With global warming becoming an increasingly urgent problem and much of the world has been under lockdown for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, many people are thinking about alternative ways of living in the future. This rocky period in human history has pushed forward the once very fringe idea of “seasteading” – living out...

The Earth’s poles have been an area of intense study for the past several years. The North and South Poles are the coolest climatic regions on the planet, and they affect the climate of everywhere else on Earth. For this reason, climatologists use the poles as a measuring stick to determine the state of the...

Self-checkout machines have been appearing in seemingly every store across the country. Whether you’re at your local grocer, hardware store, or McDonald’s, you can choose between the traditional cashier model, or to do it yourself. The retail giant Walmart, however, may be moving toward a future where customers have the choice made for them. Starting...

In a joint operation organized by the Alaska Army National Guard and the state’s Department of National Resources, the famous “Magic Bus” has been airlifted out of stampede trail in the Denali Borough, Alaska [1]. Following its adaptation into a non-fiction book and the 2007 movie Into the Wild, the abandoned vehicle became an object...

The benefits of being outdoors have become increasingly evident over the last several years. Getting outside helps you get more exercise and vitamin D, helps ease anxiety, encourages social behavior, and improves your sleep, self-esteem, focus, immune system, and creativity [1]. Because of this, city planners are looking for ways to increase access to outdoor...

The recent and widely popular Netflix special, Tiger King, thrust the US big cat industry into the spotlight, showcasing the poor treatment and unhealthy environment in which these animals are kept. Unfortunately, the use of captive animals for tourism and entertainment is not a new, or uniquely American, problem. Lion farming is a massive and...

How do you say, “Aww… thank you”, in Dolphin? These animals are just too sweet and there’s nothing we can do but love them every day.  A pod of nine Australian humpback dolphins at a popular tourist spot in Queensland is reportedly delivering “gifts” to the staff and volunteers [1]. The friendly long-nosed creatures are...

Summer is just starting and this bird has us wishing autumn was already here. The silver-eared mesia (Leiothrix argentauris) is a beautiful bird blessed with a plethora of stunning colors. It’s a songbird of the babbler family called Timaliidae and can be found in several countries across Asia. This colorful bird is named for the...

Since the tourism industry has been all but completely sidelined during the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels around the world have been forced to close their doors. Some, however, have chosen to remain open in an act of true altruism and offered up their rooms to homeless people in their area for free. One of these hotels...

Elephants are some of India’s most beautiful, peaceful, and gentle creatures. The country has several measures in place to protect these important animals whose population is already at risk due to climate change and poaching. This is what makes this story so tragic. A pregnant elephant dies in Kerala after eating a pineapple laced with...

We tend to view the animal world as one where each species operates alone, avoiding contact with other animals and only forming bonds with those of their own species. This, however, is not always the case and occasionally unlikely friendships can form. This is what happened at a zoo in Belgium, where a family or...

Here at the Hearty Soul, we love optical illusions, puzzles, and mind tricks. The more frustrating they are the better, and this most recent puzzle certainly fits the bill. How fast can you find the odd turtle in this puzzle? Full disclosure: it took me more than 15 minutes! (don’t tell anyone) How Fast Can...