In 1981, Stephen King, famous American writer of horror stories often brought to the silver screen, published an article on the genre. Deep down, he said, we are still primitive bloodthirsty beasts that would cut each other’s head off, if only we could. The fact is that we like fighting games full of violence, but now we prefer to call … Read More
More human Disney
The only one I can forgive is Ariel, because a mermaid is not totally human. But frankly, even with a few more ribs, the red mermaid is undoubtedly beautiful. Comparing the before-after pictures shows us how ridiculous the proportions of the cartoons are: ok they are fantasy creatures, ok they are made of stylized lines, but here we have women ... Read More
Breakfast around the world
This morning I was having my semi-Italian breakfast, very different from when I was living with my Dutch friend Roel. I remember I thought, back then, that there is not much difference between a Dutch breakfast and a Dutch lunch... they both include slices of bread, butter and something to spread on them. Almost impossible to miss peanut butter or ... Read More
Meeting the perfect woman and man
Do you know summer is coming? Do you know the infamous "bathing suit test" is coming as well? As if we could forget it... Recently, the brand Bluebella, which markets sexy clothing and accessories, asked its customers to create the perfect man and woman assembling pieces of bodies of famous people. A sort of modern monsters of Frankenstein. It was ... Read More
A motionless green background?
Three years ago, when I opened this blog, I did it with a passage from Michael Crichton's book "Jurassic Park." For those who have not read the book (and perhaps has only seen the movie), we should remember that this work of Crichton speaks essentially of the emerging genetic engineering and the relationship between man (playing god) and nature, a ... Read More
Blood or chlorophyll?
When nature will take over again. This seems to be the subtitle of these stunning sculptures created by the 29 year-old Yui Ishibashi. Look at the faces of these (still) human beings: they express melancholy, sadness, resignation. Although perfectly in life, they seem simple livelihoods for plants, rich humus, compost. Branches, roots and leaves plunge in their bodies, they become ... Read More
Quali sono i colori che ci aiutano a dormire?
La settimana scorsa parlavamo dell’importanza del numero 24 per quanto riguarda il sonno, in quanto queste sono le ore che il nostro pianeta impiega per girare intorno a sé stesso e dunque alternare il giorno alla notte. Precisamente: 23 ore, 56 minuti, 4 secondi. Proprio questa cifra ci porta ad un altro interessantissimo (e in parte controverso) argomento: quello del ... Read More
Circadian rhythm, sleep and colors
Last week we talked about the importance of the number 24 in regard to sleep, because that (almost) is the amount of hours it takes to our planet Earth to rotate completely around itself, the rotation that alternates day to night. Precisely it is 23h56m4s. This image leads us to another interesting (and sometimes controversial) topic: the circadian rhythm. This ... Read More
Sleep as brainwash
We open the year with some interesting research concerning sleep, which topic we're going to address again during this month. The importance of quality and quantity of sleep is familiar to all of us, thanks to experience and common sense. Although each individual is different, the characteristics of a good night of sleep generally are: * a duration of about ... Read More
Why bring a child into this world?
Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational, so big that we all have at least one of their product at home. Lipton, Bertolli, Findus, Dove, Coccolino, Mentadent, Axe, Knorr, etc.. This huge brand wants to use their resources for a better world. I do not dwell on the responsability of possible waste of resources that multinational corporations inevitably share, but I will ... Read More
Cheap bioplastic by mistake!
Plastic has a heavy impact on our environment. According to the Agency for Environmental Protection of the United States, in 2011 plastic constituted over 12% of municipal solid waste. This quantity, which at first glance may seem minimal, turns frightening if compared with that of the '60s, when the plastic waste accounted for less than 1%! Suddenly the world discovered ... Read More
Quit smoking the mindfulness
Last week we talked about how mindfulness seems to increase body awareness. This increased awareness has effects on many aspects of our lives. A group of Chinese and American researchers have completed a pilot research on the influence that mindfulness can have on nicotine addiction. The focus of the research was not on the ability to quit smoking, but rather ... Read More
Meditation and body awareness
The accuracy of the subjective perception of our own body widely differs between people. According to a research conducted in Canada, people who meditate have a more accurate perception of the signals coming from their body. For this study they recruited two groups of people: with and without experience of Vipassana meditation, the same at the base of Mindfulness, where ... Read More
And winter came…
I borrow the title from Enya's winter album to synchronize my blog with the season that just took over. Today, December 22, begins the new part of the annual cycle when the daylight hours gradually gain ground after the longest night of the year, the one of the Winter Solstice. From today, everything is slowly awakening, even if the cold ... Read More
Eco-friendly gift wrap ideas
How much waste paper to wrap our Christmas gifts ?! A rhetorical question. The answer? Well, an ecological disaster. How much paper torn and amassed every year on December 25?! So why not sharpen our wits and do something that, besides ecological , is also very original and cool? Some examples: Internal recycling: that is, instead of tearing the paper, ... Read More
Re-Sack for smart grocery shopping
Today grocery shopping, a nice weekly shopping. Obviously, lots of fruits and vegetables. How many disposable thin plastic bags (and gloves) are used every day? I do not know the number, but I see people put just two tomatoes in, one bag for each product when one would suffice: just stick all your receipts on it. And let's skip the ... Read More
Fatty Acids
In this post we talk about fatty acids. The name does not make them very appealing but, in spite of their fame, these nutrients are very important. Actually, they are essential and necessary: our body can't produce them. Fatty acids are part of the broader group of lipids, that we commonly call fat. As everyone knows, fats are an important ... Read More
Dieta vegetariana e benessere psicologico
I benefici fisici di una dieta basata su cibi vegetali sono ben documentati. Poche ricerche, invece, hanno esplorato l’influenza della dieta vegetariana sulla nostra psiche. Tuttavia, recentemente sono stati effettuati tre studi al riguardo, segno che l’interesse verso il vegetarianismo è sempre crescente. Una ricerca del 2010 pubblicata sul Nutritional Journal ha investigato sull’effetto di un ridotto introito di acidi ... Read More
Il pianeta Terra NON è in pericolo
Spostarono Muldoon in un’altra stanza del Lodge per liberare un letto. Hammond parve tornare in sé e cominciò a darsi da fare. «Bene», disse, «almeno il disastro è stato evitato». «Che disastro sarebbe?», chiese Malcolm, sospirando. «Be’», disse Hammond. «Non sono riusciti a scappare e a invadere il mondo». Malcolm si appoggiò su un gomito. «Era preoccupato per questo?». «Sicuramente … Read More