What causes riots? What makes people want to go out on the streets, inflict damage to property and other individuals, and cause havoc and mayhem through violence? Is it because rioters are continually marginalized in society and have no means of airing their grievances thus resorting to these types of violent public demonstrations? Or is it something simpler? Simon Kuper, on the Financial Times, dissects how riots begin, why they occur, and how we can respond to them.

As civilized societies, we have rules and boundaries in place to maintain peace and order among the constituents. Many democratic countries recognize what is called the right to peaceful assembly which allows citizens to gather, hold meetings, strikes, rallies, events, and even protests.

Usually, when public demonstrations happen, protesters are required to inform the local government, submit the necessary documents to apply for the particular location and time they went to section off for their public demonstration. Then, the local government will assign police units who will be on stand-by just in case things escalate and become unruly or chaotic. In such cases, the police have the right to intervene and use force if necessary.

Riots are different from these types of public demonstrations. If we look at how riots start, especially those from recent memory, they don't seem to have gone through the same channels that public demonstrations usually do. As depicted in media, they often appear as though dissidents banded together to cause mayhem and destruction, and then use political rhetoric as a ruse or a guise to justify their actions.

There are generally two rival theories when people try to put these riots into perspective and analyze how and why they began. The first one is called the "riffraff" theory which basically assumes that the perpetrators of the riots are a band of hooligans who have lost control of their behavior and want a moment of freedom, removing the "shackles" that society has placed on them.

The second theory is the "rational actor" theory, which assumes that rioters are individuals who share a common sentiment and feel as though they are the only ones who understand their plight. As such, they must take action in order to get those in authority to look their way and listen to their grievances. Over time, social scientists have shifted the rationale for riot behavior toward the second theory.

Still, which perspective one takes depends on whose side one is on. For example, the recent riots in Southport, England may be framed as people on the extreme end of the political spectrum retaliating for the crime that happened in their town. From the other's perspective, they will explain this by saying that these people are acting out of concern for the safety of citizens in the country.

From examples like this, we might be tempted to think that riots happen only because of political reasons. But that is not always the case for everyone who participates in riots.

Bill Buford, an American journalist who wrote the book Among the Thugs in 1990, wanted to know the source of football hooliganism in the UK, and why so often young British males were rioting every Saturday back in the 1980s.

What he found was that there was no reason why these young men went out and committed such violent acts. It was simply exhilarating. For anyone who feels disenfranchised or disempowered, nothing makes them feel more alive than the feeling of being in control and powerful. And the most basic show of power is through a show of force, through violence.

Not all riots are politically motivated, although it may start out with a few people airing out their grievances and finding community with those who share the same sentiments. Sprinkle in a little bit of misinformation here and there, and a few forceful words of motivation, then you have a charged band of rioters ready to take on the world.

A lot of rioters feel lonely and disregarded by society. They want that exhilaration and that sense of belonging. Social media highly influences these people with misinformation and on top of that, the isolation and loneliness will just push them to act on their impulses.

In the aftermath of the Southport riots, many of those who were arrested, after coming to their senses, admitted to their crimes. Some commenting that they had been a fool for participating in such violence and that their behavior was appalling. Others even wept after realizing what they had done.

How do we respond to these riots? How do we stop them? Some suggest to take down misinformation from social media before they even spread. Others try to launch counter-protests, protecting the groups which the rioters have targeted. But perhaps, another way, according to Kuper, is to build a sense of community that transcends ethnicity.

These riots happen because there are people who want to tear the social fabric which they feel ostracized by and have pushed them as outcasts. There may be people there who are mentally or emotionally vulnerable.

Proper communication and dialogue to build understanding between people who have differing views could be a way to deter such violent acts. Trying to engage with people on the other side of the aisle with civility and respect may be a good start. - via Marginal Revolution

(Image credit: Jonathan Harrison/Unsplash)

Snitches get stitches they say, however, that didn't stop this 30-year-old lady from telling on a young boy to his mom about the constant banging that he has been causing on their neighbor's house. User srslymeowing shared her story on Reddit and it's one that I think anybody will be able to relate with.

For two months, she had been hearing random loud banging noises outside of their house which would rile up their dogs or wake them up at night. It was so loud that she thought it was a plumbing issue or it was one of the trash cans falling on the side of the house.

Upon further investigation, she saw on their Ring camera that the banging noises were being caused by a young boy doing karate kicks on their house. Why this boy had decided to do that, they never found out exactly. 

Having had enough of the disturbance, she decided to install a motion light and write a note on the glass of her house addressing the kid to stop, otherwise, they would be calling the police. Although she had bluffed about the threat, the disturbance stopped for two weeks. Until she took down the note.

Apparently, the boy had returned to cause even more harm and even louder banging. To which our Reddit user responded by heading to the boy's house and talking to his mother. She explained the situation to the lady and a few moments after she had left, she heard a loud whining from the boy who got punished by his mom.

