Sentinel Lifestyle
Researchers stunned by a forgotten medieval book in Rome hiding the oldest English poem
ROME | The researchers in Ireland looked at their computer screen, marveling at a medieval book tracked down in a Roman library. They flipped through its digitized pages and found their sought-after treasure: the oldest surviving English poem. “We were extremely surprised. We were speechless. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we first saw that,” […]
PHOTO ESSAY: A symbolic marriage ritual and beauty pageant brings India’s trans community together
KOOVAGAM, India | Under stage lights, hundreds of transgender women adjusted their sarees, tucked flowers into their hair, and waited to be called onstage. One by one, they waved to cheering crowds and struck poses at one of India’s largest gatherings for the transgender community. Held each year in Koovagam village in southern India’s Tamil […]
Zimbabwe’s vivid English first names carry family histories, from Privilege to Shame
HARARE, Zimbabwe | Have-A-Look. Handsome. Thanks. Trust. Privilege. Doubt. Problem. Shame. In Zimbabwe, these aren’t just random words. They are names chosen with intention in a culture where naming a child goes beyond identity and can offer a snapshot of family history, emotion and circumstance. At first, Privilege Mubani, a 37-year-old bar manager in the […]
Journey of a lifetime: A US teen Buddhist lama is now a monk studying in the Himalayan foothills
KATHMANDU, Nepal | At a monastery in the Himalayan foothills, a teenage Buddhist lama blesses thousands. One by one, he taps bowed heads with a ritual vase and a peacock feather, sprinkling holy water for protection, purification, wisdom. He stops to smile at children who eye him with curiosity, reverence and awe. He tries to […]
Such great heights: They’re tall, they’re proud — and they’re getting together
SEATTLE | This story has legs. Very long ones. At a Seattle sports bar on a recent Saturday night, hundreds of very tall people got to experience something rare: blending in. Women in their highest heels craned their necks to look at someone taller. Men who usually duck under doorways looked ordinary. For once, nobody […]
Americans love their iPhones (though sometimes they wish they could live without them)
SAN FRANCISCO | The American obsession with the iPhone is complicated, as most love-hate relationships are. It sometimes seems like a talisman so magical that we can’t fathom living without all the pleasures and conveniences that it bestows almost anytime or anywhere. The iPhone, and its smartphone brethren, enable pictures that can be posted instantly […]
Muskets like those from 1776 are mostly exempt from today’s gun laws
HALIFAX, N.C. | With 165 grains of black powder in the barrel, a .75-caliber Brown Bess flintlock musket like the ones the redcoats carried in 1776 can hurl a lead ball at a velocity of around 1,000 feet (305 meters) per second. Imagine what that can do to a human body. Now, imagine that it’s […]
Underwater memorial to wrecked slave ship draws pilgrims seeking to connect with their roots
KEY WEST, Fla. | Ruthie Browning dove into the calm, blue water off Key West, Florida, expecting to see “a big, old rock with stuff growing all over it.” She was on a pilgrimage with other Black divers and community members, visiting sacred sites including one where a British slave ship — the Henrietta Marie […]
Adults relive the musical camaraderie of their youth at band camps reprised for grown-ups
CONCORD, N.H. | As a high school student in the 1970s, Lori Guess looked forward to packing up her oboe for a summer music camp in Sidney, Maine. The lakeside location and loon calls appealed to her, and it was a chance to connect with kindred spirits. Decades later, she’s still going to camp there. […]
Pediatricians group finds kids of all ages need regular recess for physical and mental health
Recess isn’t just a fun break for grade schoolers. It’s crucial to good health and good grades for kids of all ages. That’s the message from a leading pediatricians group, which just released the first new guidance in 13 years about this unstructured time at school and how it needs to be protected. The updated […]