Miscellaneous
Mirrors would do well to reflect a little longer before sending back images.
James Geary | Sept/Oct 2009 issue Every polished surface conceals a mirror. Whatever shines—the blade of a knife, the curve of another person's eye—is intent on reflection. Desperate for attention, these things seem to think the best way to get it is to display us to ourselves. Why else would 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...
The business of making people laugh
Janet Paskin | August 2009 issue What’s a laugh worth? You can get your yuks in a comedy club for $20 or less; for a few hours of humor in a movie theater, you’ll pay about $10. A whoopee cushion or a joy buzzer is significantly cheaper; to indulge in more highbrow humor—say, a framed New Read More...
How laughter meditation can bring you peace and joy
Max Christern | August 2009 issue Laughing is a group activity. "It gives you a feeling of solidarity," Dhyan Sutorius had already explained to me on the phone. That’s why he asked if I was interested in doing a short laughing meditation with the staff during his upcoming visit to Ode’s Dutch Read More...
What makes the whoopee cushion so funny?
Marco Visscher | August 2009 issue After Trevor Cox, professor of acoustics at the University of Salford in central England, designed the world’s largest whoopee cushion (it’s six feet—two meters—in diameter), he was approached by the British charity Comic Relief to carry out a little, um, Read More...
Does God have a sense of humor?
| August 2009 issue After 10 years as a trial attorney in New York City, Susan Sparks was burned out. "I was so sapped of energy that I couldn’t do anything but quit my job and drop out of my life," recalls Sparks, 46. In 1997, she began on a two-year journey around the world to figure out her Read More...
The funny side of faith
Carmel Wrothl | August 2009 issue Mullah Nasrudin is a medieval folk hero claimed by many countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. He’s part court jester, part Socratic philosopher, and the many tales of his sayings and adventures are popular throughout the Middle East and parts of Read More...
How laughter can keep you on your spiritual path
Carmel Wroth | August 2009 issue Photograph: Money Sharma/EPA/Corbis A few years ago, I traveled throughout India looking for spiritual inspiration. Naturally, I wasn’t the first person to have done this. At all the temples, ashrams and holy mountains, I found crowds of Westerners looking for Read More...