Several other Redditors chimed in on the conversation sharing their own stories similar to srslymeowing's. Others commented on the fact that the mother of the boy in the story was sensible enough to know to discipline her child and not to coddle them.

I think that the OP in the story did the most reasonable thing. Anybody might have responded in a more forceful or even devious manner, but simply "tattling" to the boy's mother was a good response. Initially, she tried to deal with the boy through the note. But when the situation escalated further, then the best course of action was to let the parents know what the child was doing so that they can mete out discipline themselves.

And I agree with one of the comments saying that what she did was the right thing and it wasn't actually "tattling" but trying to stop a kid from becoming an out-of-control adult. She didn't lay a hand on the kid neither did she do anything to physically harm the child. She didn't tolerate the behavior either and chose to let the parents know instead. Thankfully, the kid's parents were reasonable as well. - via Twister Sifter

(Image credit: Twister Sifter)

When I first got my Nintendo DS, I was incredibly thrilled to explore this new gaming device and what games I'll be able to play on it. Since we didn't really have a big budget to buy many titles, we opted to get the flashcart which the store sold. They offered to set it up as well and install the games onto the card.

Now, this was also the time when I had begun exploring the wonderful world of tech, tinkering, fiddling, and looking for solutions to life's most pressing concerns, from a kid's perspective. So, I searched online and found sources of information which helped me get what I needed.

Though I never became acquainted with RomHacking.net, I do have an idea of what they did. For those who want to repair their broken roms or experiment with them, this was like a depot for all of that. More than that, there was also a very active community who shared what they discovered or what they had been working on, so that others may enjoy it or even improve upon them.

It has been 20 years, and they have amassed a large collection of these games. However, it is time to say goodbye as the founder of the site decided to pull the plug on it. The reason wasn't immediately clear as to why Nightcrawler, the founder of RomHacking, turned the site over to the Internet Archive, but there have been hints of clashes between Nightcrawler and the community.

According to a member of RomHacking who had been there almost since the beginning, there had been issues with the way that Nightcrawler managed the site as well as his refusal to accept any help in administering. Apart from the financial burden from the maintenance and upkeep of the site, another member cited the contentious relationship between Nightcrawler and the site's administrators to be a source of difficulty in the site's operations.

Even though RomHacking will no longer be active, it will still be available as a read-only document or page on the Internet Archive. Moreover, other rom hacking sites have also emerged over the years and will most likely take the helm in RomHacking's stead.

(Image credit: Dennis Cortés/Unsplash)

For new couples who are planning to start their own family or are looking to expand, one of their main priorities would be to find a house, a permanent settlement where they can raise their children, situated in a nice neighborhood.

In recent times, however, people have found it difficult to look for affordable houses, even if they had the financial capacity to buy one. Especially in the years that followed the global recession of 2008, statistics have shown that many buyers had been shut out in the new home market, between 2009 and 2015.

During this time, despite the struggles in the economy, surveys have shown how there was a marked rise in the size and quality of houses being built. According to research done by the National Association of Home Builders, the median size of a single family home in the US peaked at 2,467 square feet, or just about 230 square meters, in 2015. After that, the size declined and settled at around 2,261 square feet, or about 210 square meters in 2020.

To put that into perspective, 210 square meters is about half the size of a FIBA basketball court, or a little bigger than a standard tennis court, or perhaps, in even more familiar terms, it's about half the size of the end zone in American football. That being said, the largest single family homes do not belong to the US, no. A couple other countries surpass the US when it comes to that distinction.

According to an analysis conducted by The Perfect Rug, the five nations with the biggest houses in the world, arranged in ascending order, are: Malta, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.

For a summary of the statistics, Malta's average home size is 1,722 square feet, about 160 square meters, with a household size of about 2.85 people. Canada averages at 1,948 square feet, about 180 square meters, and a household size of about 2.45 people. The US is at 2,164 square feet on average, with a household size of about 2.49 people.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is not that much larger than the US, averaging at 2,174 square feet with a household size of 2.67 people. While Australia takes first place with 2,303 square feet and has an average household size of 2.5 people.

(Image credit: todd kent/Unsplash)

We have already often heard that living sedentary lives have caused us so many health problems that if we continue to sit for extended periods of time every day, we might just find ourselves slowly killing ourselves.

Dr. James Levine, co-director of the Mayo Clinic and the Arizona State University Obesity Initiative, even stated how sitting has become more sinister than smoking, HIV, or even parachuting. He exaggerates but the point he was trying to make is that we need to spend more time expending energy on non-exercise activities, which are those light, physical activities that can help our bodies get moving while at work.

Standing up, walking around, and doing house chores are some of the activities in which we can engage so that we don't spend most of our days just sitting on a chair.

