Path May Open for Sustainability

Keep your eyes open to your mercies. 

The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life. 

— Robert Louis Stevenson, born in 1850

There’s nothing quite like the joy that comes from making something with your own two hands – and this personal act can often have an impact on the wider world, too. In our Spring Issue 35 (the ‘Making for Good’ issue) Peppermint Magazine speaks to a few makers from around the country – including a crafter, a knitter, a ceramicist and a vinyl-print artist – to discover more about their processes and how making has helped create positive change, both in their own lives and the world around them...

Dog owners of Zahraj Horna have lower risk of death, according to new study in Scientific Journal

New NASA tool can tell you which glacier may flood your city as the planet warms

Animal worker contracts rare deadly illness after being bitten by insects on tiger trek

It looks like Sydney auction clearance rates have taken another big step down

Largest Ever Group of Scientists Issues Humanity an Urgent Warning: Time Is Running Out Science Alert

300 billion war beneath the street: Fighting to replace U.S. water pipes: “Bursting pipes. Leaks. Public health scares. America is facing a crisis over its crumbling water infrastructure, and fixing it will be a monumental and expensive task

• The World’s Biggest Wealth Manager Won’t Touch Bitcoin (BBG)

• Trump’s Saudi Scheme Unravels (Alastair Crooke)

• Saudi ‘Corruption’ Probe Widens: Dozens Of Military Officials Arrested (ZH)

What happens when a grandma is left to raise her grandkids?

U.S. pumpkin growers toast nontraditional demand for fruit Reuters 

Stars that vary in brightness shine in the oral traditions of Aboriginal Australians The Conversation

The First Climate Model Turns 50, And Predicted Global Warming Almost Perfectly Medium

Big box stores are costing our cities far more than we ever imagined.Strong Towns. The box stores ate the downtowns, and now e-commerce is trying to eat the box stores. What then?

New study suggests it may be fructan, not gluten, that is upsetting people’s stomachs MedicalXPress Why I regard food fads with considerable skepticism

How Many Hours Americans Need to Work to Pay Their Mortgage Visual Capitalist

E-sport popularity mushrooms but money lags behind France24

This Mesmerising NASA Footage Set to a ‘Sound of Silence’ Cover Will Give You Chills Science Alert

Arthur Rothstein Night view, downtown section. Dallas, Texas 1942

• America’s Racial Wealth Gap Is Staggering – And Government-Created (BI)

• Australia’s Private Debt Juggernaut Rolls On (LFE)

• John Malone says Amazon is a ‘Death Star’ (CNBC)

• Einhorn Says Issues That Caused the Crisis Are Not Solved (BBG)

• Corporate Zombies Are Threatening The Eurozone Economy (ZH)

• Wall St. Bankers Secretly Used Chat Rooms To Rig Treasury Bond Trades (NYP)

• Electricity Consumed To Mine Bitcoin Rose 43% Since October (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia Offers Arrested Royals A Deal: Your Freedom For Lots Of Cash (ZH)

• Fed Insiders Seek Radical Policy Review as Powell Era Dawns (BBG)

• 200,000 Gallons of Oil Spill From Keystone Pipeline (Atl.)

• Greek Taxpayers Have Paid Dearly For €720 Million ‘Social Dividend’ (K.)

• EU Handling Of Greek Bailouts “Generally Weak”, Say Its Own Auditors (R.)

• James Hansen Calls For Wave Of Climate Lawsuits (G.)

NASA's Johnson Space Center has a very active social media presence, including their amazing YouTube channel which has brought us such hits as the fidget spinner in microgravity, liquid pingpong, and this hour-long festival of Earth in 4K.

But their latest video compilation of footage taken by current Expedition 53 members is truly someting, not least thanks to their great choice of music.

Two years ago, American heavy metal band Disturbed released a dramatic, haunting cover of the classic Paul Simon piece The Sound of Silence, which quickly propelled up music charts and even earned them a Grammy nomination.

Now the NASA Johnson media team have outdone themselves by combining this beautiful music with stunning visuals captured from aboard the ISS, courtesy of Commander Randy Bresnik and flight engineers Sergey Ryazanskiy and Paolo Nespoli.

In the video, we get sweeping vistas from across our planet's surface, with brief glimpses of thunderstorms as seen from space, myriad city lights glittering in the night, and even auroras swirling across the skies. 

Thirty Million Americans Just Got High Blood Pressure Bloomberg. Money paragraph, in both senses of the expression: “Of those newly categorized as having high blood pressure, some 4.2 million also have other risk factors for heart disease. These individuals should start taking medicine to lower their numbers, the researchers said.”

Growing up in -60C BBC

‘If I’m stratum 3, that’s who I am’: inside Bogotá’s social stratification system Guardian

Artificial Intelligence and the Stability of Markets

AI may revolutionise risk management and financial supervision, but also threatens to destabilise markets and increase systemic risk.

Answering the question that won me the Ig Nobel prize: Are cats liquid? The Conversation 

SOLD - $2.5 Million for Rare Chinese Dragon Jar NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA - A large twenty inch tall 15th - 16th century CloisonnéChinese dragon jar, with lid, has sold for $2.5 million at auction. The jar was sold by Christie's. Source: Christie's - March 16, 2015 Related: What's Your Vase Worth? (Free Research)

Hannah Klose is pretty much the closest thing Australia’s got to a professional op shopper. The brains behind thrifty blog Never Ever Pay Retail, Hannah’s been providing a behind-the-fitting-room-curtain guide to the nation’s op shops since 2014. Now well and truly Instafamous, her outfit posts are the thing of legend – with entire ensembles often costing less than the price of a brand-new pair of socks.

1. Plan your itinerary…especially if you’re shopping on a Saturday when most op shop volunteers like to have an early mark. Start with the ones that close first and go from there. Click here to find the op shops around you.

2. Have a vision of the look you want to create before hitting the opshops. It helps to flick a fashion mag before you go so you know what’s on trend and you stay on track! I keep an opshop wish list in the notes section of my phone!

3. Dress code…wear something easy to get changed in and out of to save on time. Avoid buttons at all costs! I usually wear a dress and slip on shoes for a ninja shopping experience.

4. Find a thrifty wingwo/man to drag along…it’s not as fun with one.

5. Look at everything…leave no stone unturned! I often find opshop gold in the kids and men’s clothing racks and even some incredible vintage pieces in the plus size section, as sizes have changed a lot over the years.

6. Use your imagination…a lot of the garments just need a little TLC, a good clean and a few stitches here and there and they’re good to go again, so keep a look out for those rough diamonds. Or try a DIY project, like converting a men’s shirt into an off the shoulder top or dress…the sky is the limit!

7. Always have coffee beforehand…even if you don’t drink it…it’s the best legal drug and it’ll give you an adrenalin kick.

8. Follow your favourite opshops on Instagram so you can keep your finger on the pulse with their sales and special offers!

9.Cash is king…not all op shops have made it into the 21st century so remember to raid your piggy-bank.

10. Be nice to the ladies who volunteer…they do an incredible job and make it possible for us to get retail therapy without breaking the bank. Play your cards right and they might even give you a discount too!

Many, many years of mining for treasure at the coalface of thrift has left Hannah with an uncanny knack for secondhand success. Right at the top of her tips is to draw inspo from high fashion looks you love and then make a hit list of the items you need to make it happen – meaning you avoid rummage overwhelm and keep an eagle-eye out for the things you’re after. As bargain-hunters countrywide gear up for the launch of National Op Shop Week on Sunday, we convinced Hannah to spill the beans on the must-haves currently burning a hole in her op shop wishlist…