Snails sense the world differently than humans. They can see but don’t hear like we do. Rather, they pick up the world through vibes. This is part of the charm of the Snail Hospital, a rehab center for the whimsical garden mollusks. By staging snails in human-like miniature scenes, the hospital draws attention to how alien-like these little slow-moving guys really are.
@the_snail_hospital Pretty things
♬ original sound – The_snail_hospital
Despite their other-worldly nature, snails thrive on companionship just like humans. Research shows they travel in convoys and piggyback on the slime of others to conserve energy. The same study found that snails use up to 30 percent of their energy on slime production alone and don’t even work for Nickelodeon. Some cruelty-free skincare brands boast that snail mucus can reduce acne scarring while moisturizing and strengthening the skin; others argue that there is no way to know if the extraction process hurts these precious little creatures. The good news is that dermatologists agree that hyaluronic acid can accomplish the same thing.
Really, these gooey little guys are doing plenty for our faces by simply putting a smile on them. Let them make waffles in peace.
The End of Sea Glass
Maybe it was the sound of the waves, the smell of salt, or the suspense of potentially stepping on a jellyfish. (Please don’t pee on us, that is a myth) But there is something about searching for seashells that instantly brings us back to childhood. As of late, though, when plucking our favorite shells from the sand before like bargain finds at HomeGoods, there was one thing missing: tiny shards of glass, polished from the ocean, often referred to as sea glass.
According to Lori Weeden, a teaching professor of Environmental Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at UMass Lowell, sea glass was initially a product of landfill runoff near the ocean. In simpler times, ocean rocks would break up glass bottles and polish them with salt water, resulting in a quaint “trash-turned-treasure” that has been used for jewelry and other vacation keepsakes for decades. As Weeden points out, since glass is made of sand, sea glass watching up on the beach is almost a poetic return to its origin.
But with the proliferation of single-use plastics, sea glass has sadly become even more rare than when I would experience the thrill of finding it as a kid. “As sea glass becomes harder to find, some retailers are creating their own artificial sea glass using rock tumblers and chemicals,” Weeden writes. “The difference between the real and artificial beach glass is subtle but still recognizable. Artificial sea glass has a uniformly frosted exterior, without the pitting seen in natural sea glass.”
Unless we figure out a way to pivot from plastic back to glass, hunting for the treasure of polished sea glass will officially be a thing of the past. Good luck making a necklace out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Best Hangover Cure is Going Outside
Next time you wake up with a headache and an insatiable hunger for need for breakfast burritos, you may want to skip the delivery and walk to get your hashbrown fix instead. Light exercise aka dragging your ass out of bed and into a jacket – is a natural pain reliever. The anti-anxiety effects of even a light workout are well-studied. This means that a brisk walk in fresh air can help shake off both headaches and hanxiety. Plus, a brisk outdoor shake off is actually nutrient enriched. Sunshine provides Vitamin D, which helps your body synthesize serotonin aka the happy brain juices you burned while bombing at karaoke last night.
A walk isn’t the only way to seize the day and sunshine the headache away. Moderate drinking been not so moderate? Here are a few of our other favorite ways to spend a Sunday Too-Fun Day outdoors.
Ice Skating Rink Nothing says nostalgic date like an afternoon in rented footwear. Plus, lots of cities build temporary outdoor rinks in the winter, which can be a fun way to experience a familiar part of your city in a new way.
The beach If you’re hungover on vacation, or if you’re lucky enough to live near one, the beach is an all-timer locale for sweating out some ill-advised shots. Salt air is anti-inflammatory, which can help with hangover symptoms. Plus, is there any better nap than a beach nap? We think not.
Brunch, duh If all else fails, find yourself a place with a nice patio where you can sit yourself down for a nice Benedict some hair of the dog, just as the drinking gods intended.
Give the Old People Weed
The time comes in every adult’s life – maybe it’s when we’re explaining, again, how to copy and paste on a computer, or properly behave at a restaurant. Then it hits us: we’re raising our parents. For those of us bringing up some bright-eyed boomers, it might be time to have the all-important marijuana talk: mainly, that we want our parents and grandparents to use it.
According to Substacker Dr.
Ben Caplan, MD, 30% of seniors are on five or more medications a day. Caplan says many seniors are on medications like opioids and benzodiazepines, which can have really nasty side-effects like dizzy, confusion and falling. While cannabis is not federally legal in the way that these prescription drugs are, Caplan contends that it’s time to have a serious conversation about replacing some senior drugs with plant medicine.
Research from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute suggests that cannabinoids like CBD are a far-safer alternative for conditions like anxiety than drugs like Xanax or Valium. Other studies have shown that opting for weed to manage pain can reduce opioid use by 73%.
Weed may be the safer medication option for seniors, but it’s also important to remember that it’s very fun and a great way to bond with your loved one. If your parent or grandparent is amenable to trying cannabis, but nervous to start, we love products like Kikoko’s Honey Shot Calm, which contains relatively small amounts of THC – 2mg, and is high in anti-inflammatory CBD.
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