A few suggestions for workstations include the treadmill desk, allowing employees to exercise and work at the same time. Granted, it's an expensive investment at $4,000 for burning a few calories daily, so it may not be the most practical solution. A cheaper alternative would be the standing desks which is slightly better than sitting.

In a research conducted by researchers from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Texas A&M university, they looked at different workstations — height-adjustable workstations, sit-stand workstations, fixed stand-based workstations, and traditional desks — and how they affect work performance, physical activity, and discomfort.

From the study, they found no significant different in productivity, no differences in energy expenditure, step count, or step time per day, and 65% of all participants reporting neck discomfort with 80% of those using traditional desks reporting lower back pain.

Despite the results showing no significant differences, researchers continue to believe the further studies on standing desks can lead to potential benefits.

At the end of the day, one thing is certain. We need to keep our bodies physically active to stay healthy. It's more than just simply changing the type of furniture that we use at work. It's a lifestyle and a paradigm shift that we need to consciously put in effort to get benefits and see future results. - via Real Clear Science

(Image credit: Studio Republic/Unsplash)

We can only push the human body to a certain extent until it can no longer surpass the physical limits of what human bodies can do. Olympics athletes have trained all their lives to surpass those limits and that's why we see many records being broken by Olympics athletes. But there maybe certain fields which not even the most dedicated and hardest-training athletes can surpass.

For example, the record for the hammer throw has not been beaten since 1986. And the reason for this may lie in muscles and the limitations thereof. Just as it becomes more difficult to further reduce body fat once you have reached a certain percentage, unless you continue grinding and squeezing every last inch, there comes a point as well when muscles will hit a ceiling.

Although there is much benefit to growing one's muscles, especially when training for a sport, bigger muscles generally will provide extra force, that needed 'oomph', that would boost an individual's performance. However, if the muscles grow a bit too big, they can also become an anchor that hinders performance after reaching a certain point. It's the law of diminishing returns, and after the peak has been reached, one's performance will either plateau or start to regress.

Apart from muscle size, there's also the factor of muscle fiber. Two types of muscle fibers do two different things. The first is the fast-twitch muscle fiber which allows for explosive bursts of movement due to its ample stashes of energy, and the second is the slow-twitch muscle fiber which allows for high-endurance activities like marathons.

Training which muscle fiber depends on at which sport one wants to excel. The problem is we cannot have the best of both worlds, unless we bioengineer or genetically alter a person's physical or physiological composition. But it doesn't seem like anyone has developed the Captain America serum just yet. In any case, these are some of the physical limitations that impede athletes from breaking certain records.

That being said, experts say that there are other ways that athletes can continue breaking records. The first is through the advancement of equipment, gear, and attire. As materials science continues to progress, we are able to produce footwear, swimwear, and other attire and gear that augment a person's physical performance.

For example, the 2008 Olympics saw 25 world records broken with the help of polyurethane-coated swimsuits. Such groundbreaking feats pushed the committee to ban the use of those swimsuits. Later on, special shoes fitted with carbon-plated insoles were designed to help runners run faster. Although these shoes have not been banned by the track-and-field regulatory body, they require that the foam base not be higher than 1.6 inches.

Another means of further breaking records is through the development of new techniques. One such example is the Fosbury flop which helped Dwight Stones break the high-jump record at the time. So, we may continue to see further records be broken as, although humans have physical limitations, there are ways in which those can be circumvented. This can even be further improved with the help of science and data, so that athletes can tailor their training regimen, diet, and other habits to the achievement of those goals. - via Real Clear Science

(Image credit: Jacob Rice/Unsplash)

As a fresh college graduate, the main goal is to find a stable job to earn money so that you can move out of your parents' house and live independently. Although it would be nice to continue living under one's parents' roof, it comes with certain responsibilities which some people may prefer to live without.

For young adults, there is a tendency to want to forge their own path and detach themselves from their parents, which would allow them enough leeway to make their own decisions in life and pursue whichever career they want or whatever interests they may have. Such a thing is quite uncommon in Asian households.

Generally, Asian children tend to tread the path their parents have suggested, or sometimes, expected of them. However, times are changing. Children and teenagers are now seeing opportunities outside the conventional path that older generations see as the road to success in life.

Nowadays, we have young creators making their own content and monetizing it. We have artists who post their art online, build a community around it, and later, sell merchandise plastered with their art on them. There are now many avenues toward the kind of success for which those of the older generation strived.

However, the most difficult part in all of this is starting on that path. Since there are still many parents who would not approve of that kind of life and career trajectory, they might kick their children out of the house to teach them a lesson. That leaves the young people on their own to fend for themselves, and although that can provide invaluable life experience, it's quite a risky venture and subject to factors outside of one's control.

That's where places like content houses give burgeoning creators the space they need to grow and pursue their dreams. In Japan, something similar is giving new manga artists the chance to focus on their work without having to worry about paying rent and utilities.

