Breathe in. Corsets are back.
Corsets, the restrictive, waist-pinching bodices last popular a century ago, are making a comeback. Designers like Donna Karan, Proenza Schouler and Marc Jacobs are using them in their lines, and more women are buying them. But some warn that corsets pose health risks and threaten women's self-esteem.
Waxing too painful? Try threading, an Indian art of hair removal that's sweeping the hip salons
Threading, the ancient Asian art of hair removal, has moved out of the back rooms of Indian immigrants' houses to high-end salons around the country. Fans say the method is kinder to the face than waxing or tweezing.
Stadium singles night: looking for love at the game
Pro sports teams are aiming for romance-industry magic, hosting speed dating for fans during game time. Singles Night promotions could boost ticket sales as the Internet dating craze fades.
Mannequin makers focus on the bottom line
Half-formed naked bodies recline on long workbenches; shreds of sparkling fiberglass cover the floor like hay in a western saloon. This is a glimpse into the world of manufacturing mannequins, a niche industry that has to keep up with popular culture--or else.
Keeping nature in the classroom
At a time when testing standards in English and math have taken center stage in education, environmental educators are trying to keep lessons about the natural world in the classroom. Groups like the Audubon Society say environmental education engages kids and helps them do better on standardized tests in other subjects.
Cooks serving history on a platter
Amateur cooks and culinary historians are recreating meals from the past, with varying results in terms of authenticity--and digestibility.
Dog Scouts of America: ambassadors for dog ownership
Like Girl or Boy Scouts, Dog Scouts can also earn merit badges for their model citizenry. But there's more to being a Dog Scout than hiking through the woods or learning how to tow a person to shore. Through Dog Scouts, dogs and their companions promote responsible dog ownership and educate people about the importance of the human-canine bond.
Encyclopaedia Iranica: an Iranian love story
After Sept. 11, 2001, journalists turned to Encyclopaedia Iranica to learn about Afghanistan, part of the "Iranian cultural continent." The staff of Iranica, headquartered at Columbia University's Center for Iranian Studies, is now at work on the 13th volume, which includes the letter “I,”--and the current focus: Iran.
Future politicians sharpen their claws
Every spring, future politicians swarm 36 state capitals to create model legislatures. Designed to provide teenagers with hands-on experience in government affairs, the program, sponsored by local YMCAs, also has other benefits: Several current state laws were first proposed by student legislators during these events.
Chew (quietly) on this: Kids are going to manners school
Parents once taught their children manners at the family dinner table. But today, in the latest example of outsourcing parental duties, manners classes for children are popping up all over to teach children the proper way to cut chicken, sip soup and fold a napkin.
Thoughtcrime on campus? Call Students for an Orwellian Society
Students for an Orwellian Society is creating a new breed of campus radical--satirists who camouflage liberal sentiment in fascist rhetoric. The student activists claim George Orwell’s novel “1984” is their model for an ideal society.
Trouble in the Land of Oz: The Munchkins are squabbling
There's trouble in Munchkinland. For more than 25 years, surviving Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz" were free agents who negotiated their own deals for Oz festivals and other public appearances. But since an agent came to represent three of the seven surviving actors, things haven't been the same in the Munchkin family.
New teen study could help stop spread of sexually transmitted disease
By mapping the sexual relationships of an entire high school over 18 months, sociologists have discovered surprising patterns, or what they call "chains of affection." Their findings could influence social policy and help stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents.
Hockey band shoots--and scores! Despite NHL lockout
The world's only all-hockey band is scoring more than ever in this NHL lockout year. The band wins big with punk-indie-country sounds and onstage comic charisma. Also, a monkey helps.
Adoption gives older women a second chance at motherhood
Single women in their 40s and 50s are adopting babies as an alternative path to motherhood and are finding it easy to do. Adoption agencies are quick to see the advantages of single mothers who have more life experience and are increasingly more financially independent. But older single moms do face some unique parenting difficulties.
Thirty years later 'Rocky Horror' still thrills and chills its ageing fans
When it first opened in theaters, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was a bomb. Thirty years later, legions of loyal fans continue to flock to the film every weekend and have transformed the "Rocky Horror" show into the theatrical spectacle of its age.
Bunco: Suburban women embrace the dice game
Across America, suburban mothers are scheduling regular parties to play the dice game Bunco. It serves the same social purpose as book clubs, but requires less mental effort. Fans say Bunco helps break isolation in a relaxed setting.
Wind power graduates to college
Colleges and universities across the country are lighting classrooms and powering computers with nonpolluting renewable energy. Minnesota colleges have taken it a step further--by going green as high-tech energy producers.
Corn-based plastic is ear today, gone tomorrow
When Newman’s Own Organics launched its Fresh Produce product line this year, the company chose plastic containers that not only held vegetables, but also were made of a vegetable. Corn, not petroleum, is the main ingredient in this new packaging. From salad containers to milk bottles, the landfill-friendly corn plastic (it biodegrades in just 45 days) is finding its way onto shelves around the country.
Nonviolent toys blast off
While plastic guns and gory video games are still doing a bustling business, toy makers and marketers are being pushed to make kinder, gentler products--and people are buying them.
In disaster aid, scientists look to bugs to help rescuers keep in touch
How can communication between thousands of rescuers be coordinated? The tsunami in South Asia and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks showed how pressing this question is. Some scientists believe the answer lies in the behavior of bugs.
Diabetics dependent on drugs may now get the same results from herbs
An Ohio State University study has shown that an obscure herb growing in the rain forests of India and Sri Lanka may serve as an alternative to drug therapy for controlling Type 2 diabetes.
