It’s been 180 years since Charles Wilkes voyaged to the Antarctic continent and his journey has never been more relevant

A new era of travel is here

The parent company of the UK’s Daily Mail is in talks with several private equity firms about a possible bid for Yahoo.

The all-day workshops, which will begin in March 2010, will be held in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.

The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector.

Over the past two decades, a confluence of changing market demands and demographic preferences have led to a revaluation of urban places—and a corresponding shift in the geography of innovation. This trend has resulted in a clustering of firms, intermediaries, and workers—often near universities, medical centers, or other anchors—in dense innovation districts. Local economic development…

Photo courtesy of Next Nature American Climate Values Survey Views on global warming may be more strongly politically and economically influenced than many may have hoped. The recently released results of the American Climate Values Survey, conducted

Kids are born explorers, but they can use a bit of parental guidance when it comes to getting outside.

"Has the global food system been irrevocably hijacked?" One filmmaker asks and begins to answer this frightening question.

The problem may seem immense, but there are many good solutions.

Industrial hemp farming could play a big role in providing economic stability in impoverished areas, creating jobs and businesses for veterans, and growing a sustainable and regenerative agriculture movement.

While traveling, journalist Jan Wong opted for host families, not cooking school, when it came to learning about local food.

This digitally fabricated project revives a traditional material with new building technologies.

It takes the controversial stance that more fish doesn't necessarily mean better fish.

"Brains: The Mind as Matter" at the Wellcome Collection features 150 objects including real brains, anatomical models and artworks, and more.

Nature's acoustic environments are wild, haunting and beautiful. As this online educational project shows, these wild soundscapes are in danger of disappearing too.

Conservation organizations used Google Street View cameras to document the places, animals and people most vulnerable to climate change.

Duke Energy Corp. is reportedly discussing with BMW Manufacturing Co. the potential for building a solar energy plant at the car company's Spartanburg South Carolina USA facility. Well, isn't that a German sort of response to US government pressure?

Travel back in time and explore the geography of history from the comfort of your home with the new gallery of Google Maps.

The software lets you virtually float down the Yampa River, which has been largely unchanged by man.

‘You can't argue for the protection of an area without knowing what is there.’

This fascinating film reveals disturbing facts about malnutrition and infant mortality, and the role of insidious corporations in perpetuating these problems.

It's a mix of speculative fiction and informed prediction. Which do you think is most plausible?

According to the research of author David Simon, the externalized cost of our animal food system totals about $414 billion per year, which is carried by all of us.

The products we use to enhance beauty have an ugly track record.

The wildly popular game gives players a place to socialize with others or simply escape while on lockdown for coronavirus

As shelter in place orders around the world have left many people trapped at home indefinitely, some have found a new place to meet up: inside the digital world of wildly popular Nintendo game Animal Crossing.

Released in late March, Animal Crossing: New Horizons quickly became the top game in the US. In it, users explore a carefree pastel environment, growing fruits and flowers, catching bugs or fish to sell, and making friends with other characters in an open-ended simulation.

New manga in Blue Giant franchise sees Dai going to America

Philipp travels to a conference on men’s issues in Chicago, shedding light on the controversial movement.

I guess it happens to everyone at some point," remarks Ranjeet Adkar about mid-life crisis. The 45-year-old mechanical engineer quit his corporate job to pursue his passion for photography in April this year, after working in the profession for two decades. And in May, he started PhotoWorks, an organisation that conducts photography workshops and walks, and provides basic and advanced training to enthusiasts.

a photograph of schoolchildren from the village

This Saturday, Adkare will be conducting a walk around the colourful Asalpha village, a locality situated in Ghatkopar, which has often been compared to Positano, a popular holiday destination and quaint cliff-side village on southern Italy's Amalfi Coast. But Asalpha wasn't always Positano. Some time ago, it was much like any other slum in Mumbai, morbid with its crumbling walls, and homes as weathered as a book left out in the rain for too long. In 2017, an NGO started a campaign inviting volunteers to re-imagine the village and together, they painted close to 175 walls in the area, as well as murals, transforming the erstwhile slum into a vibrant village, and thereby making it an automatic option for photography.

Ranjeet Adkar

Resounding this, Adkare tells us, "I think there are two reasons why Asalpha attracts people. Firstly, the community is extremely open-minded and welcoming unlike some other places where people tend to say,'Please don't take our photograph.' They are chatty and forthcoming, so it's a fun place to be in.

And secondly, from a photography point of view, it's a place that allows you to truly explore street photography."
Elaborating on why Asalpha is a fertile ground for camera addicts, he shares, "There are narrow lanes, so it is apt for wide-angle photographs. The colours are simply brilliant despite being worn out a little. Then there are children on their way back from schools who are eager to pose, as is the rest of the community. So it's great for candid portraits as well."

