What's up in
Mind & Meaning
The psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes — and what frontier life teaches us about being human.
Only about one in five workers worldwide feels truly engaged at work, a 2026 Gallup report finds, a slide to its lowest level since 2020 that it estimates costs the world economy close to a tenth of its total output in lost productivity every year
For most of history the worry was too many people, yet by 2050 some 155 of the world's 204 countries will not have enough babies to sustain their populations, a Lancet study projects — a quiet reversal of the fear that defined the last century
Quote by Maya Angelou: “Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.”
Thought of the day by Stoic Philosopher Marcus Aurelius "I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others."
A 14-year-old who applied to NASA, was rejected, and ended up cleaning a space toilet on work experience in Leicester now leads Mars exploration studies at the European Space Agency
A University of Tokyo study found that students who wrote schedules on paper recalled them better than those who used a tablet or phone — suggesting old-fashioned lists may give the brain stronger memory cues
For centuries, Korean women used rice water as a beauty ritual — modern cosmetic research now suggests fermented rice extracts can deliver antioxidants, B vitamins, and compounds that help fade hyperpigmentation
There is a small window in a boy's life, between the ages of four and six, when he is strikingly emotionally perceptive and openly expressive — and a researcher who followed six boys through those years watched something quietly close inside them, one stage at a time
An Aboriginal Australian people of northern Queensland speak a language with no words for left or right — only for north, south, east, and west — so instead of asking you to move your left foot, they will ask you to move your east foot, and can point due north almost without thinking
A Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda continued fighting the Second World War in the Philippine jungle until 1974 because no one had reached him with orders to stop — when his former commanding officer finally flew in to relieve him personally, Onoda was 52 years old and had been at war for nearly 30 years
