‘In a Violent Nature’ Review: Killing Them Softly

‘In a Violent Nature’ Review: Killing Them Softly

There is a calm implacability to “In a Violent Nature” that’s deeply unsettling and particularly unpleasant. Yet I was also transfixed: Chris Nash’s direction is so persuasively bold — brazen, really — and bloodcurdlingly coolheaded that his unusual shocker is impossible to dismiss. Gathering routine genre elements — the masked predator, the luckless teenage victims, … Read more

Branching out: Wooden homes connect Hamptonites with nature

Branching out: Wooden homes connect Hamptonites with nature

When TWA pilot Eugene John Tallarico started to hand build his home in Montauk in 1976, he knew it would be an experiment. Influenced by the work of Buckminster Fuller and his geodesic dome structures, Tallarico set out to create an ultramodern-meets-cabin-in-the-woods retreat on a woodsy, isolated plot at 54 E. Lake Drive. The result … Read more

This Italian beach town wants you to get married there — naked

This Italian beach town wants you to get married there — naked

Something borrowed, something nude. Nudist couples hoping to celebrate their nuptials au naturel have an open invitation from officials in at least one beautiful Italian coastal destination. Is Benas beach, located halfway up Sardinia’s west coast, is already famous for its tan line-free tanning opportunities. Soon it will also allow nude weddings, according to CNN. … Read more

Inside Costa Rica’s ‘cave of death’ which kills all that enters

Inside Costa Rica’s ‘cave of death’ which kills all that enters

Take a deep breath before trekking here. Deep in the volcanic mountains of Costa Rica hides a deadly, yet small opening of the Earth that engulfs and kills just about all that enters. Locals in the Alajuela Province call this six-foot-deep and ten-foot-long hell hole — accompanied by warning signs of skulls and crossbones — … Read more

This specific nature activity can improve students’ mental health

This specific nature activity can improve students’ mental health

Birds fly over the rainbow — so why can’t you watch your worries fly away, too? A new study from North Carolina State University, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, found that bird-watching can help college students improve their mental health.  Studies have shown that spending time in nature can boost overall well-being, but … Read more

This is a free and easy way to beat stress, experts say

This is a free and easy way to beat stress, experts say

The secret to beating stress could be as simple as going outside, according to an expert.  “The outdoors have so many amazing benefits for us,” general pediatrician Dr. Vanessa Slots told CBS Minnesota station WCCO.  “There are a lot of studies that show being in nature — even if it’s just sitting under a tree … Read more

If you want to avoid lanternflies this summer, here’s how you need to act

If you want to avoid lanternflies this summer, here’s how you need to act

The now dreaded lanternfly season is upon Americans and officials are alerting the public on how to avoid the pesky spotted pest this summer. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) told the country to be on the lookout specifically for spotted lanternfly eggs and to destroy them immediately. Early detection of the annoying bugs’ eggs … Read more

Mysterious ‘Godzilla eggs’ spotted in lake: ‘What in the alien invasion is this?’ 

Mysterious ‘Godzilla eggs’ spotted in lake: ‘What in the alien invasion is this?’ 

They’re UFOs — unidentified floating objects. Online denizens were left baffled after mysterious blobs were spotted in an Oklahoma lake — with many comparing them to “alien eggs.” The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) highlighted these bizarro objects, which were found in McGee Creek Reservoir, in a Facebook post going viral. A colony of … Read more

The most popular US tourist attractions by state revealed

The most popular US tourist attractions by state revealed

Google, where do Americans want to go? The research team at SFT Project analyzed Google search results to determine the most googled tourist attractions in each state over the last year. Overall, Americans were most interested in visiting national parks and outdoor settings filled with nature, with people in 30 states searching for these types of trips more than any other tourist … Read more

Secrets hiding behind a tree’s ‘age rings’: Experts weigh in

Secrets hiding behind a tree’s ‘age rings’: Experts weigh in

Perhaps you’ve wandered through a forest or strolled into a neighborhood park and found tree trunks — and wondered if counting the rings on a trunk is truly a way to know the tree’s age. “Most of us learned as children that the age of a tree could be found by counting its rings,” said … Read more