Free-rent apartment models have existed in Japan for quite some time with the first ones being the Tokiwa-so Apartments, which were established in the 1950s and continued well into the 80s, and produced manga legends like Osamu Tezuka of Astro Boy fame and Doraemon creator Fujiko Fujio. These apartments were subsidized to support artists pursuing a career creating manga but have yet to establish themselves in the scene.

In that same vein, especially with increasing interest in Japanese culture, particularly anime and manga, not just within Japan but also throughout the world, companies are taking advantage of this surge to push for more content.

So, through the collaboration of Japanese tech firm Cyber Agent and publisher Shueisha, the Manga Apartment VUY was given birth. These apartments will be able to house 20 to 30 manga artists starting next year, providing free rent and utilities as well as amenities conducive to bringing out the ideas and talents of fledgling manga artists.

Those who will be accepted into the apartments will stay at least one year, depending on whether their works get serialized, in which case they may extend their stay at the apartment. Furthermore, the apartments include a community lounge and library, as well as access to Shihei Rin, editor of Chainsaw Man and Spy x Family, who instigated the initiative, and will provide crucial advice and mentorship to the new artists.

Other partners for this initiative include No.9 Inc., who will help with editing and art direction. VUY is not the only apartment launched for this purpose. Last year, Manga-so also built eight apartments for artists who will create webtoons, an online version of manga, in a long strip format, designed to be swiped vertically on one's phone.

Hopefully, with these initiatives, we can expect more amazing stories and artwork coming out from creators in Japan.

(Image credit: Manga Apartment VUY/X)

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces who have distinguished themselves through acts of valor at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in three different situations: (1) while fighting against an enemy of the United States, (2) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or (3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

Last year, retired Army Capt. Paris Davis received the Medal of Honor for his service during the Vietnam War. He was part of the special forces dispatched to Vietnam in 1965, and he led the 883rd Regional Force Company in a nighttime raid against a Viet Cong regional headquarters.

Initially successful in conducting the raid, a counterattack was launched against them leaving several of their company wounded, including Davis who was shot in the leg. Despite this handicap, he still led the artillery and small-arms fire, rallying his troops and providing a boost in morale as they continued to hold their position, awaiting reinforcements.

Being a commander of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Davis forged on and provided support in rescuing several of the wounded members of their unit, but refused to be medically evacuated himself, opting to stay behind and rescue his gravely injured team sergeant.

With incredible disregard for his own life, he crossed the open field with bullets raining over them, and rescued his team sergeant. In the process, Davis got wounded again from enemy fire but still refused to be evacuated, and continued leading their regional force company to fight off the Viet Cong forces until help arrived.

For a third time, Davis refused medical evacuation in order to rescue an advisor who was presumed to be dead after the initial ambush against their company. Not only that, Davis continued to be obstinate and refusing to leave the battlefield until everyone was securely recovered and evacuated. 

Similar to the maritime tradition of "the captain goes down with the ship", Davis exemplified what it means to lead a company with bravery, determination, and a deep sense of responsibility and care for those under your command. Despite being wounded three times, he had the courage to press on and risk his life for his comrades-in-arms.

That alone would have been enough reason for him to be deserving of the award. However, he also led with great competence, proficiency, and skill, being able to repel the assaults from the opposing forces and buying enough time for reinforcements to arrive. Anyone in that situation may have been satisfied with simply rescuing whomever they can salvage from the fray. But Davis stayed until the very last second to ensure that he could save as many as possible.

If Davis had returned home and lived a normal life after that, then we can say he had already served his country well. But after 25 years of service in the Army, he pursued further education receiving a PhD, and then founded the Metro Herald newspaper, a means of supporting civil rights causes and the community in Alexandria, Virginia.

And all of this he did despite living in a time when discrimination against African-Americans was quite intense. He dutifully served his country and his fellow men, and continued to fight against injustice. We can say, his is a life well-lived.

(Image credit: Department of Defense)

It has been almost 90 years since the first synthetic element was artificially created in a lab. That was technetium, discovered in 1937 by Carlo Perrier and Emilio Segrè. The next synthetic element was plutonium, created in 1940. Later on, plutonium would find its application in the creation of the atomic bomb and nuclear reactors.

Although synthetic elements are generally produced in a lab, some of them are naturally occurring but only in trace amounts, so it would be more practical to just synthesize them. The first entirely synthetic element was curium, discovered in 1944 by chemists Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso.

Since curium's synthesis, 23 other synthetic elements have been produced over the course of 60 years. The process by which these synthetic elements are created in the lab is nuclear fusion, whereby one forces two smaller elements' nuclei to collide with each other in order to add protons to the newly formed nucleus of a larger element.

