Our brains are hard-wired to find meaningful images in random lines and shapes—even if those figures are on the moon.For as long as humans have lived on Earth, the moon has been our nearest celestial companion and a rich natural canvas for the human imagination. In Western cultures, perhaps the most familiar vision is "the man in the moon." In East Asian cultures, moon-gazers might point to a rabbit; in India, a pair of hands. From ancient times to the modern era, from different spots on the globe, a tree, a woman, and a toad have all been found hiding in the moon's shining face.

Seeing Shapes in the Moon

<ul><li>Joel Voss, a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern University, Chicago, is studying how our brains help us ascribe meaning to otherwise random assortments of shapes and lines. </li><li>In studies, he has presented research participants with computer-generated squiggly lines—meaningless shapes derived from triangles or circles—and asked subjects whether the shapes resemble something meaningful.</li><li>To your visual system, there's no difference between a picture of a frog and some weird collection of dots and lines you've never seen before that vaguely resembles a frog. Your brain is very happy to treat t<warningtag>hose things as the same thing.</warningtag></li></ul>

Looking for Meaning

Astronomer Carl Sagan argued that perhaps recognizing faces, even in vague shapes, is evolutionarily advantageous.Joel Voss proposes another explanation: Think of the human brain as a flexible, all-purpose machine meant to succeed in whatever random environment it inhabits. To triumph in strange places, the brain must be able to quickly process unfamiliar visual stimuli—like new shapes and lines—and figure out what's worth paying attention to. Seeing faces and figures is merely a consequence of the brain's tendency to match stored information with new stimuli.

Brain Wiring 

<ul><li>Although we see the world as this very structured, object-containing environment, it's really just a bunch of random lines and shapes and colors,</li><li>The reason why it's so easy to see meaningful things in nonsense shapes is that those nonsense shapes have a lot of the same features as meaningful things.</li><li>In scientific terms, what a moon-gazer sees may come down to brain wiring. But through the ages, what civilizations perceived in the moon's face took on greater significance, in the preservation of cultures, origin stories, and beliefs.</li><li>The night sky is one of the greatest storytelling panoramas. Thi<warningtag>ngs in the natural world are the hints and clues for the story. When you see the moon, you remember the story you heard when you were a kid and you pass it on.</warningtag></li></ul>

The Moon and Storytelling

For millennia, humans have looked at the moon and found meaningful figures in its craters and mountains. Why do we do this?

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

Why Do People See Faces in the Moon?

<ul><li>Work out as a family. Exercising together will not only enable you to motivate each other but will reduce the chance of distraction from having to tend to the needs of little ones. </li><li>Schedule time to exercise. Try to make this the same time each day and ensure that the whole family knows that this is ‘exercise time.’ </li><li>Collate a ripper playlist. Great music makes all the difference! </li><li>Dress for the occasion. Changing into comfortable workout clothes and shoes will help put you in the right headspace for exercise.</li><li>Track your progress.</li><li>Reward yourself. Set yourself a simple, achievable goal and cho<warningtag>ose a (non-food related) reward.</warningtag></li></ul>

Tips for keeping motivated to move

You need: 2 dice, a mat or towel , and a timerRoll a dice to establish how many sets of each exercise you will do. Roll it again to establish how many repetitions you will do in each set. Then you complete the 8 exercises one after the other. Do the first round at low intensity to warm up. When you have finished have a breather/drink break and roll the dice again. Continue for a half hour.<ul><li>Squats with punches at the top</li><li>Star jumps</li><li>Tricep dips</li><li>Crunches</li><li>Lunges (alternating legs)</li><li>Sprints across the yard</li><li>Bicep curls </li><li>Reverse crunches.</li></ul>

