People are swiping on dating apps in record numbers and roughly half of these individuals identify as women, which may be the reason why the dating app industry recently assigned the top leadership roles to women. Indeed, this past year, the most powerful dating apps in the world — Bumble and Tinder — were both...
In three decades of teaching medieval European history, I’ve noticed my students are especially curious about the intersection of the stories told in class and the depictions of the Middle Ages they see in movies and television. Judged by their historical accuracy, cinematic portrayals are a mixed bag. However, popular fantasy, unencumbered by the competing...
This year Diwali, a popular festival for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs, will be celebrated on Oct. 24, the Amavasya, or new moon day, of the month of Kartik in the traditional Indian lunar calendar. Devotees across around the world will bring festivities into their homes by lighting earthen lamps called diyas, setting off fireworks,...
Upping the amount of natural (green and blue) space and private gardens has the potential to narrow the lifespan gap between those living in the most and least deprived areas, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology of Community Health. Each 10% increase in natural space is linked to a 7% fall in the...
Girls are routinely being given more generous grades than boys with the same academic competences, a new study of tens of thousands of pupils and their teachers concludes. This bias against boys could mean the difference between a pass and a fail in subjects such as maths. It could also have wider consequences in areas such...
It isn’t even Halloween, and some retailers already are putting out Christmas merchandise and promoting gift buying. Manufacturers and retailers often put out cards for Valentine’s Day, chocolate eggs for Easter and a plethora of pumpkin-spiced treats ahead of Halloween and Thanksgiving many weeks ahead of the holidays. But it’s not just about getting a...
A movement known as “new animism,” which seeks to secure personhood rights for nonhuman beings through legal means, is gaining a following around the globe. New animist environmental activists are not the only ones using the term. Animism itself has become fashionable. Some spirituality bloggers talk about animism as a way to deepen one’s spiritual...
In response to massive battlefield setbacks, Russia has increased its attacks in Ukraine on everything from power plants and dams to railways, pipelines and ports. These attacks against civilian infrastructure are not random. Rather, they reflect an insidious calculus integral to modern Russian military theory. For more than 20 years, Russian military journals have emphasized...
A new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Colorado State University, and the National Park Service indicates previously unknown high altitude contests between two of America’s most sensational mammals – mountain goats and bighorn sheep – over access to minerals previously unavailable due to the past presence of glaciers which, now, are vanishing due...
Psychedelic compounds found in ‘magic mushrooms’ are increasingly being recognised for their potential to treat health conditions such as depression, anxiety, compulsive disorders and addiction. However, very little is known about how such compounds have evolved and what role they play in the natural world. To address that, scientists from the University of Plymouth...
