Sentinel Lifestyle
Cut the number of choices you make each day. Your brain will thank you
Jeans that fit perfectly. The ideal Netflix show for a Tuesday night. Your one and only soulmate. Modern life promises that with enough options, you will happily find the best of everything. But behavioral scientists say the increasing flood of choices — whether it comes to shopping, social lives or relationships — is doing the […]
A centuries-old festival in Japan brings Shinto traditions and towering floats to the streets
KYOTO, Japan | There’s a special moment when Katsushi Horikawa feels closer to the gods. It comes as he rides atop one of the towering floats pulled through the streets in a centuries-old procession in Japan. This is the Gion Matsuri festival, born more than 1,000 years ago as a ritual to ward off epidemics […]
Japanese beetle advances through northern Italy’s vineyards and orchards, frustrating farmers
DONNAS, Italy | The iridescent green beetles native to Japan have become a growing menace in Italy, swarming through orchards and vineyards and leaving behind devastating lattice patterns in leaves that weaken the plants and reduce production. The Popillia japonica, or Japanese beetle, is a familiar pest in the United States, where it arrived more […]
DNA from bones on a Revolutionary War battlefield solves the case of ‘America’s oldest John Doe’
After 246 years, Pvt. John Pumphrey is unknown no more. Through DNA testing and old-fashioned sleuthing, the Maryland teenager who died in one of the last big battles of the American Revolution can now take his place in history, just in time for the 250th birthday of the nation he fought to create. “There was […]
Not Greek to them. Scholars question Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’
NEW YORK | For Greek translator Emily Wilson, the release of director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has been gratifying in various ways. Her acclaimed 2017 edition of Homer’s epic has reached the top 5 on Amazon.com, leading a wave of similar books boosted by the movie. Nolan has even cited her translation, notably the opening […]
How to keep babies safe when temperatures soar
Infants, toddlers and young children need outdoor activity to build strong bodies and minds, but they also require extra care in the heat. In the summer months, those twin imperatives can make parents anxious. How long should kids be out? How do I know they’re OK? What should I avoid? Human-caused climate change is making […]
Guns shaped America. Dirty Harry’s .44 Magnum is king
There are as many handguns in the U.S. as there are adults. Perhaps none is more iconic than the .44 Magnum revolver. “The most powerful handgun in the world,” Clint Eastwood says with a mix of pleasure and malice as detective “Dirty Harry” takes aim at a bank robber. The 1971 movie made the hefty […]
Stacks and stacks of wax packs, now obsolete, summon the joy of baseball-card childhoods
NEW YORK | The anticipation. The chase. The powdery, sugar-coated board of gum! For generations of baseball card fans, there was nothing like scrounging up some change and sprinting to the store to buy a wax pack. Some tore the slightly tacky paper wrapper open and flipped through the cards in an insatiable instant (hence […]
Tai chi practitioners seek balance and well-being in fast-paced Beijing
BEIJING | One arm raised and the other lowered, hundreds of people move every morning like birds spreading their wings at the heart of Beijing’s Temple of Heaven. It’s a movement in tai chi, a physical and philosophical practice developed more than 300 years ago that continues to resonate in China today. “The environment is […]
Battery bank or generator? How to choose the best backup power for your home during an outage
From portable battery banks and generators to whole-house systems, there are many backup power choices to consider as extreme weather ramps up and outages happen more often and last longer. People need solutions to keep medical devices, cellphones and other important appliances powered up. “If you’re deciding between different backup power options for what you […]