrupts Industries ChatGPT, from OpenAI, shows the power of AI to take on tasks traditionally associated with “knowledge work.” But the future won’t just involve tasks shifting from humans to machines. When technology enables more people to complete a task, with help from a machine, the result is typically entirely new systems with new business models and jobs and workflows. AI will be no different: To truly unlock the potential of ChatGPT, the world will need new and different kinds of organizations. Continued here

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Should I Learn Coding as a Second Language? “I can't code, and this bums me out because—with so many books and courses and camps—there are so many opportunities to learn these days. I suspect I'll understand the machine revolution a lot better if I speak their language. Should I at least try?”  Dear Decoder,Your desire to speak the “language” of machines reminds me of Ted Chiang's short story “The Evolution of Human Science.” The story imagines a future in which nearly all academic disciplines have become dominated by superintelligent “metahumans” whose understanding of the world vastly surpasses that of human experts. Reports of new metahuman discoveries—although ostensibly written in English and published in scientific journals that anyone is welcome to read—are so complex and technically abstruse that human scientists have been relegated to a role akin to theologians, trying to interpret texts that are as obscure to them as the will of God was to medieval Scholastics. Instead of performing original research, these would-be scientists now practice the art of hermeneutics. Continued here

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Ride1Up's Cafe Cruiser Ebike Has Too Much Junk in the Trunk If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED If someone tells me that they’re scared of electric bikes, but have ridden bikes before, I assume that the type of bike they’ve tried looks something like Ride1Up’s Cafe Cruiser. Every direct-to-consumer electric bike company has a model with similar components, frame style, and price point that is positioned as an affordable, entry-level bike. Continued here

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I Got a Destiny 2 Rocket Launcher and It's My Whole Life Now When Bungie, makers of Destiny 2—among other great games—and Nerf, makers of … well, soft projectiles we all know and love, got together to announce they were bringing the Gjallarhorn, one of Destiny's most iconic weapons, out of the game and into your hands, I was thrilled. What I didn't expect was for them to send me one, and for me to fall in love with the thing. First, let's back up. I play a lot of Destiny 2. I have something north of 3,200 hours in the game, and strong opinions about the story, the gameplay, and the characters I love. And while I'm by no means at the tier of the Destiny YouTubers I admire, I like to think I can hold my own and take advice from the folks who have experienced the raids and dungeons before I have. But one thing about the game I've always loved is the Gjallarhorn.  Continued here

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The Best Organic Mattresses (and Toppers) You're going to sleep on mattresses for roughly 23 solid years of your life (on average), so it makes sense to give some careful thought to what you're lying on. Unfortunately, mattresses often have questionable materials in them. Everything from formaldehyde to TCEP (a flame retardant) to phthalates can end up in nonorganic mattresses. How much these substances impact you isn't scientifically settled, but one way to avoid harm is to get a mattress made from natural, organic materials. As a bonus, these mattresses are usually less ecologically harmful. Most eco-friendly mattresses are made of a combination of wool, natural latex, and cotton. The construction is similar to conventional mattresses, but without the chemicals. Members of the WIRED Gear team have been testing mattresses for the past few years, and we have slept on every single mattress on this list. We are always testing more, but these are our favorites right now. As a note, we generally recommend hybrid mattresses with a core of individually wrapped springs because they feel more supportive and have better airflow so they don't sleep as hot. All of the prices shown are for queen-size models unless specified. Continued here

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Master divergent and convergent thinking Author Tiago Forte believes that in today’s digital age, people need a second brain to manage their knowledge. In other words, we need a personal system for collecting, organizing, and retrieving information from both physical and digital environments. Although many people spend hours of their day on digital knowledge work, most are not getting better at managing their information. Instead, they’re becoming increasingly overwhelmed. Forte suggests approaching knowledge work with a process that can be improved upon, through the concept of divergence and convergence. Continued here

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German scientists 3D print objects with "acoustic holograms" In research that sounds more X-Men than academic, teams based at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and Heidelberg University have developed a way to 3D print objects, in one shot, using sound waves. The concept, published in Science Advances, uses shaped ultrasound to create “acoustic holograms,” which put pressure on the printed medium and mold it into shape — sort of like an invisible mold. Continued here

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City planners are questioning the point of parking garages For the past century, the public and private sector appear to have agreed on one thing: the more parking, the better. As a result, cities were built up in ways that devoted valuable space to storing cars, did little to accommodate people who don’t own cars and forced developers to build expensive parking structures that increased the cost of living. Continued here

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Bilinguals are less sensitive to mood changes in their second language Does the language we speak shape how we see and experience the world? According to linguistic determinism, differences between languages influence how we think, and new research suggests that these differences also influence what we feel. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that emotional words evoke a smaller physiological response in bilinguals’ second language than those in their native tongue. Continued here

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How an early-warning radar could prevent future pandemics On December 18, 2019, Wuhan Central Hospital admitted a patient with symptoms common for the winter flu season: a 65-year-old man with fever and pneumonia. Ai Fen, director of the emergency department, oversaw a typical treatment plan, including antibiotics and anti-influenza drugs. Continued here

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Where a kid can be a kid: Recapping episode 7 of HBO's The Last of Us New episodes of The Last of Us are premiering on HBO every Sunday night, and Ars' Kyle Orland (who's played the games) and Andrew Cunningham (who hasn't) will be talking about them here every Monday morning. While these recaps don't delve into every single plot point of the episode, there are obviously heavy spoilers contained within, so go watch the episode first if you want to go in fresh. Continued here

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How My Wife and I Took Back Our Sundays We have an agreement: One day a week, we do absolutely nothing. In a society obsessed with productivity, this is harder than it should be—but it’s worth it. A few years ago, my wife, Angie, and I made a pact: Every Sunday, we swore to each other, we will abstain from work. And we kept our promise: On the second day of each weekend, we start our morning and end our night by bingeing TV in bed. In the middle of the day, we binge TV on the couch, taking breaks exclusively to nap or read. The door of our apartment is opened only for pizza to be slid inside. Chores go undone. Fitness is spurned. Job-related emails—or, God forbid, texts—are not read. When we feel the familiar anxiety creeping in and imagine our inboxes filling up or our muscles turning to jelly, we’re tempted to act—but we fight to stay still. Continued here

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Erdogan Is Getting Desperate ​​When I learned last month that Turkey had placed a $500,000 bounty on my head, part of me was flattered. Turkey has targeted me for years because I have used my platform as a professional basketball player to denounce its strongman, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. His regime has revoked my passport, filed 12 lawsuits against me, and put my name on Interpol’s “Red Notice” list. It has come after my family too. The government raided my home in Turkey and imprisoned my father. It also seems to have gotten my brother fired from his basketball team and prevented my sister from finding a job. I was pretty sure I had been a headache for Erdoğan—the $500,000 was proof. Continued here

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The Stand-Up Special That's Actually Funny Amanda Mull’s culture and entertainment picks include an addictive color-by-number game, a riveting comedy special, and The Boss himself. This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Continued here