In this process, researchers often employ calcium-48 in particle accelerators to synthesize new nuclei due to its stability and the unusual richness of neutrons in its nucleus, containing 20 protos and 28 neutrons. This is why it has been used to create the five heaviest elements in the periodic table so far, from flerovium to oganesson. However, it's quite tricky when it comes to producing element 120 because it simply does not have enough protons.

Creating heavier elements beyond element 118 would require a beam with more protons. And that's where scientists at Berkeley Lab may have found a small opening for a breakthrough in the quest to create element 120.

Element 120, formally called unbinilium or Ubn, is being considered as a theoretical "island of stability" since models suggest that with the nuclear composition of this element, it will be relatively long-lived, giving scientists an opportunity to study it and perhaps, other superheavy elements, in more detail. Once element 120 is successfully created in a lab, then, it will be the first element to occupy the eighth row of the periodic table, thus opening a new horizon for nuclear physics and materials science.

For now, scientists are still trying to find the best way to create it. And Berkeley Lab, which has already discovered 16 elements, may be on its way to unlocking element 120. So, instead of using calcium-48, they tried a titanium-50 beam to successfully produce element 116, livermorium. This breakthrough may be the avenue needed.

In theory, the proposed method of making element 120 is to collide titanium-50, which has 22 protons, with californium-249, which has 98 protons, thereby resulting in element 120. Although they were successful in this attempt, they say it may still take years before we can finally see element 120 brought to fruition.

There are still many uncertainties about titanium-50. One of the main concerns with titanium-50 is its instability, which lowers the chance of having successful nuclear fusions. Furthermore, the researchers found it difficult to work with titanium-50 because it has a higher melting point, double that of calcium-48. However, for now, it is the most viable option.

(Image credit: Szczureq/Wikimedia Commons; Jenny Nuss/Berkeley Lab)

When choosing a place to live, there are a few non-negotiable factors which I consider before making a final decision. One of those factors is a high-speed internet connection. It has only been 60 years since ARPANET, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, was established and we now have internet connections with speeds that go up to more than 1 Gbps.

Less than 30 years ago, I remember using dial-up modems, the highest transfer speed of which was 56 kbps. Nowadays, those speeds are paltry and will no longer hold to the current standards. Fiber-to-the-home technology has enabled households to have at least 50 Mbps speeds, which can be considered decent, although the minimum recommended internet speed is 100 Mbps. With this, one can enjoy everything that the internet has to offer without latency, which allows for efficiency and higher productivity, especially since work-from-home setups have risen since the pandemic.

Needless to say, a decent internet connection has become essential to 21st century humans. And it's easy to see why. The internet has enabled us to gain access to a vast library of information, to transcend geophysical barriers to communicate with others at the soonest possible time, to establish businesses without significant capital investments or cash outlays, to express one's creativity through shared platforms as well as monetize one's output, and connect with people who share the same interests in online communities.

The cyberspace is a frontier of endless possibilities, and that's why there are movements and organizations whose sole purpose it is to ensure 100% connectivity throughout the world. As it stands, only two-thirds of the world's population are online, despite only 5% of people living in places which practically cannot have an internet connection.

That means, in theory, 95% of the world's population should be able to connect to the internet, but that's not the case. Only 67% of those who theoretically should have access to the internet are actually connected.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency associated with the United Nations whose objective is to facilitate global connectivity in communication networks, has identified two main reasons why 2.6 billion people still don't use the internet. These two reasons are the coverage gap and the usage gap.

The coverage gap is the reason why 5% of people cannot connect to the internet. Due to lack of infrastructure development, especially people living in rural areas or low-income nations, this portion of the populace literally have no access to the internet. And it's understandable since it would be difficult for internet service providers to make investments in those areas where it won't be profitable for them to establish a service.

The usage gap is why only 67% of the 95% who, theoretically, should be connected to the internet are actually online. Several factors affect these people's access to the internet. One major factor is the cost of being connected to the internet. In places where investments in network infrastructure are low, the cost of an entry-level mobile broadband subscription is about 20 times higher than developed nations who have sufficient infrastructure.

Of course, we also consider the standard of living in those places. Another reason why people aren't able to connect to the internet even if, say, there is enough infrastructure, is that they cannot afford to buy the necessary hardware i.e. smartphones, computers, etc., to access the internet.

With regard to this, there are different groups, programs, and initiatives that are trying to close the digital divide. One of which is the alliance launched by the ITU, called the Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition. What they do is to get groups to pledge to invest resources that would help foster universal connectivity and digital transformation.

Other initiatives like UK charity unconnected.org aim to provide free internet for schools in rural and underserved areas, and other companies like telecom provider IndoSat have also given out free data packages as well as conducted digital training to 100,000 people in Indonesia.

So far, not even more developed regions have 100% connectivity to the internet. As the chart above shows, even Europe, the region with the highest percentage of individuals using the internet, is still just at 91%.