On: September 22, 8 am
At: Asalpha village, Ghatkopar West.
Log on to: thephoto.works
Cost: Rs 750

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The rigours of the fiercely competitive modern education system can often result in a blinkered approach to learning, and a disconnect between students and nature. The Goregaon-based Rishi Valmiki Eco School (RVES), a non-profit organisation that works towards providing quality education to children from lower income groups, however, has been trying to make amends. Along with supplementing the existing state board syllabus with nature education, the school also hosts a biennial wildlife festival.

This year the theme of the festival is Secrets of the Sea, where students from grade three to nine will showcase around 40 species of marine life, and discuss topics like mangroves, marine parenting, and the life of turtles through performances involving dances and skits.

 Nikita Pimple

Participating students include those who come from the slums of Bhagat Singh Nagar, in Goregaon. The school's emphasis on nature-inspired learning has helped many of them become professional guides, who conduct trails at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. "The students enjoy coming to school on Sunday as well, because they love to learn about nature," says Nikita Pimple, principal of RVES. "That is the kind of interest we hope to generate in children," she adds.

ON February 24, 10 am to 1 pm
AT ASPEE Auditorium, Laxminarayan Mandir Complex Marve Road, Malad West
CALL 9664737308
LOG ON TO insider.in
COST Rs 200

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St Sebastian Chapel in Fontainhas. Pic courtesy/Mark D'Souza

There are two kinds of people who visit Goa - the peace and leisure seekers who soak up the solitude that the place offers, and the 'woohoo' gang who could do with drinking and partying at Mambo's every night. If you belong to the former category and wish to add a different touch to your annual summer Goa trip, sign up for Colour Fiesta Goa, a three-day opportunity to explore the sunshine state through art.

The heritage walk includes a visit to Goan musician Chico Fonseca’s home. Pics courtesy/Photooneil

Curated by Weekend Art Room, which conducts art workshops for those looking for a breather in Mumbai, the event will combine art lessons with a heritage walk and a day on the beach. Founder Sona Choksi, a self-taught artist who works with a team of art professionals, was looking to combine her love for painting and travel. The result was an art trip to Sindhudurg last year, which saw 40 enthusiasts, including art students and teachers, paint in the mobile-free green environs of the sea-side district.

Fontainhas is a heritage Latin quarter in Panjim, Goa

"I am passionate about art and travel. Usually people from the city paint either in restaurants or someone's home for paint parties. But to explore art in nature, where you live in a village and sit amid greenery without your cellphone, means that the output acquired a new form and has a different value altogether. One of the art teachers who was a part of the Sindhudurg trip had tears in her eyes as she was overwhelmed by the experience, which is unlike doing anything in the city. Goa is not just about drinking and partying, I want people to explore its other side," says Choksi.

The Sindhudurg trip included live painting sessions, using local red sand to create art with natural colours, and making art with leaves, stones and other elements of nature. The Goa trip will offer a similar experience. This includes painting with watercolours at Vagator beach (the stay will be near the beach too), spending a day at a local pottery studio to learn to create something with clay, a graffiti wall creation, working with acrylic paints and creating sand art.

The trip will also include a heritage sketch crawl in Fontainhas, the old Latin quarter in Panjim, a heritage area dotted with colourful picture-perfect homes. The walk will be conducted by Make it Happen, a travel experience company that regularly conducts such walks. "Fontainhas was a marshland and not habitable at all.

Sona Choksi

All the houses have been made on reclaimed land, and the narrow streets are great for exploring the place on foot. You won't find much traffic as opposed to the planned area of Panjim. The lifestyle of the place is very inspiring, laidback, quiet and quaint. The food is authentic. It has homes with tiled roofs built in the Portuguese style that are over a 100 years old with generations of families living in them. People still speak in Portuguese.

There are many art galleries and performance spaces in this area that promote all kinds of art. The area is also known for St Sebastian Chapel, which has a unique statue of Christ on the crucifix with his eyes open. Then there is the 31st January Road which commemorates the liberation of Portugal from Spain in 1640. We will also visit and meet Chico Fonseca. He is a known fado (a style of Portuguese music) musician," says Murali Shankaran, chief travel designer, Make It Happen.

From April 26 to 30
At: Stay near Vagator, North Goa
LOG on to: facebook.com/ weekendartroom
Call: 9930602032
Cost: Rs 10,500

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

When we first lay our hands on Pashmina, we didn't know what to expect. And that perhaps, is one of the first indications of a good read. A coming-of-age graphic novel which explores the relationship between an Indian-American mother and her teenage daughter, illustrator and writer Nidhi Chanani's Pashmina (HarperCollins) is filled with magic and tied together in such a heartfelt narrative, it would be a challenge not to find bits of your own life in it.