Roll the Dice workout

You need: A deck of cards, mat or towel (for crunches and plank/hover holds), a timerTurn over one card at a time and do the exercise associated with the suit. The number on the card is the number of repetitions you will do. Ace = 1. Jack, Queen and King = 10. Jokers = 10 burpees. Work out at low intensity for the first five minutes to warm up. Do 15 minutes of each round with a breather/drink break in between.<ul><li>First round</li><li>Hearts: Calf raises</li><li>Spades: Front kicks</li><li>Diamonds: Push ups (knees or toes)</li><li>Clubs: Supermans</li></ul>Second round<ul><li>Hearts: Sumo (wide-legged) squats</li><li>Spades: Star jumps or step touches</li><li><warningtag>Diamonds: Bicep curls </warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Clubs: Reverse crunches.</warningtag></li></ul>

Deck of Cards workout

You need: A mat or towel (for crunches and plank/hover holds), a timerWorkout at low intensity for the first five minutes to warm up. When you get to the end have a breather/drink break and repeat 1-2 more times.<ul><li>30 sec of squats</li><li>30 sec of tricep dips</li><li>60 sec of supermans</li><li>30 sec of lunges </li><li>30 sec of bicep curls </li><li>60 sec  of crunches</li><li>30 sec of sumo (wide-legged) squats (as 10 full squats, 5 pulses)</li><li>30 sec of sprints across the yard</li><li>30 sec of pushups</li><li>60 sec plank/hover hold</li><li>30 sec calf raises</li><li>30 sec punching up high</li><li>60 sec star jumps or step touches</li><li>30 sec power knees</li><li>30 sec arm circles</li><li>60 sec side planks.</li></ul>

30/30/60 Workout

You need: A mat or towel (for crunches and plank/hover holds), a timer You complete 6 exercises for 45 seconds each with a 15-second rest in between each, but you get to choose from either List A (Heads) or List B (Tails). If you prefer, you can flip a coin to determine which exercise you’ll do. When you get to the end, have a breather/drink break and then repeat 4-5 times. Perform the first round at low intensity to warm up.List A (Heads)<ul><li>Skipping</li><li>Tricep dips</li><li>Crunches</li><li>Kicks to the front</li><li>Squats</li><li>Wall sit</li></ul>List B (Tails)<ul><li>Running across the yard</li><li>Pushups </li><li>Plank / hover hold</li><li>Running on the spot (heel<warningtag>s to butt)</warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Lunges</warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Calf raises.</warningtag></li></ul>

Would You Rather? 

You can exercise at home. Here are our favourite fun workouts. All can be done at home with kids and require little to no equipment.

parenting

Parenting

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

Fun Ways to Exercise At Home with Kids

Expect it to be hard. Pain features quite heavily in the making of most bad days yet the relationship most people have with pain is confusing.The truth is that pain, even though it feels traumatic and awful at the time, is part of the process. Accepting that pain is going to be part of the equation is a solid place to start.

Accepting that pain is part of the equation

Bad is not as bad as it seems. Understand that every experience, however bad it feels, can always be seen as progress.

Acknowledging the good in the bad

It’s not about toxic positivity. It’s not about avoiding negative emotions or apathy. It’s not about reassurance or dismissing the gravity of a situation, of course not.This is about just after that. When the rain stops and the clouds part. Just then, that moment when you have the hope that the sun is about to come out. It’s at that moment you look around and you say, you know what, things have been awful lately but, actually, here’s some good that has come out of it all.

You can feel the pain and find the good in it

You are likely burning out because of the mental workout you're enduring.Look backward. Work out your triggers and avoid them.

Understanding burnout and your triggers

That’s how long it’s been since I wrote my first article on the internet; the official start of my side hustling journey. It’s safe to say a lot has changed, namely my goals. It’s also true that…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

mentalhealth

Mental Health

4 Principles for Dealing With the Bad Days

While it's normal to experience some level of stress at times, chronic stress can wreak havoc on our mental, physical and emotional health. From increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer to severe depression, stress has the power to both reduce the quality and length of our life. It’s no wonder then that stress management treatments have exploded in the last few years and have even spurred a multibillion-dollar industry.

