Blog - Deep English

Handshake History

There’s an amazing diversity of greeting customs around the world. In Tibet sticking out your tongue can be a way of welcoming people. In New Zealand, Maori greet each other by touching noses. Ethiopian men touch shoulders, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, male friends touch foreheads. In many Asian countries, people bow to each other when meeting. And in some European countries, as well as Arab countries, hugs or kisses on the cheek are more the norm.
Adapted from image by: Donkey Hotey (CC BY 2.0)

#576

Time Travel: A Pilot’s Strange Tale And A Scientist’s Lifelong Dream

We’ve all seen movies and TV shows where the characters have traveled through time, or used a time machine. These are usually science fiction movies, but some scientists say time travel is possible in theory. There are also some people who claim to have actually done it. Image by Hartwig HKD License: (CC BY-ND 2.0)

#575

Inside America’s Radio Quiet Zone: The Unique Town That Bans Wi-Fi and Cell Phones

Invisible rays are all around us, and most of us never even notice. In today’s technology-saturated world, it’s hard to imagine living life without …

#574

The Surprising Benefits of Synchronized Movement

Have you ever felt a connection with others while singing, dancing, or listening to music together? Psychologist Robin Dunbar says moving in sync can create strong bonds between people. He believes it helped early humans make larger groups and better communities. Dunbar thinks humans found a way to get in tune with many people at […]

#573

One Word Spoken All Over the World

When you listen to someone speaking a language you don’t understand, can you pick up any meaning? Most people can, because a lot of body language is universal, and up to 90% of all communication is nonverbal. Most of spoken language is not universal though, and there are very few words, which are the same across all languages. Modern linguists are beginning to study these universal words now. Image by: qthomasbower License: (CC BY 2.0)

#572

Woman Survives Plane Crash In Jungle

In 1992, Annette Herfkens and her fiancé were on vacation in Vietnam when their plane crashed. Annette was the only survivor. She found herself alone and badly injured in the jungle. At first, she panicked, but then she focused on her breath. She didn’t have time to worry about tigers or dying. She needed to […]

#571

Mind-Gut Connection: How Your Stomach Might Shape Your Brain

Perhaps one day, modern medicine will accept that food is truly medicine. Imagine a future where your doctor gives you foods rich in healthy microbes, such as yogurt, sauerkraut and natto, to heal not only your body, but also your mind.

#570

Man Lives To The Age Of 82 Without Ever Seeing A Woman

Mihailo Tolotos spent his entire life without ever seeing a woman. He was a monk who lived on the Mount Athos peninsula in Greece. Mount Athos is a unique place in Europe. It is home to 20 monasteries and roughly 2,000 monks. For more than a thousand years, women and female animals have been prohibited […]

#569

The Sleeping Body Is A Window To The Mind

Everyone knows that our bodies can be windows into our minds, but what about our sleeping bodies?

#568

How Many Kids Is Too Many? The Duggars’ Unbelievable Family Size!

Children are precious. No one would argue with that, but how many children is enough? Michelle Duggar, the mother of one of America’s most famous large families, says that she leaves that question for god to answer.

#567

Your Map Upside Down – Don’t Confuse Symbols With Reality Itself

Mike Spencer has been on the road for 23 years and has visited over 190 countries. Traveling non-stop since he was 21, he is now being called the world most traveled man.

#566

Who Owns the Moon?

The concept of anyone owning the moon seems pretty silly. The concept of any single person owning the moon seems even sillier. Even if you could imagine owning the moon, you might think it would be a whole country who owned the moon. Not just any country either, but the country who had gone to the moon the most often. The reality is much different though.

#565

The Real Story Of Atlantis – An Underwater Utopia

The ancient civilization of Atlantis was a utopia. It was lush and full of food and wildlife. And the people of Atlantis were wise and just. They were a knowledgeable society capable of amazing feats of architecture and engineering. Most people believe that the story of Atlantis is just a legend, but some say it was a real place that was destroyed by a flood and earthquakes.

#564

Teacher Prevents Mass Shooting With A Hug

On an April morning in 1999, Columbine High School in Colorado became the scene of a terrible tragedy. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold laughed and hollered as they killed 13 people and wounded 20 others. Their innocent victims were their teachers and classmates. The teenage killers then turned their guns on themselves.

#563

Boy Wakes Up And Can’t Speak A Lick Of English

Reuben is a gifted soccer player and fearless goalie. He was playing for an elite youth soccer team in Atlanta, Georgia when the unfortunate accident happened. He was kicked in the head by an opponent and went into shock. He stopped breathing multiple times and came in and out of consciousness on the soccer field. His coach said, “I thought I might lose him…”

#562

How Much Of Reality Is Shared?

A grizzly bear can smell a human from 18 miles away. Jumping spiders can see colors beyond normal range that humans do. And some birds can fly across world using earth’s magnetic fields as a guide. But what about humans?

#561

When Cultures Collide

Meet Richard Lewis. A world traveler and linguist who speaks 10 different languages, Richard is highly experienced in interacting with people from many different cultures. In 1996, he first published a book called ‘When Cultures Collide’. Now, in that book he presents a model of 3 different predominant cultural types into which people from various countries can be placed.

#560

The Loneliest Creature On Earth

Imagine the loneliness of speaking a language that only you can understand. Researchers have been studying a whale, who communicates in a language not recognizable by other whales. This whale has spent over two decades looking for a friend who will understand him.

#559

Nature As Medicine

Like many people, Gemma Hartley struggles with depression and anxiety. For five years, she used meditation to keep her symptoms in check. But one day, facing some tight writing deadlines at work, she felt herself beginning to slip back toward her old symptoms. This time, meditating wasn’t enough.

#558

Smells Like Health

It was a quiet night, and Dorrie Nuttall was fast asleep. Her seven-year-old son was sleeping next to her hooked up to a machine, which was supposed to alert her if his glucose levels were too low. The alert never came. Not from the machine, anyway. Jedi, Luke’s adorable diabetes-sniffing dog, started jumping on and off the bed. Nuttall didn’t wake up, so Jedi took it up a notch.

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