Every Sunday, Jos Pimentel-Cardoso, a 22-year-old student at Bard Microcollege in Brooklyn, checks on her dozens of houseplants and plays music for them. She often plays Mort Garson’s 1976 album “Mother Earth’s Plantasia.” And she has plenty of company. The self-released album — featuring 10 wordless tracks created on a Moog synthesizer to play for…
I met Steven Spurrier no more than a half dozen times or so over the years, but each time I came away the better for it. For one thing, Mr. Spurrier, who died on March 9 at 79, always left me with something memorable. The first time was in 2007 in Napa Valley at a…
About 900 of these people were seniors who underwent regular checkups at medical clinics to assess their health. Dr. Gibbons and his colleagues found that in midlife, starting at around age 40, people started to show distinct changes in their microbiomes. The strains that were most dominant in their guts tended to decline, while other,…
Certain foods can be a source of acne. In urban living conditions, with irregular daily routines, lack of sleep, and frequent stress, it can be very difficult to determine the exact cause of skin problems. Among the “suspects” are both poor ecology and an unbalanced diet. However, the one thing nutritionists know for sure is…
My twin brother and I exchange gifts on our birthday. In recent years, he’s gotten lazy about it. His presents often seem like last-minute efforts. This year was our 30th birthday, so I expected a little more. But when he arrived at my house, he said he’d left my present in his friend’s car and…
LYON — Grégory Doucet, the mild-mannered Green party mayor of Lyon, hardly seems a revolutionary. But he has upended France by announcing last month that elementary school lunch menus for 29,000 Lyonnais children would no longer include meat. An outrage! An ecological diktat that could signal the end of French gastronomy, even French culture! Ministers…
United and other airlines’ policies have evolved, and will continue to do so, with the pandemic. With 2021 well underway, Consumer Reports and U.S. PIRG, a public-interest advocacy nonprofit, called on 10 domestic airlines last week to ensure their vouchers can be used into 2022. In addition to the official rules, Mr. Keyes said, “Most…
When Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, it was the dawn of an era. Personal computing was ascendant. The World Wide Web was on its way. Screens would soon begin to take over people’s lives — an early precursor to the always-on, Zoom-to-Zoom world we’re living in today. Men, especially ones named Steve and Bill,…
It took just 60 seconds for Meghan Markle to forever alter the trajectory of brides. Ms. Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, entered her wedding ceremony solo in 2018, walking halfway down the St. George Chapel aisle before joining Prince Charles. Then, the prince stepped aside and the duchess completed her journey to Prince Harry, whom…
And, at the other end of the comfort and utility spectrum, women are buying racy bras with open cups, which Jennifer Zuccarini, the founder of the luxury lingerie line Fleur du Mal, said the company couldn’t keep in stock. (Mr. Mick said he had noted the rise in provocative purchases, which he described as a…