Double Shot of Memory

A Twitter-shaped short story, Google's new Nest, Four Tet's "Thriller" and more in our weekly look at the web

The next time you fire up your espresso machine or queue up at your local coffee shop, your brain will thank you. Recent research suggests that a daily dose of 200 milligrams of caffeine for adults (about as much as a double shot of espresso) is beneficial to longterm memory. The study tested image recognition over a 24-hour period—adults who were given caffeine pills outperformed …

Discovering A Time Capsule Apartment

Vibrating panties, Nendo's chopsticks, ancient brewers and more in our look at the web this week

Fleeing Paris for the south of France in 1942, French socialite Madame de Florian had no idea if she would ever return to her glorious apartment near the Opéra Garnier. She never did go back and, because of that, her recently rediscovered apartment was left preserved as a true testament to its time. Entirely untouched and now showing half a century’s worth of dust, the …

Rethinking Chopsticks

Vibrating panties, Nendo's chopsticks, ancient brewers and more in our look at the web this week

While chopsticks have remained relatively the same for centuries, Japanese design firm Nendo (founded and led by Chief Designer Oki Sato) has been exploring ways to make them even more comfortable and functional. Finding round chopsticks slippery to hold and overly square ones uncomfortable, Sato and his team have created several new designs that are as practical as they are visually intriguing. The Hanataba chopsticks …