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1. Horseback yoga is now offered in Spain.
Forget stand-up paddleboard yoga. These days, people are doing yoga on horses. Granted, it's only being offered at a gorgeous eco-resort in Spain, but still. Doesn't child's pose sound like it would be so much more relaxing (or at least interesting) on horseback? (Bloomberg)
2. You don't have to look past the U.S. to see scary evidence of climate change.
This summer's record-high temperatures spurred massive glacial melting in Alaska. The latest reports show that the state's ice sheets are losing 75 billion tons of ice annually, equal to the amount of water needed to fill Yankee Stadium 150,000 times each year. (Scientific American)
3. The right shoes are the key to a comfortable office temperature, apparently.
At the University of California, Berkeley, researchers are looking into how changing up footwear could change how much air conditioning a building needs, since our feet are extremely sensitive to temperature changes. In other words, if you're too hot at work, consider wearing flip-flops instead of boots. You could do wonders for the environment. (The Atlantic)
4. Have we officially warmed the planet beyond repair?
Carbon dioxide levels just pushed past 400 parts per million — a tipping point that scientists have been warning us about for the last few years. And experts believe that we're stuck at this level for good. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
5. Acceptance-based behavioral therapy is a thing now.
ABT is a weight-loss therapy that focuses on personal values and "mindful" decision-making that may help people lose some unwanted weight. So instead of focusing on a number on the scale, people focus their energy on being healthy, what that means, and how to get there. (Consumer Health Day)
6. Teenagers can be trained to be less stressed.
Researchers found that having high school freshman do a multipart exercise — reading, writing, reflecting, and projecting — on the capacity for personal change despite difficulty primed them to actually handle stressful situations better. They showed lower levels of stress hormones when tested and self-reported higher grades, confidence in coping, and stress overall in comparison to a control group. Sign us up for the next round. (NYT)
7. Is your office air poisoning you?
The National Bureau of Economic Research investigated the impact of air pollution on call-center workers at Ctrip, China's largest travel agency. Workers at Ctrip spend their day handling customers' phone calls. If they're affected by pollution, then we might all be vulnerable. (Harvard Business Review)
8. Hunger is a very, very powerful force.
You know that desperate, panicked feeling you get when you're really hungry and just need a (plant-based) burger already? Yep, that's called hunger, and according to a study published in the journal Neuron, it's an extremely powerful force. In fact, it's a bigger motivator than thirst, social needs, and fear. (Neuron)