Elevated levels of stress and anxiety

<ol><li>Self-compassion: Instead of beating ourselves up for a failure, we view it as an opportunity for growth and reflection. </li><li>Rest: Our level of rest and the amount of stress we feel is closely linked.</li><li>Emotion regulation: The ability to control or change our emotions. </li><li>Focus: It refers to the ability to maintain focus and block out distractions. </li><li>Cognitive agility: This refers to the ability to adapt and shift our thought processes so we can generate more positive outcomes. </li><li>Social connection:  Social connection helps us mitigate the effects of stress both physically and emotionally. </li></ol>

Six important factors for stress management

Stress is a inescapable part of our lives, but developing these six skills can help you mitigate its effects and improve your well-being

mindfulness

Mindfulness

The 6 most important skills for effectively managing stress

In the middle of an unpredictable pandemic, climate crisis, global unrest and inequality, a couple of extremely wealthy men took space rides in their multi-million dollar spaceships.The efforts may seem like vanity projects, but there is underlying motivation to colonize space, a galactic goal that has surfaced in the last century.

Rich People With Their Expensive Rockets

Texts written in the last 300 years imagine the universe filled with different kinds of humanoids and rich elements, not with infinitely empty, barren and uninhabitable planets. The recent realization that our species could go extinct, and our beautiful planet could one day be non-livable for whatever reason, motivated scholars to think about settling outside, evolving into the dream of galactic colonization.

Galactic Colonization

<ul><li>The discovery of the atom’s inherent power provided hope to many scientists that they could build powerful rockets that can reach beyond our solar system.</li><li>Russian rocketeer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote about using nuclear-powered devices to settle inside asteroids, migrating to other solar systems.</li><li>In 1902, Nikolai Fedorov predicted 2021, by stating that rich people may infect other planets by their exploitative zeal.</li><li>Many such texts were almost religious, pushing for our species to spread life in a lonely, infinitely empty universe.</li></ul>

Cosmic Ambitions In History

Billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are trying to provide a solution to an inevitable problem: Humanity’s thirst for growth and the endless exploitation of natural resources will eventually ‘finish off’ our planet and there is a chance we may become extinct(not to mention the 8.7 million other species). According to these wealthy men, if our species is present and thriving on other planets, it won’t be filtered out by evolution after some time.

Saving Humanity By Rushing To Space

Climate change is real, but as it is slow and poses less of an existential risk right now, it is mostly ignored. We forget that by turning a blind eye to the climate crisis, billions of people will suffer in the coming years due to floods, hurricanes, wildfires and many other natural calamities.

The Problem Everyone Is Bored Of Listening

<ul><li>In our quest to conquer space, we have messed up and ignored our home planet, which is a great vessel by itself.</li><li>Planet Earth is a big spaceship with millions of species, plenty of water, plant life and heat from the nearby sun.</li><li>We still don’t know much about the millions of life forms already present here, who form a complex network of behaviours to provide us with food, herbs, water, air and beauty.</li><li>Nature’s balance and sophistication are unparalleled, and it is us who have been exploiting and eroding our planet for many centuries.</li></ul>

The Bullerby Scenario: The Planet We Are Killing

Before we venture into colonizing the galaxy, pushed by overzealous, egocentric billionaires, we could fix urgent problems on our own planet.Problems like the climate crisis, social justice, human trafficking, hyper-capitalism and inequality can only be solved by humanity-wide projects and not by whimsical, rich men.

Taking Back Our Earth

Behind the headlines about billionaire jaunts into space, there's a deeper motivation – the belief that spreading into the cosmos will save humanity's future.

The long-term quest to build a 'galactic civilisation'

The braneworld theory states that in order for the universe to have survived, it would have had to create relatively small "black holes". Moreover, this theory can be experimented upon.This theory suggests that we are in a three dimensional membrane that exist inside the bulk or the higher dimensional space.In the case of the Randall-Sundrum model, such tests could involve measuring the gravitational waves that are emitted by the black holes thus linking one brane to another.