There's still a long road ahead before the whole world can be fully connected to the internet. And it would take more than just the efforts of a few organizations or agencies. If governments will prioritize initiatives that will not only ensure that internet access is available for everyone, but also that everyone will have the capacity for internet access, then I think the work will be much easier.

Just imagine what it would be like if the entirety of the world's population has access to the internet. Will the world become a slightly better place for everyone?

(Image credit: Discover Savsat/Unsplash; ITU, Facts and Figures 2023)

If you were to choose by which frame of mind you will look at reality and live according to that perspective, would you rather life be a fairy tale, a novel, or a poem?

Perhaps, many of us would prefer living in a fairy tale, in a world of fantasy and magic, where the impossible can become possible, only limited by what your imagination can conjure up. Living in a novel seems no different than how we are currently living our real lives. Day in and day out, it's just a reflection of our reality. Living life as a poem seems a bit tricky, since poems are more fluid, and they don't have a certain end in mind.

Now, instead of having an aspirational perspective about the topic, if we take a different approach and look at our lives and see how we actually live, the question takes on a different form. If we were to describe our lives right now, would we say that it is a fairy tale, a novel, or a poem?

I have learned that, no matter how much I hope or plan or expect things to happen in my life, things often don't go the way we want them to. And so, the question then is, how do we respond to the different circumstances, sometimes maddening and at other times, blissfully surprising, that we encounter in life? How do we look at reality and inwardly, where do we position ourselves in the grand scheme of things?

That was the question that G.K. Chesterton pondered on in a portion of his essay collection Tremendous Trifles, quoted by The Marginalian in this article. Essentially, we can either look at our lives as a fairy tale, in that, we see ourselves as sane and rational surrounded by a chaotic and wild world, or as a novel, in which the world around us is mundane and trifling, while we are the odd ones out.

As I thought about it, it felt that the duality between these two perspectives seems insufficient to capture the fullness of reality and our response to it, whether that makes us sane or not.

On the one hand, there are times when it feels as though the world or fate has conspired against us, foiling our attempts at living peacful lives in every juncture and crossroads. And at times, it does seem as though life just offers little to stimulate our imagination and our capacity for adventure, and it drives us mad how routine everything has become, and we want to escape it somehow.

But these two scenarios are merely two of many different circumstances that can happen in life. We may be making rational decisions and things will go our way. And we may be out seeking adventure of some sort and we are thrown into the unknown, left to fend for ourselves and quench our thirst for spice in life. If we put these different scenarios under one of the storytelling frameworks, then we would be hard-pressed to categorize it under one or the other because it appears to be a mixture of the two.

Then, there's the third perspective in approaching this problem of reality and sanity. And that's the way of the poem. Whitman suggests that by breaking free from the "rules of life" that do not fit or do not work for you, then you will be able to live like a great poem. And I take that to mean that Whitman urges people to express their individuality without fear or bias of what rules of structure, rhythm, or composition dictate. Let your mind run free and take everything in as they come.

Whether you see your life right now as a fairy tale, novel, or a poem, I think what it all boils down to is our search for meaning in life. At the end of the day, we all want to live for something, and we frame the external factors and aspects in our lives according to that thing for which we strive. And so, try to find what it is that gives your life meaning and devote your life to it. Hopefully, everything else will fall into place.

(Image credit: Denise Jans/Unsplash)

I find it equally fascinating and annoying how, sometimes, a random tune would start playing in my head, and it sounds so familiar yet I can't seem to put my finger on the song's title, the singer or band who sang it, or even the lyrics. However, that just goes to show how music can be so deeply embedded in our memory that, no matter how old we get or whether we have memory problems, we can still remember and recognize familiar tunes from different moments of our lives.

My grandmother who has had dementia for the past 13 years can still remember the songs she used to listen to back in her day, so we just put those songs on repeat and let her listen to them, and it soothes her. When she's quite lucid, she'll even remember the lyrics to the songs and sing along with the video.

Sarah Sauvé, a music scientist at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom, recently conducted a study which suggested that our musical memories may be immune to any age-related cognitive declines or degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. In order to test her hypothesis, she gather a group of 90 adults, ranging from age 18 to 86, and had them listen to a live concert by the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Meanwhile, another group of 31 people watched a recording of the concert in a laboratory.

In the test, the researchers had the participants listen to three pieces of music: Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, of which the team assumed all the participants were familiar, and two experimental pieces which were specifically played for the experiment.

The results of the experiment showed that all the participants equally recognized Eine kleine Nachtmusik. On the other hand, they were also all unfamiliar with the two experimental pieces. The same results were found to be true for those who watched the recording in a laboratory.

According to Steffen Herff, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Sydney, Australia, the reason why people can still remember and recognize these familiar tunes even as they age may be due to the emotions attached to those pieces of music, making it more deeply embedded into our minds.

