Humanity Has Wiped Out 60% of Animal Populations Since 1970, Report Finds– The Guardian, October 30, 2018 This is about a new, widely cited report. According to the World Wildlife Fund (involving 59 scientists from all over the world), humanity has wiped out 60 percent of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970. The vast and growing consumption of food and resources by the…
A book that just came out (Heart: A History, from Sandeep Jauhar, a cardiologist) sheds some fascinating light on the connection between wellbeing and cardiac issues. Put in the simplest possible terms: Stress can kill. As the author explains, the connection between our physical heart and our emotions is an intimate one. Sentiments, such as fear and grief, can cause cardiac injury by causing blood…
A large, new study (122,000 patients) led by the Cleveland Clinic had “extremely surprising” findings: A sedentary life is a massive risk factor for death and worse than being a smoker or having diabetes or heart disease. The researchers reported, “We’ve never seen something as pronounced and as objective as this,” and insisted that a sedentary lifestyle should be seen as a disease, with the…
Doctors in Scotland Can Now Prescribe Nature – World Economic Forum, October 15, 2018 Since early October, doctors in Shetland, Scotland, have been authorized to prescribe nature to their patients. It’s thought to be the first program of its kind in the UK and seeks to reduce blood pressure and anxiety and increase happiness for those with diabetes, mental illness, stress, heart disease and more.…
Fidget Spinners, Weighted Blankets, and the Rise of Anxiety Consumerism – Vox, September 10, 2018 This is an article about the growing “anxiety economy,” composed of products designed to calm us down. An entire flourishing industry now deals with the treatment of anxiety through items such as fidget cubes and gravity blankets. What does that tell us when we start dealing with mental health issues…
Why Prosperity Has Increased but Happiness Has Not – The New York Times, August 21, 2018 Observing that the impressive postwar rise in material wellbeing in the US has had zero effect on personal wellbeing, the author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50 elaborates on two key findings: (1) All happiness is local: people’s wellbeing depends mainly on their immediate…
