- By Libby Sander
What if you never had to return to work? Never had to return to work at the office, that is.
- By Megan Carras
Tiny houses are everywhere. They’ve received heavy coverage in the media and there are millions of followers on dozens of pages on social media.
There’s been a lot of research about communication between people and domestic animals like dogs and cats. We don’t know what cats and dogs think or if they understand us when we use their noises.
Most dogs don’t like to travel, and those that do have usually had to learn to like it.
There is a growing global trend to consider pets as part of the family. In fact, millions of people around the world love their pets, enjoying their companionship, going for walks, playing and even talking to them
When a dog behaves unnaturally in response to any neurotic, chaotic, or disruptive energy taken on from humans, he tends to look confused because he has nowhere to put the energy that is reverberating within him. He doesn’t really know why he is acting out, nor does his behavior make the least bit of sense to him.
Researchers have genetically modified a common houseplant—pothos ivy—to remove chloroform and benzene from the air around it.
Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with 38% of Australian households owning dogs. Dogs improve the quality of our lives, and studies show that exposure to dogs can even improve our immune system.
As the Christmas season gets underway thoughts turn to buying gifts for the entire family. For some, companion animals are on the gift list, particularly cats and dogs who share our homes and hearts.
- By Elena Mannes
Many have experienced the depth of feeling that can develop between us and our four-legged best friends. What makes my story unique is that my search for a lasting and meaningful connection led me down a path that crossed over the boundaries of reason and concrete reality into the realm of the invisible. My dog Brio inspired me--a born skeptic--to investigate the paranormal.
- By Susan Hazel
Have you ever been licked by a cat? If so you’ll know the feline tongue feels more like sandpaper than satin.
The average American generates about 1,500 pounds of garbage annually, and then spends lots of tax dollars disposing of it. Even as recycling has taken off across the country in recent decades, the volume of all this trash has kept growing – albeit at a slower pace.
- By Anadi Martel
For eons, human beings have lived in harmony with the light of the sun. But only in the last hundred years or so, since its introduction, have we become rather well adapted to artificial lighting. The advent of artificial lighting liberated us from our dependence on daylight for the accomplishment of most activities, and in so doing it has fundamentally transformed human life.
A company in Scotland has unveiled what it claims is arguably the world’s most technically advanced indoor farm. Intelligent Growth Solutions’ vertical farm uses artificial intelligence and specially designed power and communication technologies. The firm says this reduces energy costs by 50% and labour costs by 80%...
- By Jan Hoole
Fireworks are a brilliant way to celebrate special occasions such as New Year’s Eve, as well as big sporting events and independence days – right? Not if you happen to be an animal.
- By Sian Thomas
With the prospect of home ownership a distant dream for the majority of millennials, many young people opt to rent a room in a shared flat or student accommodation. While tenancies can be short, research shows that a poor home environment can very quickly become a source of stress.
Urban green spaces – including parks, woodlands, riverbanks, and gardens – are an essential part of a web of physical and mental well-being. They provide spaces to socialise and opportunities to connect with the natural world. They are restorative enclaves in stressful cities.
- By Angi Ma Wong
Love is the stuff of dreams, drama, and dread, as well as agony and ecstasy. And yet who among us can live without it? Scientific research has shown that both plants and people perish without attention and care.
Eight schools in London have closed this month because of an infestation of spiders. The schools reported that they were concerned for the children’s well-being so they sent their pupils home – in one case for a whole month.
There are many rational reasons that motivate consumers to spend US$65 billion annually on household cleaning products. But non-rational mechanisms are nevertheless still at work in the cleaning products market, as in all others.
Green growing things heal us in surprising ways. Communities are trying to bring plant life to areas that lack it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, exposure to nature can significantly reduce stress. People’s mental health is markedly better in urban areas with more green space.
Over the last ten years, it’s estimated there has been a 360% rise in veganism in Britain – around 542,000 people have “gone vegan”. As a nation of animal lovers, with around 44% of homes owning a pet – and somewhere in the region of 8.5m dogs in the UK – it’s only natural this phenomenon should start to spill over into the pet food world.
Cooperation can be found across the animal kingdom, in behaviors such as group hunting, raising of young, and driving away predators. But are these cooperating animals actively coordinating their behaviur, or are they simply acting individually to accomplish the same task at the same time?