Trial and Error
Testing the therapies of the future
'Forest Bathing': How Microdosing on Nature Can Help With Stress
The practice, long-popular in Japan, is gaining traction in the U.S. as a way of harnessing the health benefits of being outdoors.
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Elena Pavlovich / Chaikom / Shutterstock / Zak ... A Map That Shows You Everything Wrong With Your Brain
Technology that compares your brain’s electrical activity to everyone else’s could revolutionize mental-health treatments—or worsen people’s obsessions with perfection.
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Mad Dog / Triff / Rattiya Thongdumhyu / ... Can Your DNA Tell You the Healthiest Way to Live Your Life?
Genetic-sequencing companies are going beyond ancestry and disease risk to offer specific lifestyle recommendations.
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IM_photo / chromatos / Joshua Rainey Photography / ... The Bespoke High Is the Future of Marijuana
A California company makes weed vaporizers to suit every mood—here’s what happened when I tried them.
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F. A. Murphy / CDC A Clever New Way to Predict Next Year's Flu
A study suggests an unusual strategy to make vaccines more effective.
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Sarah Jung Psychics Who Hear Voices Could Be On to Something
The ways some “healthy voice hearers” cope might be able to help people with psychotic disorders.
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sashahaltam; mamagio; Yongcharoen_kittiyaporn; bright / Shutterstock / David ... The Injection That Melts a Double Chin
A noninvasive, nonsurgical procedure is enticing customers who might not otherwise seek out cosmetic treatments.
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Krishnendu Halder / Reuters Is Fear of Flying Contagious?
Trapped in a metal tube in the sky, I might be spreading my anxiety to those around me.
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Ashley Fetters / Africa Studio / Vladimir Prusakov ... I Tried a Spa Treatment Designed to Produce the Tingly Feeling of ‘ASMR’
Two artists are trying to translate relaxing YouTube videos into an in-person treatment—complete with tapping, whispering, and face-brushing.
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Voyagerix / Peter Dedeurwaerder / Dario Lo Presti ... Infrared Saunas Will Not ‘Detoxify’ You
The popular spa treatment is certainly relaxing—but its purveyors make a lot of false claims.
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Chelsea Beck Can This App Make Me Happier?
For months I tried doing little tasks designed to improve my life, hoping they would add up to something big.
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Nicolas Pollock / The Atlantic I Quit Showering, and Life Continued
We spend two full years of our lives washing ourselves. How much of that time (and money and water) is a waste?
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Anatol Misnikou / Shutterstock That Time I Tried BDSM Therapy
Not all therapists take the gentle approach.
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Olga Khazan / The Atlantic ‘Wanna Grab a Marijuana Tea After Work?’
As pot laws liberalize, cannabis capitalists eye opportunities for business—and to upend stereotypes. But can white-collar workers handle it, man?
