Japan’s 1,000-Year-Old Cherry Tree Blossoms Again

In Japan’s Miharu (a town in the Fukushima Prefecture), a 1,000-year-old cherry tree continues to blossom. While there are no tourists flocking to see it this year, the tree—known as the Takizakura—is as glorious and mesmerizing as ever for those who live nearby. One such individual is Sidafumi Hirata, who has visited the tree since his childhood and is now at the helm of a …

Specialized Gives Bikes to Essential Workers

An online application portal receives requests for those who need to commute

Channeling their concern over the current crisis, the team at Specialized Bicycles sought a way to do their part and provide much-needed assistance to essential workers. As those still asked to report to work must commute—and are likely to face delayed, rerouted, unsafe or even shuttered public transportation lines—the brand opened an online portal for anyone impacted and still working to apply for a free …

This Glove-Like Device Encourages Lucid Dreaming

Though still in development trials, the new “Dormio” device invented by MIT researchers shows potential for aiding lucid dreaming—or more specifically, hypnagogic microdreams. Using the “steel ball technique” (popularized a century ago and used by Salvador Dalí and Thomas Edison) as a starting point, the team built a biometric glove-like device that identifies the onset of sleep, and subsequently attempts influencing oncoming dreams based on …