Beans are optional
Chili and the art of unrefined dining.. Elbrich Fennema | November 2008 issue The fact that it’s possible to be obese and undernourished is solely due to the invention of refined, or processed, food. But in this case, “refined” is in no way related to refinement; it’s about impoverished Read More...
People can make their own glasses
Joshua Silver, a professor of physics at the University of Oxford, invented adaptive spectacles, or "adspecs," as a way to bring vision correction to the half of the world's population that currently needs glasses but does not have access to an optometrist. He wants to see a billion people having Read More...
Vitamin Angels combats malnutrition with nutritional supplements
How giving every child basic nutrition may provide a starting point for tackling Africa's other challenges.. Reuben Kyama | Sept/Oct 2009 issue Touching down in Eldoret, a rural town about 185 miles (300 kilometers) from Nairobi near the Ugandan border in western Kenya, everything seemed Read More...
Rats can save human lives
As a child, Bart Weetjens, from Belgium, bred rodents to sell to pet shops. Now he’s the founder and director of APOPO, an NGO operating from Tanzania that trains rats to detect landmines. APOPO’s team of mine-sleuthing rats is active in Mozambique, and will begin mine-detection operations in Read More...
Simplifying supplements
A user’s guide to vitamins and minerals, from calcium to omega-3s. Carmel Wroth | Sept/Oct 2009 issue Natto, a brown, gluey mass of fermented soybeans that emits an ammoniac stench, is served oozing over a bed of rice. In some regions of Japan, natto is a breakfast staple. To most non-Japanese, Read More...
Medicinal mirth: The health benefits of laughter
Mary Desmond Pinkowish | August 2009 issue The teacher gathers his laughter yoga students from the corners of this tiny studio on the second floor of a downtown Manhattan building. Most of us have never met and from the looks on some faces, aren’t quite sure what to expect. "Ha-ha-ha," our Read More...
A funny thing happened on the way to the office
Nancy Mann Jackson | August 2009 issue John Morreall, professor of religious studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, tells the story of a police officer who responded to a domestic violence call after having completed a course of humor training. As the officer Read More...
Miller's online humor survey study
Mary Desmond Pinkowish | August 2009 issue Does laughter prevent heart disease? Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, thinks so. Here’s why: Several years ago, he and his colleagues gave a humor test to people Read More...
Migrate toward the merriment
David Servan-Schreiber | August 2009 issue Jerry Seinfeld‘s father sold neon signs and often took his son from one local store to the next. His father loved funny stories, and he never failed to tell one to a potential client. Often as they got back into the truck, Seinfeld’s father Read More...
Fat is where it's at
Janet Paskin | June/July 2009 issue Jenny Matthau stands in front of hundreds of students at the Natural Gourmet School and speaks heresy. The New York City culinary program specializes in "health-supportive, whole-foods cuisine" with a "plant-based curriculum." Beef and pork aren’t on the Read More...