The Braneworld Theory

The Big Splat also known as the Ekpyrotic Theory, was thought of by cosmologists Neil Turok and Paul Steinhardt who believe that eventually a brane would collide with another and through the collision there will be enough energy to create a whole new universe.The term "ekpyrotic" came from the word ekpyrosis which means conflagration in Greek.

The Ekpyrotic Theory

The Big Bang to this day, remains to be a fan favorite of many scientists and with that theory comes two key observations: the expansion of the universe, and the cosmic wave background.The CMB is thought to be the leftover radiation from the occurence of the Big Bang. The CMB cannot be seen with the naked eye however, its radiation is most visible in the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)

The Holographic Universe denotes the idea that the three-dimensional universe that we are used to could actually be a fundamental two-dimensional space.So how it works is that there couble be a distant two-dimensional surface that contains the data that is needed to fully describe our world and therefore is projected to appear in 3D.This was researched by the University of Southampton in the UK and the findings showed consistency with the observed pattern of the CMB fluctuations.

The Holographic Universe

The Steady-State Theory suggests that the universe's expansion happened due to the continuous bubbling of hydrogen atoms from an empty space at the rate of 3 hydrogen atoms per cubic meter million years.This theory was first put forward in 1948 by British scientists Sir Hermann Bondi and Sir Fred Hoyle. Hoyle compares this theory to a river to where "it may appear unchanging, but there is plenty of movement and change under the sufrace."

The Steady-State Universe

The theory of eternal inflation was proposed by Paul Steinhardt. This theory suggests that there are other bubbles of universes that are constantly popping up in other parts of the inflationary sea, therefore comprising a "multiverse".

Eternal Inflation

Gravity is the only force in physics that affects matter on humongously large scales however it can't, on its own, explain certain astronomical observations. There are two options that we could forego with: unseen dark matter - that provides for the missing gravity, or to replace our theory of gravity into the Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) that proposes a modification of Newton's laws in order to accounr for the observed properties of galaxies.

Dark Matter and Modified Newtonian Dynamics

The universe may only exist in three dimensions but we can also visualize it having a fourth in the form of time, so to speak, the universe may exist in four-dimensional space-time.This idea was proposed by Stefano Liberati from the International School for Advanced Studies and Luca Maccione of Ludwig Maximilian University. This theory argues that the 4-D universe is made up of microscopic particles that are on a deeper level or reality that our instruments cannot reach yet.

Four-Dimensional Space-Time

The laws of physics hold a handful of fundamental constants that determine the strength of gravity, electromagnetism and subatomic forces. However, these numbers could have any possible value and with any value that gets displaced, the universe would be entirely different.This argument make some people believe that the Universe allows for creatures like us to come into existence with it and that is proof enough in itself.

Self-Centered Anthropic Theory

This theory comes from the philosophers. It questions that if all of the information about the universe are input into our brains via our sense and other scientific instruments, who's to say that this isn't all just some cleverly constructed illusion?This is a great argument for the existence of the universe however there is no way that it could be proved true or false

Simulation Theory

Why is the universe the way it is? Over the years, scientists have explored many ways to explain the cosmos, leading to some crazy-sounding ideas…

10 wild theories about the universe

Space exploration includes two kinds of spacesuits:
<ul>
<li>One is worn inside a spacecraft during launch and ascent to space, during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere and during landing. </li>
<li>The other kind is designed specifically for spacewalks. NASA calls a spacewalk an Extra-Vehicular Activity or EVA, so this type of suit is called an EVA suit. It is a miniature spaceship shaped like a human body that protects from dangers such as radiation, dust, debris, and extreme temperatures.</li>
</ul>

Different suits serve different purposes

The spacewalk spacesuit consists of two main parts: The pressure garment and the life support system. The primary parts of the pressure garment:<ul><li>The cooling garment is made from stretchy spandex material and about 300 feet of water tubes woven into the clothing that covers the body except for the head, hands and feet.</li><li>Hard Upper Torso connects the inside of the suit with the portable life support system.</li><li>Heated gloves.</li><li>Lower Torso is made up of spacesuit pants, boots and the lower half of the waist closure.</li></ul>

