Lifestyle Jul 8, 2013

Let's brush up on foods that are good for teeth

by Casey Seidenberg

When my boys recently had their teeth checked, their dentist warned them that summer is the worst time for cavities. Parental rules relax, allowing more candy and soda into the mix at the same time as brushing slackens. As much as I hate to ...

Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY Jul 3, 2013

Bubbles, music and paint as babies learn to create

by Danielle Demetriou

For a moment, I wonder if I’ve accidentally strayed onto the set of a children’s TV programme. Center stage are three grown men in matching T-shirts singing at the top of their voices in a Technicolor-bright toy-filled room more dazzling than Joseph’s dreamcoat. Beneath ...

Lifestyle Jun 26, 2013

Hands on with the 'maker movement'

by Kazuaki Nagata

The so-called maker movement of do-it-yourselfers is set to continue its momentum at a global level, and as such the world will see an explosion of innovative creation from individuals, according to Mark Frauenfelder, editor-in-chief of the U.S.-based Make magazine. Recent technological developments such ...

Lifestyle Jun 25, 2013

Flying through an urban obstacle course like 007

by Lenny Bernstein

If you’re my age (meaning not in your 20s) and you’ve even heard of “parkour,” it’s probably because of that scene in the 2006 remake of “Casino Royale” when James Bond chases a bounding, bouncing bad guy up a giant construction crane, down an ...

Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY Jun 19, 2013

Dragons, mist and bouncy clouds await in west Tokyo

by Jason Jenkins

About 45 minutes from Tokyo’s skyscrapers, resting in the hinterlands of Tachikawa there is a land of mist and dragons. It’s a place where rolling hills tumble toward an Aztec pyramid, and children bounce on clouds. The place is called Showa Kinen Koen, and ...

Lifestyle Jun 11, 2013

New sunscreen labels to stop beach lovers from getting burned by lies

Remember that bottle of waterproof sunblock you bought last year? It lied — lotion can’t be waterproof or totally block out harmful rays. Thanks to new sunscreen-labeling rules from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that recently came into effect, misleading terminology has been ...

Lifestyle | CHILD'S PLAY Jun 5, 2013

It's lots of tasty, messy fun when babies bake

by Danielle Demetriou

The master chefs are hard at work: slicing bananas, whisking a sticky mixture in a bowl, squeezing piped cream across a cake.

Lifestyle Jun 5, 2013

Urban foragers gather dinner where they find it

by Susan Svrluga

Bill Schindler ran his hand over a patch of violets, ignoring the nearby rat trap and the brown paper bag crumpled around an empty can of beer. He was searching for flowers to eat. In the alley next to him, a group of people ...

Lifestyle Jun 4, 2013

Party hale and hearty and don't feel guilty

by Maggie Fazeli

What’s the secret to hosting a memorable dinner party? For 29-year-old Sarah Waybright, it’s a trifecta of good company, good food and good wine — plus a menu that won’t leave guests feeling sick, stuffed or guilt-ridden. “When you think about ‘treating’ yourself, it’s ...

Lifestyle May 28, 2013

281_Anti Nuke's anger at authority is at a critical mass

by Jon Mitchell

More than two years after the triple reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, hundreds of thousands of residents of the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu remain displaced, the power station teeters on the brink of further disaster and large swaths ...