Despite these findings, the study did not look into the participants' cognitive health and functioning so it is uncertain whether any of them have problems with memory or symptoms of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. This study may not have focused on that and so, we cannot make a definitive conclusion about musical memory recognition or recall of people with memory problems like Alzheimer's, but there is growing interest in the use of music to help people with dementia buttress their memory from the progression of the disease.

(Image credit: Nikoloz Gachechiladze/Unsplash)

The longest recorded time that a person held their breath underwater was 24 minutes and 37 seconds. That record is held by professional breath hold diver Budimir Šobat from Croatia, which was certified by the Guinness World Records on 27 March 2021. Šobat beat the previous record by 34 seconds.

In his attempt to beat the record, the 56-year-old freediver hyperventilated with pure oxygen beforehand, which the rules allowed for up to 30 minutes, and then he started the attempt. In order to achieve such a feat, Šobat said that during the whole time he submerged his face underwater, he only focused on trying to hear his heartbeat.

For mammals, having no gills to breathe freely underwater, there are several techniques to try and hold their breath for a long time. Training your body to be able to hold your breath longer would be the best way to increase the lung's capacity to hold more oxygen.

Freedivers use oxygen tables and carbon dioxide static apnea tables to develop the technique that allows them to hold their breath longer. They also do exercises like box breathing and diaphragmatic breathing to increase lung capacity. Finally, while training underwater, staying still helps in preserving the oxygen that they're holding.

Humans have to train hard if we want to develop the ability to hold our breath longer underwater. And it's an extremely useful skill to have, especially in cases of emergency, like when an accident occurs, and you find yourself trapped in a submerged vehicle or you get swept away by a rip current.

Pinnipeds, like seals and sea lions, have a much easier time holding their breath underwater, and that's because they're built differently from humans. Even though they're mammals, a new study found that the reason why these critters on flippers can last longer underwater lies in their hearts.

The longest time that any pinniped held their breath underwater was almost two hours, accomplished by a southern elephant seal. And the secret, according to the researchers was this structure in their hearts called an aortic bulb, which is essentially a very large artery that allows more oxygen to circulate throughout their body.

This aortic bulb, along with the animal's lower heart rate, allows it to conserve oxygen and stay submerged for longer periods of time. To verify this finding, scientists from the University of British Columbia compared data of heart size and dive durations from different seals — crabeater, leopard, harbor, and Weddell seals — then used ultrasound to measure the heart size of northern sea lions and northern fur seals.

The infographic above gives us a summary of their findings. As we can see in the lower left panel, the larger the aorta, the longer these seals were able to stay underwater which lends credence to the idea that their ability to hold their breath was thanks to this structure attached to their heart.

(Image credit: Mercedes Minck/Hakai Magazine)

Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease can be a bit tricky. Traditional tests to confirm a person has Alzheimer's include an invasive spinal tap, a special PET scan which is quite expensive, and looking into a person's symptoms, then using cognitive exams to diagnose whether Alzheimer's could be the cause for their memory problems.

Now, a new Swedish study suggests that a certain form of blood testing may be more accurate than current methods. It's based on the idea that there are certain "biomarkers" which lead to the slow degeneration of a person's cognitive functioning.

In traditional tests, beta-amyloid was the primary biomarker being measured to confirm Alzheimer's. When this sticky protein builds up and forms plaques in the brain, it may block cell-to-cell signaling at synapses and even activate immune system cells that trigger inflammation and devour disabled cells.

Generally, it takes a period of about 20 years before the first signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's appear, however, that means several plaques have already accumulated and may have done considerable damage to the nerve cells in the brain.

Current medication to mitigate the progression of the disease is usually most effective when taken in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's, but it requires an early diagnosis as well, which, due to the incredible difficulty in identifying whether a person has already developed Alzheimer's, would also take time before a person is verified or cleared for the drug.

Since the diagnosis of Alzheimer's in patients is in a murky state, researchers have been trying to find new methods to detect Alzheimer's at the earliest possible moment. That's how this new Swedish study using blood tests came about.

The researchers looked at 1,200 patients who consulted a primary care doctor or a specialist for their memory problems, received an initial diagnosis, had blood tests taken, and then proceeded to get a spinal tap or PET scan for confirmation. In comparing the accuracy between the primary care doctors' initial diagnosis, the specialists' assessment, and the blood tests' results, the researchers from Lund University found that primary care doctors had a 61% accuracy rate, specialists had 73%, and the blood tests were 91% accurate.

Digging deeper into the gaps in accuracy between the three, one of the reasons why blood tests had higher accuracy in diagnosing for Alzheimer's was the fact that they measured another biomarker which was correlated with the development of Alzheimer's, called tau protein.

