![\"view-of-the-river-lifey-winter-skyline-and-oconnell-bridge-dublin-city-centre-republic-of-ireland\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787500704_311_.jpeg\")
\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
This BBC writer tried out the concept of \u2018tiny tourism\u2019 while on holiday in Dublin. The philosophy, essentially, is that tourists should act like locals by visiting places like supermarkets. But she wasn\u2019t sold on the idea.<\/p>\n
(BBC<\/a>, approx. seven mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cSupermarket shopping might seem like an offbeat holiday choice, but that\u2019s the essence of \u2018Tiny Tourism\u2019, a concept first coined by UK-based creative platform It\u2019s Nice That. The counter-trend snubs overcrowded hotspots and \u2018bucket lists\u2019 in favour of seeking out small, hyper-local experiences. The principle boils down to one little rule: if it feels like a tourist would do it, don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Imprisoned in a country he had never heard of<\/a><\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n Roberto Mosquera was deported from the US to the kingdom of Eswatini, in Southern Africa. He had never been to Eswatini, he hadn\u2019t even heard of it. Now he\u2019s imprisoned there. Why?<\/p>\n (The New York Times<\/a>, approx. 23 mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cBefore they could make sense of the situation, they were forced inside a metal cage that was fitted onto a transport truck and driven to the Matsapha Correctional Complex, Eswatini\u2019s maximum-security prison. In a post on X, the Department of Homeland Security had called Mosquera and the four other men \u2018depraved monsters\u2019 who were \u2018so uniquely barbaric their home countries refuse to take them back.\u2019 Now they were met by dozens of guards wielding large sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. The world of high-end matchmaking<\/a><\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n Pascaretta has paid $65,000 (\u20ac56,000) to a high-end matchmaking company over the years. He has gone on approximately 40 first dates, but he\u2019s still looking for love.<\/p>\n (The New York Times<\/a>, approx. 13 mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cRight away, the date felt flat to Pascaretta. He is an executive at a global software company specialising in industrial artificial intelligence. His date had a big job in financial services. They were both professionally adept schmoozers, so over two rounds of drinks, they covered a lot of ground: the summer wedding circuit (she is a maid of honor in three, a good sign, Pascaretta thought); politics (both Republican); the Knicks; Celine Dion (she is a fan, and he\u2019s going to her concert this fall in Paris). But there was no sizzle. After three hours, Pascaretta walked his date back to her apartment, where they hugged briefly. No kiss.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Schizophrenia and heatwaves<\/a><\/p>\n Having schizophrenia can make it more difficult for the body to regulate core temperatures. In a heatwave, this means people with the condition face significant risks during a heatwave.\u00a0<\/p>\n (Wired<\/a>, approx. 10 mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cPeople with schizophrenia are estimated to represent about 1 percent of the world\u2019s population\u00a0but they made up some 16 percent of the more than 600 deaths from heat exposure across British Columbia that week.\u201d<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0The sound of earthworms<\/a><\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n This essay from a scientist shows how sound can offer new insights into nature, including the sounds earthworms make beneath the soil.<\/p>\n (Aeon<\/a>, approx. 13 mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cEarthworms do not have a discernible mouth, a means to make sound, or ears, and most spend their lives burrowing below ground, eating soil and decaying organic matter. However, their behaviours produce sounds, which can reveal a surprising amount about the subterranean world in which they live. I\u2019ve recently found myself leaning over a box of soil in the basement of my university department, headphones clutched to my ears, revelling in the soft, Velcro-like scrapes of earthworms eating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 5. Why does Bryan Johnson want to live forever?<\/a><\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n Tech entrepreneur and longevity guru Bryan Johnson has made his wish to live to forever very clear. But why does he want to?\u00a0<\/p>\n (The New York Times<\/a>, approx. eight mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cHe says he has poured millions of dollars into studying and perfecting his own body, and calls himself the most measured human being in history. His goal is to make it possible to live forever. (He is almost 49.)\u201d<\/p>\n 6. Phone scammers in the neighbourhood<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n This deep-dive looks into how a young couple who scammed fortunes from Canadian families managed to hide their criminal operation in plain sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n (Toronto Life<\/a>, approx. 55 mins reading time)<\/p>\n \u201cBy all appearances, Mansouri and Alouah were textbook arrivistes who had amassed the right connections, income and postal code to ascend Toronto\u2019s new-money ranks. Yet something seemed amiss. Despite the apparent means to buy a house\u2014or perhaps multiple\u2014they were renters, squeezed into the main floor with two units above. Castle Frank is a tight-knit street, with an appointed \u2018mayor\u2019 and regular block parties, but the pair rarely interacted with their neighbours, shying away from small talk, barely waving when waved at.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"beautiful-hilly-landscape-of-small-african-country-called-eswatini\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787500705_338_.jpeg\")
\n The kingdom of Eswatini, in Southern Africa. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n![\"beautiful-passionate-couple-romantic-candlelight-dinner-at-home-wine-in-glasses-hold-a-womans-hand-close-up-valentines-day-celebration\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787500706_31_.jpeg\")
\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n![\"common-earthworm-lumbricus-terrestris-and-red-earthworm-lumbricus-rubellus-in-the-soil-of-a-meadow-germany\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787500707_166_.jpeg\")
\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n![\"dont-die-the-man-who-wants-to-live-forever-bryan-johnson-2025-netflix-courtesy-everett-collection\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787500707_506_.jpeg\")
\n Bryan Johnson in the documentary Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
![\"ida-b-wells-1862-1931-american-investigative-journalist-educator-and-one-of-the-founders-of-the-naacp-about-1893\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787500708_156_.jpeg\")