Ugh, supermarket cheddar? Here come the cheese snobs
In the world of food fetishists, it's now on to cheese. Aficionados are looking for handmade varieties that demand the same devotion and scrutiny once reserved for fine wines.
Ordinary Americans try to relieve the pain in Darfur
Some Americans have been spurred into action by the genocide in Sudan. But directing attention to the conflict and to ways people can help has been a challenge.
Solidarity through song: Gay choir turns 25
When the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus first formed 25 years ago, gay liberation and AIDS activism formed the repertoire. Now the choral movement includes more than 200 choirs around the world, and the choirs are redefining their mission and their music for the next generation.
Companies turn to adventure play to promote team bonding
Companies are using group games more commonly found at children’s summer camps to bring employees together. Instead of the Outward Bound- style individual challenges that were popular in the 1980s and '90s, more companies are choosing games that emphasize teamwork and fun.
Tallying big city street dwellers
New York’s annual all-night street census tallies the size of the city's homeless population. This year, teams of volunteers spread out citywide, from subway stations to back alleys to city parks.
Out of the hospital and into the red
Medical bills are bankrupting millions of Americans every year, according to a recent Harvard study. Some are struggling to hold onto their wallets and their lives.
Is 87 too old to break into the TV business? Maybe not
Forget shuffleboard and Scrabble, senior citizens these days are learning TV journalism--in the hope of becoming a star someday on a televison channel aimed at oldsters, where he programming will be made by and for people over 65.
Child wranglers: the adults who baby-sit on Broadway
Yeah, they've made it to Broadway. And they may be professionals. But they're still just kids, and they need tending. That's where "child wranglers" come in. When parents are gone, wranglers are responsible for taking care of child actors, helping them with everything from memorizing lines to computer games.
Cell phones help Bangladesh fight arsenic poisoning
Bangladesh is facing a nationwide epidemic: arsenic poisoning. The chemical naturally occurs in the drinking water and is destroying the health of more than 40 million people. But new cell phone technology may provide a solution.
Safer cigarettes: coming to a store near you?
Cigarettes and other tobacco products are the leading cause of fire-related deaths in the United States. Following passage of a cigarette safety standard in New York, 12 states are considering legislation that would require manufacturers to make their products less prone to starting fires.
Pee-mates: helping women stand up like men
Women who need to urinate while outdoors or want to avoid messy public toilets can now do so standing up with P-mates. The funnel-like devices have made a splash in Europe and are beginning to catch on in North America. Vertical relief makes life so much easier, users say.
Leprosy in America: new cause for concern
Leprosy affects millions of people worldwide. Now researchers fear that an influx of infected immigrants, some coming to America specifically to seek treatment, could trigger a resurgence of the dread illness in the United States.
Doghouse rules of online dating
Fido is helping his owner find a date on a handful of new Web sites dedicated to match-making for canine fanciers. The pets take the lead by describing everything from how they met their owners to what they find so wonderful about them.
Solar sails: harnessing the sun's rays to explore galaxies
Scientists are looking to use an ancient technology to travel to distant solar systems: sails. Just as Columbus used sails to power his ships, so astronomers are developing gigantic mirrors that can capture the sun's rays to propel spacecraft.
Beekeeping in the city: That urban buzz you hear is not just the local gossip
Whether it's scaling down-spouts or leaping across airshafts, urban beekeepers need that special daring-do to keep the buzzers happy and their hives in honey.
Promoters deliver an elite crowd for hot nightclubs
Elite nightclubs are increasingly relying on outside promoters to bring in the best-looking, hippest and wealthiest partygoers. These promoters are only as good as their contact lists, and they can make a lot of money by being exclusive, and delivering the perfect crowd.
Digital music: straight up and hold the art
When most teenagers want to listen to their favorite song, they don’t pull an album off the shelf; they pull up a computer file. Gone are the days of reflective album art and detailed liner notes. What form will they take next?
Jittery best men seek online help for ready-made toasts
Wedding day speeches by best men and maids of honor are more important than ever, so more people are turning to a new source for quips and heartfelt phrases: Internet speechwriters.
Forget about, Roll over, dear. The snore is here to stay
Snoring is no laughing matter. It can affect people's sex lives, hurt their job performance and push couples to the brink.
Say what? Are earphones damaging our hearing?
With small earphones blaring music into the ears of millions, a generation of young people is risking hearing loss.
J-Lo's effect on, uh, female beauty
The "J-Lo Effect" has put an emphasis on women's derrieres not seen since the bustle of the late 19th century. Is it the triumph of a more voluptuous Latino ideal of beauty, or simply another market driven fashion trend? Maybe a little bit of both.
Grandma's milk is back--and it's creaming the competition
Savory, rich, cream-topped milk is making a comeback. Gourmet consumers are clamoring for the product, and dairy farmers across the country are meeting the demand. It’s a growing niche market, and one that is helping smalltime dairy farmers preserve the family farm.
A new weapon in the war against too much TV
Do you hate the annoying blare of television in airports or bars? Anti-TV crusaders call it secondhand smoke for the mind--and now they have a secret weapon to ward it off.
Impersonating a cop is illegal--and dangerously easy
Impersonating a police officer has never been easier--police paraphernalia is readily available, to professional collectors, but also to terrorists and dangerous criminals. This leaves real police officers with the task of separating the criminals from the enthusiasts.
Visa rule change may lure back foreign science students
U.S. visa rules post-Sept. 11 have discouraged foreign students from studying here, prompting a decline in the number of students applying to science and engineering programs. A reversal of one of these rules has provided hope for some academics who feared that America was losing its competitive edge in the sciences.