By Raven Fon

I’m sure you already know about artificial light and how it blocks our natural view of the stars at night. However, there is a time-lapse video from Sriram Murali, a photographer, which reveals the difference on our skies like you’ve never seen before.

Titled Lost in Light, the video shows us exactly what we are missing out on.  After watching the varying differences in light pollution levels, which starts counting down from level 8 in San Jose to level 1 in Eureka Dunes, you will want to run off to the nearest wilderness to do some serious stargazing.

What are light pollution levels? Well, they’re based on the  Bortle scale, which measures how bright the sky is at night, and also, how well you can see the stars. The scale runs from #1, which is clear dark sky, to #9, which is inner-city sky.

“Finding locations to shoot at every level of light pollution was a challenge and getting to the darkest skies with no light pollution was a journey in itself,”  says Murali. Continue reading →

When we see the word relationship, the first image that springs to mind is the romantic relationship between two people. However, there are many different types of relationships that shape the trajectory of our lives. Whether that it is the connection we have with our parents, friends, siblings, or colleagues.

When these relationships are healthy, we become happier and more fulfilled. The world opens up into a place of endless possibilities for joy and love. Unfortunately, almost all of us have experienced one of them becoming toxic at some point in our lives. Others amongst us have the awful trait of repeating toxic relationships over and over again, in an endless cycle of personal suffering. Escaping one or escaping the cycle is essential, but is undeniably difficult.

Identifying the toxic element

A toxic relationship manifests itself in your life in the same way as an addiction. You feel the side effects of the toxicity but struggle to identify the source. Beginning the process of moving on from any addiction begins with admitting there is a problem. Identifying the toxic element in a relationship is, therefore, crucial to accepting the issue.

Most psychologists consider power to be at the heart of most toxic relationships. The use of power by one person over another is usually seen when one person belittles the other and ignores that person’s achievements or emotions to focus solely on their own. Continue reading →

Imagine being thousands of miles away on a remote island while the sun beats down on your skin. Most of us imagine this every day, but what if there was a way to use your mind to travel to that exact spot? This is where remote viewing comes into play, and it’s something the CIA experimented on for decades.

What is Remote Viewing?

Remote Viewing is a type of Out-Of-Body-Experience where a person can give detailed descriptions and information about something hidden from physical view and separated by a great distance. It is typically used through Extrasensory Perception (ESP) by sensing with the mind to create an image or shape.

Beginning in the 1970s, The CIA along with Stanford University conducted experiments on the phenomena and found multiple individuals were able to describe objects in rooms where their physical bodies were not, often in remote locations thousands of miles away.

Their objective was to use remote viewing as an espionage tactic in gaining intelligence during The Cold War. Continue reading →

The 29-year-old Dutch artist Thijme Termaat took the internet by storm with a time-lapse of his masterpiece. It took him 2.5 years of hard work before he finished. He created a film that shows him painting this true work of art. These are in fact over a thousand complied photos.

He carefully positioned himself between the canvas and the camera which created an optical illusion in the film. If you look closely you do not actually see him paint. He only holds the brush in front of the painting. This creates the effect of him painting strokes.

Thijme calls his style of painting magical and realistic with a lot of transitions between day and night. This tends to suit him since he is a bit of a dreamer himself. This style is reflected beautifully in his artwork of which you will find a selection below. His work has been called ‘inspirational’ and ‘motivational’. Continue reading →

You use your imagination every day, and you don’t even realize it. Let’s say you lost your car keys. You open every drawer, check coat pockets, open up your tote bag, and you still can’t find them. Stress begins to creep up your spine as the clock ticks away precious minutes before an extremely precarious appointment.

Taking a deep breath, you try to remember where you’ve seen them last. You went to the gym this morning, and you came into the house holding them in your hand with your water bottle, with your duffel bag over your shoulder. You walked through the door, and then your phone rang. Expecting an important call, you dropped your water bottle, opened your duffel to grab your phone… So the keys must be… You run across the hall and rip open your gym bag. Yup, there are the keys.

This typical situation utilizes your imagination. Yet some are not able to relate to this experience at all.

He Never Knew

Philip is  years old, and he never had reason to believe that his brain worked any differently than others. He is a successful photographer, married with kids, and yet he can never picture the faces of his family in his mind. “

“When I close my eyes, I see my eyelids. It’s just blank,” Philip says.“I never realized that people could see images in their mind when they were awake. When they said ‘imagine this’ or ‘count sheep’ I thought they just meant figuratively.”

One day he hears a podcast presenter discussing a condition called aphantasia and the inability to conjure mental images. He was surprised. “I was like ‘what do you mean? People do that?’” Continue reading →

Harvard University has revealed a shocking study showing that over 6 million American people are in fact drinking tainted water filled with industrial chemicals in highly unsafe levels, these chemicals are also linked to Cancer and other serious health issues.

Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAFSs, found in the public drinking water were found to often exceed the governments recommended safety levels.

If you are wondering where else PFASs are found, look no further than your own home! You’ll find them in food wrappers, non-stick cookware and firefighting foam.

An increased risk of hormonal disruption, high cholesterol, obesity and cancer have all been linked to long term exposure to these chemicals.

People should avoid drinking unfiltered tap water completely, as water from all over the US is heavy metal and toxin contaminated.

36,000 samples of drinking water were collected from all parts of the country between 2013 and 2015, Xindi Hu and colleagues have examined and screened these samples to find any presence of the 6 types of PFASs. Continue reading →