The pressure garment

The flexible parts of the suit are made from 16 layers of material that performs different functions.<ul><li>The cooling garment makes up the first three layers.</li><li>The bladder layer is filled with gas to create proper body pressure and holds the oxygen for breathing.</li><li>The next layer holds the bladder layer.</li><li>The ripstop liner is a tear-resistant layer.</li><li>The subsequent layers act as insulation.</li><li>The outer layer reflects heat from the sunlight and is made of a fabric that blends three kinds of threads: One provides water resistance, one is made from bullet-proof vest material, the last is fire resistant.</li></ul>

Layers of the spacesuit

<ul><li>Life support system. The backpack on the back of the spacesuit contains oxygen that astronauts breathe and that pressurizes the suit, a regulator to keep the correct pressure, a fan that circulates oxygen, electricity for the suit, a two-way radio, water for the cooling garment, and a pump that circulates the chilled water.</li><li>Communications system. New suits include an audio system inside the helmet.</li><li>Helmet. It serves as a pressure bubble and ventilation system and has a small foam block to scratch the nose. A protective visor on the outside works like sunglasses.</li></ul>

The life support and communications system and helmet

A spacesuit is much more than a set of clothes astronauts wear on spacewalks. A fully equipped spacesuit is actually a spaceship shaped like a human body that protects the astronaut from the dangers of being outside in space or on the Moon.

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

Spacesuit Basics

Our days can feel cluttered and frantic when our our work emails and calls creep into our personal lives after office hours. If things feel like they're going on autopilot, try to take a few minutes to reconnect with the broader context of your work before jumping into the stream of your routine.Ask yourself what personal and professional qualities do you want to cultivate on the job and then you might start to see more opportunities to increase connectivity and impact.

Take time to reconnect with your mission

Awe is defined as the emotion that arises when we encounter something strikingly vast that it provokes the need to update our mental schema. Experiencing awe can impact our decision making, so try to broaden your perspective beyond the immediacy of your current situation and that could make the situation feel more workable.

Follow your awe

We all have the habit where we think negatively about something and it's like a reflex or a force of habit. Instead of repetitively sticking to the story of "this isn"t possible" we should develop the skill that most improv actors use, the "yes, and..." thinking.This skill allows us to accept the concrete reality of the given situation and then build upon it, by seeing what we can improve, changed, or added. Moreover, it dismantles limiting beliefs that we have within ourselves while further cultivating flexibility for forward thinking.

Utilize the "Yes, and..." Thinking

You don't have to be a perfectionist to fall prey to this tendency of splitting your perspective into extremes, where you could only either do good or do terribly.To resolve this issue we must gradually push the boundaries of our comfort zone and allow ourselves to make mistakes from time to time. We could either journal about our to-do list or dedicate a notebook for our "bad ideas."

Notice "black and white" thinking

A great tool for approaching situations from a new angle is empathy. We often have the tendency to ignore information that could discredit our current notions. By practicing empathy and reaching out to a colleague, we are widening our perspective and increasing our abilities to connect to other in an authentic way.

Practice Social Reasoning

It can get a little overhwelming when we think about the long-term possibilities of our decisions from every angle possible.However challenging things may seem, we should also try to pay attention to the details that are important to our goals and take the time we have to make sure that we have sufficient information in order to make a decision.It doesn't mean that we should avoid making decisions but rather that there are things that are worth our undivided attention.

Zoom out, but don't zone out 

It can be easy to lose perspective when we're busy and everything seems urgent. Here's how to reframe your situation and be more productive.

productivity

Productivity

habits

Habits

problemsolving

Problem Solving

timemanagement

Time Management

6 Strategies For Gaining Perspective

A pair of denim jeans are a favourite choice of attire for millions. This popular indigo-coloured piece of clothing was born in 1873, courtesy a tailor named Jacob Davis, and Levi Strauss, owner of a fabric house.
Crafted for cowboys and miners, it became a choice for mail workers in the US looking for sturdy wear, something that can stand the constant wear and tear of a coal mine, for example. These were uncomfortable at that time, and no one wore them on the street.