Chanani says her affair with illustration began long ago and that the first step was to fall in love with art, which began when she started drawing as a child. The birth of Pashmina, she says, can be traced back to that phase of her life as well. "My inspiration for Pashmina came from a variety of sources: my mom, growing up in the US, my first trip to India, and the choices women make — all of these things are woven into the story. When I was younger my parents would travel to India often. When they returned, their suitcases had a pungent, almost magical smell — from a place that seemed very far away. I was probably 10 years old. Opening their suitcase made me feel close to this other world. In a way, I believe this story has been with me since then."

The relationship between Priyanka, the protagonist, and her mother hits home the hardest, in that it is an apt depiction of the dichotomy that characterises a quintessential Indian mother — egging us to be freer than they were but also being restrictive at the same time. Explaining what this depicts for her, Chanani says, "As I wrote Pashmina, it also became about the relationship between an immigrant mother and a first-generation daughter. Touching upon the layers of understandings and misunderstandings, I explored my own relationship with my mom. Priyanka, is a teenager and being one is hard enough, especially if you are glaringly different. Many of Priyanka's struggles are ones I experienced myself. She is not only racially different, she's a nerdy teacher's pet, she comes from a single-parent household, and doesn't have as much money as her Orange County counterparts. Her mother struggles to understand her and raise her with her Indian beliefs and values."

Nidhi Chanani

The story comes full circle when Priyanka finally visits Kolkata, her hometown (as well as Nidhi's) in a quest to understand more about her roots. Travelling solo to the country of her heritage forces Priyanka to break free of her sheltered life and grow up, to face herself and begin the process of seeing her mother as a whole person. "I wanted to explore a different path to India than I had experienced. My teenage understanding of India was tainted by poverty-stricken, third world imagery. How wonderful would it be if a young person learned about their culture through only positive representations? That's the root of Pashmina; opening a suitcase and travelling to a fantasy version of India where a character can learn about their heritage in a favourable light," Chanani says. While some aspects of Priyanka's life are similar to hers, the story is not autobiographical. "I love samosas and comics! However, unlike Priyanka, I grew up close to my family in India. Fortunately for me, I wasn't so alone," she shares.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

A still from Some Stories Around Witches

In the tribal villages of Odisha, a teenage girl kills an elderly relative believing that she is a witch and the cause of her father’s death. Overnight, a village turns into a mob to kill three people — a man and two women — who were identified as witches by a witch doctor. Meanwhile, a family is threatened and ostracised, for it is believed they bring ill fate, after they cook meat.

Lipika Singh Darai

The audience is engaged with three real life incidents in the 53-minute documentary, Some Stories Around Witches. Directed by Bhubaneswar-based FTII alumnus Lipika Singh Darai and produced by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT), the film explores the politics of witch hunting and the humanitarian crisis surrounding it. It will be screened tomorrow as part of the 22nd edition of Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum’s monthly screening programme, Movies At The Museum.

“There is a mystery surrounding tradition and myths about witchcraft but we should also see it in the light of socio economics and politics to understand the complexity of the events. The cases are very sensitive and my priority was to make the camera’s presence insignificant,” says Darai, who will be present for a Q&A session post the screening, which marks its premiere in Mumbai.

At the event, also catch the screening of another PSBT production, There Is Something In The Air. Directed by Delhi-based filmmaker Iram Ghufran, the Hindi-Urdu documentary is a series of dream narratives, and accounts of spiritual possession as experienced by women ‘petitioners’ at the shrine of a Sufi saint in north India.

Bombay Chamber Orchestra concert

Did you know that world renowned classical composers like Mozart, Beethovan and modern day legends like George Gershwin and Nat King Cole were Freemasons?

Well, they were. Freemasonry is not the shadowy organisation it is made out to be in popular fiction. Freemasons are actually the world's oldest and largest non-religious, non-political and charitable organisation. It also has the honour of being the world’s largest fraternal society.

The first Grand Lodge in England is said to have been formed on June 24, 1717. This means that 2017 is the 300th or Tercentenary Anniversary.

The Freemasons are celebrating the completion of three hundred years of their formation, with a series of events in Mumbai, spread over the two days of January 27 and 28.

Many non-Freemasons, know very little of Freemasonry, and even if they do, consider it a secret society. Even lesser is known about the fact that Western Classical music has been deeply influenced by Freemasonry and many leading composers were Freemasons themselves.

Freemasons, together with the Bombay Chamber Orchestra have invited leading performers from India and abroad, and have put together a once- in-a-life time musical soiree. The event is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 28 at 6:00pm, Sophia Bhabha Hall, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai.

