COOL HUNTING - Wellness

Slow Yourself Down to the Sounds of Irish Cattle Grazing

From the sounds of cows being herded up a mountain to leaves crunching underfoot on a countryside walk, BBC’s Radio 3 will soon include programming aimed for meditative relaxation. At present, their (generally older) audience tunes in for jazz, opera and classical music. With the upcoming “slow radio,” the BBC is tapping into, more or less, the success of ASMR—quieter, soothing sounds. Radio 3 controller Alan Davey says it’s a chance “for quiet mindfulness.” Read more at QZ.

Japan’s Elevator From Earth to Low Orbit Space

“For over a century scientists and sci-fi writers alike have dreamed of creating a space elevator to ferry astronauts and payloads between the Earth and low orbit,” Jason Daley of Smithsonian Magazine notes. Now, Japanese scientists will make one small step toward such a futuristic development. Two satellites, roughly four cubic inches, will test elevator motion in space, as they launch with a 33-foot steel cable binding them, and a third cube traveling between. In monitoring the traveling satellite in orbit, researchers gain crucial insight on tethering from Earth into low orbit. Read more about the captivating science behind it all on Smithsonian Magazine.

Silent Films Find an Audience Again

Silent Films at NYC’s Film Forum has been offering newcomers and silent film enthusiasts the opportunity to view classics backdropped with live music for the past 40 years—and Steve Sterner, the program’s piano accompanist, has spearheaded the task for the last 35. But a large portion of the audience is comprised of viewers who have lived less than half that span: for example, “Shane Fleming, 14, of the East Village, is among the young fans driving the silent film renaissance. He started watching silent movies when he was seven,” Mengqi Sun, of the Wall Street Journal, writes. Read more about the renewed popularity of silent film at WSJ.

1,000 Singers in Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Mile-Long Opera on NYC’s High Line

Free tickets were released yesterday for Diller Scofidio + Renfro and David Lang’s “The Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock,” taking place on NYC’s High Line from 3-7 October. And while the first batch was claimed quickly, we’ve been informed to keep an eye on milelongopera.com for other ticket releases. Set along a stretch of the revitalized, above-ground park and featuring 1,000 voices, the opera is meant to be experienced as guests walk along, stepping in and out of range of voices and their stories. Poets Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine wrote the libretto—inspired by answers they received when asking New Yorkers “What does 7PM mean to you?” It’s bound to be an experience unlike any other—and there are still opportunities to see it for yourself. While it’s taking place in a public space, tickets are mandatory for attendance.

Fantastical Body Modifications at Simon Huck’s “A. Human” Exhibit

Body modification abounds. In fact, if you live in a bustling metropolis, you don’t have to pay to see lip fillers or botox or any of it. You’re simply bound to cross it. But that’s not what Simon Huck calls to attention in A. Human, an immersive exhibition taking place at 48 Mercer in NYC. Huck’s theatrical production company, Society of Spectacle (SOS), presents a futuristic version of body manipulation—from conch shells embedded in the human heel to a stole of thick human fingers. “We didn’t want to root any of our modifications on the idea of existing insecurities or discomforts,” he explains to Vogue. Rather, he explores the future of fashion—and self-expression. Read more about the experience at Vogue, or pop into the event which runs through 30 September.

One Design Student’s Tear Gun Represents More Than Talent

“The difficulties living as a foreigner in another country lead to high pressures in the study environment. Those pressures had been building for 18 months before finally reaching a crisis point during one of my midterm presentations,” Yi-Fei Chen says in an interview with Dezeen, regarding her time as a graduate student at Design Academy Eindhoven. Chen translated these pent-up emotions into a brass tear gun—a powerful, functional metaphor. The gun mounts a cup below the eye, collects tears, freezes them and then fires them at the pull of a trigger. It represents far more than just stunning design capability—Chen channels her emotion into a display of vulnerability. Read more about her experience on Dezeen.

“Resting Studios” Bank on Nap Breaks Being the New Lunch Breaks

Sleeping studios—like Nap York in NYC, where guests can power nap for $15—might be an answer to productivity slumps during the work day. “They provide an optimized environment for sleep, from cool temperatures to total darkness to quiet,” Christopher Winter MD, president of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine in Virginia, explains to the WSJ. The result is brief, high-quality sleep. Such resting locations have already popped up in Los Angeles, Washington DC, Dallas, London and Madrid. They offer everything from ergonomic cocoons to eye masks. Learn more about these centers at the WSJ.