Doctor reveals 2 easy hacks for ‘Ozempic effect’ weight loss without drugs: ‘Nature has got you covered’

Doctor reveals 2 easy hacks for ‘Ozempic effect’ weight loss without drugs: ‘Nature has got you covered’

Don’t worry, these weight loss hacks don’t involve chaining up your fridge or jumping on the treadmill. Want to shed some pounds but hesitant to go on the extremely trendy Ozempic? Not to fear: An internal medicine doctor has outlined several natural ways to mimic this injectable appetite suppressant sans actually taking the shot, which … Read more

I’m head over heels in love with an oak tree — but it isn’t about sex 

I’m head over heels in love with an oak tree — but it isn’t about sex 

If you fall for a tree in the woods, does it make a sound? A self-proclaimed “ecosexual” took nature loving to the extreme after becoming infatuated with an oak tree — which she says fills her with “erotic energy.” “There was an eroticism with something so big and so old holding my back,” Sonja Semyonova, … Read more

I live outside 24/7 and eat roadkill — I don’t want animals to die in vain

I live outside 24/7 and eat roadkill — I don’t want animals to die in vain

This redefines eating on the road. An Oregon woman is making waves online after claiming that she lives outside 24/7 and even eats roadkill because she doesn’t want animals to “die in vain.” “I’m really good at knowing when an animal is fresh,” Manders Barnett, 32, told South West News Service of her literal roadside dining … Read more

The sun’s rare green flash is coming: Here’s how to capture it with your camera

The sun’s rare green flash is coming: Here’s how to capture it with your camera

KEY WEST, Fla. – The green flash from the Sun is a phenomenon that has been the subject of much debate, with many people dismissing it as just a myth.  However, according to NASA, the green flash is a real phenomenon when the Sun sets or rises, and its light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers and amateur skygazers … Read more

No time to go outside? Even watching nature videos can improve mental health: study

No time to go outside? Even watching nature videos can improve mental health: study

If you don’t have time for a relaxing walk through the woods, try a nature video instead. A new study found that watching even a brief video of nature scenes significantly improved the mental health of viewers — especially compared to the effect of watching scenes of urban environments. The researchers focused on late adolescence, … Read more

From the Ozarks to California, these leaf-peeping spots outdo New England

From the Ozarks to California, these leaf-peeping spots outdo New England

One in four Americans are planning a trip this fall season to sneak a peek at the changing orange, red and yellow foliage, according to AAA. But for veteran leaf peepers, the crowded byways of the northeast have their cons. There’s, for instance, the familiar traffic jams and the extravagant rates at the inn. Luckily … Read more

I eat roadkill and forage — we should treat plants and animals like people

I eat roadkill and forage — we should treat plants and animals like people

Teach a man to eat roadkill you feed him for a lifetime — which may not be long considering his risky diet. Eric Joseph Lewis, 41, spends just $50 a week on store-bought food, opting to forage for wild plants and eat roadkill, instead. Lewis and his girlfriend Jess Russell, 26, spend their days eating … Read more

Teen wrangles 15-foot, 100-pound python in Florida: ‘The thing went nuts’

Teen wrangles 15-foot, 100-pound python in Florida: ‘The thing went nuts’

His Hogwarts house sure wouldn’t be Slytherin. A Florida teenager was praised for wrasslin’ up a massive, 15-foot-6-inch python during his first-ever trip to the state’s southernmost Everglades National Park on Sunday. The reptile-wrangling rock star, 18-year-old Jack Cronin of Fort Meyers, had but one thing to say after impressively capturing the monstrous leviathan. “I … Read more

Harrison Ford reacts to new snake species named after him: ‘Humbling’

Harrison Ford reacts to new snake species named after him: ‘Humbling’

Why did it have to be snakes? Harrison Ford’s iconic character Indiana Jones might fear and hate snakes, but the star was enthusiastic to be the namesake for a newly-discovered snake species. “This discovery is humbling,” Ford, 81, told the Hollywood Reporter. Ford was referring to a newly-discovered snake species that is now called “Tachymenoides … Read more