Wellbeing

Years ago, when I was still a kid, I was sprawled on the sofa, watching TV, when I suddenly felt a tingling in my fingertips. My senses heightened as the electric sensation rippled up my arms and spread across the rest of my body. My insides twisted…

Within days of the news that a new strain of coronavirus, dubbed 2019-nCoV, was beginning to spread throughout China, researchers the world over began developing a coronavirus vaccine. There are currently about 6,065 confirmed infections, and 132…

Fear of missing out, or FoMO, is commonly described as that anxious feeling you get when you think other people might be having a good time without you. Excessive FoMO is closely related to symptoms of behavioural addiction. It often leads to…

With everyone from tech C-suiters to celebrities swearing by it, intermittent fasting reigns as one of the trendiest dietary practices. But unlike a lot of fad diets, it seems to be backed by real science. A new review of past studies on…

Throughout my 20s, I tried weed only a handful of times. I experimented with different strains, from indica to sativa and different forms, from joints to edibles. All of them would send me into a paranoid thought-loop. Then, at age 29, I tried a…

In a secretly recorded conversation leaked on January 25, President Trump said weed makes people “lose IQ points." But based on the research so far on the effects of cannabis on cognition, the comment appears to be yet another example of Trump…

Chipotle Mexican Grill was cited with 13,253 child labor law violations in Massachusetts on Monday, CNN reported. The state attorney general, Maura Healey, released a statement yesterday detailing the franchise’s offenses. Chipotle agreed to pay the…

Last week, the Environmental Working Group released a report showing that, in 43 out of 44 cities tested, the drinking water was contaminated. The problem is PFAS, a.k.a. “forever chemicals,” a.k.a. per and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These…

A new year brings both hopes and anxieties. We want things to be better for ourselves and the people we love, but worry that they won’t be, and imagine some of the things that might stand in the way. More broadly, we might worry about who’s going to…

Planning a vacation is equal parts exciting and overwhelming — or perhaps a bit more overwhelming than exciting when you have to stick to a budget. With so many moving parts — from lodging to food and flights — there are also many opportunities for…

I have a thriving sex life, but it hasn't always been happy BDSM and sexy selfies. I am still in recovery for childhood and other trauma. Sexual intimacy is something I have often avoided, either by having sex with strangers or by not having sex…

Two Disney theme parks closed in China this weekend, in efforts to protect people from the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan in 2018, but has been spreading at an alarming rate during the past few weeks.. The two parks, located in Hong Kong and…

The Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the United States, is headed toward a divorce. In early January, mediators from across the United Methodist Church proposed a separation plan to split the church into two separate…

Staying informed with current events is daunting. There seems to be an overabundance of bad and scary news lately. It’s easy to feel apocalyptic about the state of the world when your social media feed is screaming doom. It’s tempting to hide or,…

You’re at happy hour with your friends, and although you know you’ll regret it, you do it anyway: You overindulge. “Just one more round” turns into two, then three. The next morning, you wake up with a throbbing headache, a queasy stomach, and a…

Every 365.25 days, when the Earth completes a full orbit around the Sun, we humans have the opportunity to hit the reset button and become fitter, finer versions of ourselves. As usual for January, social media is humming with advice on how to eat…

There’s new, disappointing evidence that confirms racial discrimination in mortgage lending practices is alive and well. According to research released earlier this month, Black and Latinx voters are more likely to be refused a home loan. If they…

I was born a Capricorn (please don’t judge me), but the Sun was in the middle of Sagittarius when I was born. As a professor emeritus of astronomy, I am often asked about the difference between astrology and astronomy. The practice of astrology,…

For the sake of complete transparency, I'll start by saying that high sex definitely ranks among the best sex I’ve ever had. The first time I mixed weed and sex, not only my nether regions, but my entire body, was sensitive to the touch. My mind…