ALSO READ: Not such a secret society, after all

Donor passes for the premium segments of Rs 5000 and Rs 1500 have already been sold out. The last few regular seats at Rs 1000 are still available. The funds raised by the event are earmarked towards the cause of dementia.

So you have got to rush and book those passes right now.

For programme details and online donor passes log on to:
http://freemasonryintheeast.dglbombay.org/concert/

This year, (fortunately or unfortunately) has shaped out to be a traveller's paradise, with over 16 long weekends coming up. There are a number of destinations, both domestic and international, that have gained popularity in the recent past as popular travel spots among tourists. Here are top 7 places you could visit in India and abroad, as per ixigo, a travel marketplace:

1. McLeod Ganj (Himachal Pradesh)
McLeod Ganj is a paramount center of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. Precisely known as Little Lhasa, the town is home to a number of monasteries, essential temples, and other ancient structures. This beautiful hill station has it all, from treks to strolls, delicious cuisines to amazing beverages, adventures to spiritual places and much more. If you are an adventure junkie, experience trekking and camping on the Triund trail.

Coorg. Pic courtesy/YouTube

2. Coorg (Karnataka)
One of the best times to experience the raw natural beauty of Coorg is during March. This month sees the blooming of tea and spice plantations which fills the valleys with fragrances, refreshing your senses to the core. Must visit places in Coorg include Abbey Falls, Nagarhole National Park, Namdroling Monastery, Burude Falls, Honnamana Kere Lake, among others.

3. Sundarbans (West Bengal)
In the pre-winter month of November, the gates of Sundarbans National Park open. This month makes traveling to the dense mangrove forests easier to navigate through the meandering rivers to spot the Royal Bengal Tigers, as they are out sunbathing by the river. With enjoyable temperatures, dense foliage, and a wondrous wildlife, Sundarbans is easily one of the best places to visit in November. Beware of crocodiles and wild boar.

4. Mount Abu (Rajasthan)
The only hill station of Rajasthan, Mount Abu is the perfect escape from the scorching heat of June. Sitting amidst green forests, it lies in the Aravalli mountain range, around 1,220 meters above sea level. Get most of your vacation here and visit places like Nakki Lake, the famous Sunset Point, Achaleshwar Mahadev Temple, Trevor¿s Tank and Toad Rock.

5. Istanbul (Turkey)
November in Istanbul is a few degrees warmer than the neighbouring countries of Europe and also provides a vigorous push of the exotic to ward off the winter blues. Quite literally the meeting ground of the East and the West, Istanbul is lined with frescoed palaces, churches, museums and art galleries. Indulge in a reviving Turkish bath, see the city from high above on a hot balloon or fill up on Baklava with Turkish tea.

6. Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is stunningly picturesque, affordable and full of simple, smiling people. One of the most beautiful island nations of the world, its geography boasts of blissful beaches, rolling rainforests, and magnificent mountains while its culture and creative cuisine guarantee a trip most memorable.

7. Egypt
After the fierce heat of the summer months, September is pleasantly perfect to explore the ancient wonders and the endlessly spellbinding landscapes of Egypt. With peering pyramids, deserts, soaring minarets and temple ruins, this `Gift of the Nile¿ deserves a place in everyone¿s travel bucket list.

Following agreement reached by the remaining signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership earlier this year to push ahead following US President Donald Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the pact, Japan has taken the lead with regard to formulating a plan B for the agreement.

The European holiday traditions that predate - and became an inseparable part of - Christmas have been explored by Maria Kennedy, an instructor of folklore

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) was a valued partner in conceptualising the workshop content and was well represented at the workshop with the participation of its senior officials.

In the kidney transplantation process, the distance from a patient's residence to the nearest transplant center did not appear to affect access to early steps, revealed study of Southeastern U.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released updated projections of future U.S. energy production and use in its Annual Energy Outlook 2020 (AEO2020) today.

Discover 20 different ways to make extra money, save cash, pay down debt, or start their own side hustle, all of which are done online.

The 55-year-old actor sat down wth NPR to discuss his character and how his divorce from Angelina Jolie impacted his ability to process the emotional movie.

Penguins at Singapore zoo are making the most of the country's partial virus lockdown, being given free run of the empty complex and revelling in the chance to do some exploring.

Jonah Berger who is a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has advised Apple and Nike. In a new book, he shares advice for changing people's minds.

From podcasts to puzzles, The Mail on Sunday's Neil Simpson provides ideas on how to satisfy your wanderlust during pandemic lockdown.

His Majesty's Hospital Ship (HMHS) Britannic sunk in 55 minutes on 21 November 1916. It was larger than the Titanic but went down faster as the engines were accelerated in an attempt to beach it.