The benchmark measure being used in those blood tests is p-tau217, which, according to Dr. John Hsiao of the National Institute on Aging, and Maria Carrillo, the chief science officer of the Alzheimer's Association, was correlated with the amount of plaque buildup in a person's brain. If the blood test shows a high level of p-tau217, then there is a high probability that a person's memory problem is being caused by Alzheimer's. Otherwise, there may be other reasons.

At the moment, the companies offering p-tau217 tests include ALZpath Inc., Roche, Eli Lilly, and C2N Diagnostics. However, these tests can only be availed by the order of a doctor from the labs, since there are still no guidelines from the Alzheimer's Association regarding its use, neither is there FDA approval for the procedure as of yet.

Despite stressing the importance of getting an early diagnosis for Alzheimer's, these blood tests cannot yet be used for people who may be susceptible to Alzheimer's, due to their family's medical history, but have not yet shown any signs or symptoms of it. However, studies are being conducted on possible therapies for these people who are at high risk of getting Alzheimer's in the future.

For now, the only way to lower the chance of getting Alzheimer's or perhaps, preventing it completely, is to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and get enough rest and sleep. I would like to add to those pieces of advice engaging in activities that exercise the mind so as to keep it sharp and active, and staying away from stressful environments or anything that may cause stress.

(Image credit: Dmitriy Gutarev/Pixabay)

Ingenious, mesmerizing, and absolutely revolutionary. Those are only some of the words that we can use to describe the three Dennison sisters and their contribution to England's penny arcades.

When I was a child and my parents would bring me to the mall, there was one place I would always beg them to allow me to go, and that was the arcade. Making my way to that corner of the mall, flashing with neon lights and 8-bit sounds and music, a rush of excitement would fill my heart. I'd go up to the counter and exchange a bill for several tokens, and then I would wile away the time while my parents did their shopping.

A hundred years ago, such establishments also existed, like the Blackpool Tower in England. There, vacationers, holiday-makers, families, and other tourists would visit to see the attractions and find some entertainment in them.

Back then, Blackpool had a thriving tourism industry, taking notes from other places and attractions like Chicago's Ferris Wheel, Coney Island's rides, Berlin's trams, and the Eiffel Tower, a 518-foot replica of which had been constructed as a symbol for the image they wanted to portray of the city.

With all this flurry of excitement, innovation, and spectacle, John Dennison finally gained an avenue and opportunity to showcase his own arcade machines. Using his experience working at an engineering firm as well as drawing inspiration from his hobby of building automatic models, he displayed several of his coin-operated clockwork models of ships and agricultural machinery at Dr. Cocker's Aquarium, Aviary, and Menagerie on Blackpool's seafront.

Later on, when Dr. Cocker's was replaced by the Blackpool Tower, Dennison continued the partnership with the new management, retaining his contract to provide coin-operated working models to the new tourist attraction. The machines turned a profit for Dennison, given the thousands of tourists who visit the Tower each day, who, for a few pennies, were able to find some amusement in Dennison's moving machines.

In 1924, John Dennison passed away at 77, and not wanting the business to fall by the wayside, the three Dennison sisters — Florence (36), Alice (34), and Eveline (28) — continued what their father had started. Florence became the business manager while her younger sisters fiddled and tinkered with the machines along with the scenery, props, characters and their costumes, as well as the plot and setting of the dioramas.

Building on from their father's designs, they added more movement to the characters in the scenario, and provided more exciting plot twists and reveals, which infused their working models with a life of their own and increasing the drama and entertainment experienced by the audience who pinched their pennies into the machines.

The machines grew in popularity, owing to the appeal of their more morbid sceneries like the one pictured above titled "Murder in the Museum", a reference to and inspired by the American film which was released that same year they built the machine.

When they first took over the business, the sisters' working models raked in annual earnings of £1,586 (around $83,500 today). A decade later, they were making £2,624 (about $170,500 today). And then, in the midst of WWII, with Blackpool's tourist base now including soldiers on leave, London civil servants, and evacuated women and children, their machines earned them £6,831 (approximately $311,500 today).

In 1944, right after the war, the sisters decided to sell off their entire collection and live the rest of their lives from the proceeds. The machines themselves continued in popularity for the next two decades, while the women behind them were mostly forgotten. It even came to a point when the Blackpool Tower Company posted a request on the Blackpool Gazette regarding the origins of the machines, to which the sisters themselves replied.

Many of the Dennison sisters' machines are quite rare collectibles, as many of them were handcrafted and uniquely designed, with a lot of them now considered as "lost". However, if any do resurface, they become embroiled in fierce bidding wars between collectors.

Some of the machines that survived now live in museums. Murder in the Museum, one of the sisters' most popular machines, is currently housed at the Abbey House Museum in Leeds, and still retains its charm for evoking wonder, amusement, and a childlike joy from anyone who gets to see it in action.

(Image credit: Jenny Elliot; Leeds Museums and Galleries)