The Love Of Denim

The 50’s saw the humble pair of jeans entering the highly influential movie industry when heartthrob James Dean wore them in Rebel Without A Cause in 1955.
Denim attire was also worn by Marlon Brando, leading to blue jeans being banned in public schools.

Denim Enters The Movies

The 60’s saw the casual blue jeans being embraced by the hippie culture of freelove and youth, with customized jeans becoming popular. Blue Jeans also became a way to illustrate gender equity.
The fashion industry took notice of the denim phenomenon in the late 70’s, with Calvin Klien pioneering blue jeans on the fashion runway. It ran provocative advertising to attain mindshare, and catapulted denim to become much more than casualwear, desirable by both men and women.

The Era Of Freelove And High Fashion

Jeans are now a staple of our wardrobe, and are the go-to garment when we don’t know what to wear. 
However, producing a pair of denim takes a toll on pollution levels, as it takes about ten thousand liters of water to make one.

Producing A Pair Of Jeans

Summer is over and time has come for taking our classic vintage jeans from the closet and saying good bye to summer shorts. When we talk about denim, there’s something for every taste: high-waisted…

fashion

Fashion & Beauty

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

How did Jeans become so popular when nobody was wearing them before?

The concept of a hero is spellbinding, and this archetype has been in the human psyche since time immemorial, whether through verbal stories, or the earliest written epics.
The lifecycle of a hero is to overcome several obstacles to survive or to achieve specific goals. Heroes and superheroes are celebrated in all kinds of media. The most popular stories of epic adventures have the hero, who often fails, coming back spiritually richer in the end.

The Hero

“The hero’s main feat is to overcome the monster of darkness: it is the long-hoped-for and expected triumph of consciousness over the unconscious.”

A hero isn’t just what pop culture has shown us, the typical ‘real man’ who is noble and masculine. A hero can also be a person who is a child (psychologically) and moves into adulthood or gains maturity due to a series of circumstances, events and situations.
We tend to glorify the hero, but overlook the shadow, which is the hidden motives and behavioural patterns that lie in one’s subconscious mind.

The Unknown Facets Of A Hero

<ul>
<li>The Grandstander Bully: The main driving purpose of a Bully is to impress people around him by being superior and dominating. A Bully is almost always filled with insecurity and cowardice</li>
<li>The Coward: In any physical, emotional and intellectual confrontation, the Coward finds it extremely difficult to cope up.</li>
</ul>
Both the shadows create the ‘backend drive’ that influences human behaviour. The Hero archetype has the risk of a downfall as he may be under the power of one of the two shadows or does not acknowledge his own limits.

The Two Shadows

The Hero Archetype mobilizes the boy’s latent energy, breaking the cocoon of family and security. It enables the person to grow and learn by placing him in uncomfortable, often difficult situations. It is ultimately a test that leads to emotional and spiritual growth.
The challenges lead to a big push that results in self-realization, as without such obstacles the boy would not procure the courage that is required.

The Purpose of the Hero Archetype

Many of us admire heroes on the big screen, and in books, but envy them in real life. If we come across a hero archetype in our professional or personal circle, we tend to pull them back down.
In the corporate world, heroes come across as egocentric managers or celebrity CEOs. They have a flashy lifestyle akin to Tony Stark, but that does not necessarily translate into a successful company.
True leaders possess two main qualities: indomitable will and humility, which ensure that they are respected and maintain their success.

Heroes In Real Life

The hero archetype is the most recognized yet misunderstood of all the archetypes in the psyche, playing important roles in psychology and culture.

Why Do People See Faces in the Moon?

Fun Ways to Exercise At Home with Kids

4 Principles for Dealing With the Bad Days

The 6 most important skills for effectively managing stress

The long-term quest to build a 'galactic civilisation'

Fitan Black