Jean Kim

Called the “health epidemic of the 21st century” by the World Health Organization, stress is a factor in nearly half of work-performance issues and costs US businesses an estimated $300 billion a year ”through absenteeism, diminished productivity, employee turnover and direct medical, legal and insurance fees,” according to the American Psychological Association. Since not every office provides sleep pods and massage retreats like Google does, here are some stress-relief hacks for the rest of us:

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 showed just how large the ocean is and how little we know of it. In fact, we know 100 times more (pdf, pg.121) about the topography of Mars than we do about the bottom of our oceans.

Initially used as a defense from the police’s tear gas and pepper spray in Hong Kong’s democracy potests, the umbrella has come to signify much more. It has become a symbol of defiance against the intimidation of Beijing, and of the protests themselves, now known worldwide as the Umbrella Revolution.

This post has been corrected.

A hair-raising traffic collision in the Suez Canal caused a hiccup in the international flow of goods today.

Comedian John Oliver joked that India’s newly elected prime minister, Narendra Modi, had set “the new bar” for visits by heads of government. Modi’s weekend visit to New York City had some of the trappings of a rock star’s arrival.

It’s one thing for parents to shell out for cram schools or private tutors for their children, but parents in China’s Zhejiang province are taking it a step further. There, parents can give their own blood to earn some extra points on their child’s zhongkao, or high school entrance exam.

Whether it’s to complain about a flight or a hotel reservation, getting good customer service when you call can be a lottery. But from the business perspective, it’s not always a great investment to provide good customer service all the time.

Stories of breastfeeding mothers being exiled to the bathrooms of department stores and restaurants in the US have infuriated mothers and breastfeeding advocates. So news of a public bus (link in Chinese) in China’s Zhejiang province that has set aside a curtained-off seat for nursing mothers (and a similar program in another Chinese city started last year) has garnered praise on mommy blogs around the world.

It turns out that man’s tail-wagging, ear-flopping, salivating best friend is quite a complex fellow. A new study by researchers at the University of Sydney confirmed what many dog owners know: that some dogs are pessimists, while others approach the world with an upbeat, can-do attitude.

The rise of K-pop and global medical tourism have worked out nicely for South Korea. But the country’s go-go days as a tourist destination could be over soon. Korea’s currency has been strengthening—the won recently reached a six-year high against the US dollar—and unfavorable exchange rates are expected to keep Chinese tourists, who accounted for 35.5% of the country’s visitors last year, away. Meanwhile, rising political tensions with Japan already have trimmed tourism from there, by about 22% in 2013.

South Korea, land of tech giants like Samsung and LG, is one of the most wired countries in the world; its smartphone penetration rate is 70%, compared to 58% in the US. Users have internet access throughout the country’s subways and Seoulites can now charge their phones at hydropower stations in Cheonggyecheon, a waterway running through the city. The frenetic pace of the city is enough to inspire a competition that requires people to do just the opposite: chill out.

In South Korea, where the population is aging faster than any other OECD country, companies are increasingly desperate to attract young staff. At least that’s one possible explanation for why Samsung is introducing a “musicom”—that’s a music sitcom—to entice new workers.

Google was once infamous for giving job applicants brain teasers (though those were later discontinued and Google even admitted these questions didn’t help to find good employees). In South Korea, job applicants have traditionally faced a slew of baffling questions. And like Google, employers are starting to doubt their value.

Lateness says volumes about your character and work ethic, and from a corporate standpoint it can cost billions of dollars. In the US alone, one in six workers reported being late at least once a week, and a third of employers say they have fired an employee for lateness, according to a 2011 survey. An earlier survey found that CEOs are late to eight out of 10 meetings—and that when they’re late every day by just 10 minutes, that adds up to $90 billion in lost productivity.

An engineer in China’s Sichuan provincial government has uncovered data with deep environmental implications for the country.

Beginning in the late 1970s and through the 80s, the dollar’s fast drop against the yen caused a real estate frenzy for Japanese investors who bought skyscrapers, houses, condos, and other property in Hawaii. The Japanese “came to town and just started buying and didn’t care what the price was,” one Honolulu broker told the New York Times at the time. Sound familiar?

It’s not uncommon for women to experience anxiety and depression after discovering that they are infertile. However, a new study (pdf) from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology found that, more than a decade after unsuccessful fertility treatment, women who have trouble accepting that they cannot have children have worse long-term mental health than those whose who have made peace with their infertility.

The recent years of economic hardship in Europe have taken their toll on the psyche of their citizens: According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, people in developed OECD nations like Greece, Italy, Spain, and France feel worse about their economic prospects than those in countries with ensuing violence like Ukraine, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories. And yet, from an economic perspective, citizens in these European countries are arguably faring better than those in violence-stricken countries like Ukraine or Egypt.

Many of the students starting college this fall also have enrolled in the club of US student loan borrowers, and now shoulder part of the nation’s $1.2 trillion student debt load (that’s more than the debt from credit cards or auto loans). And, as British comedian John Oliver pointed out last night on his HBO show, students who’ve attended for-profit colleges bear an outsize portion of the onus.

Some weeks, the thought of the weekend is all that keeps us going. Then we finally get there, and the two days seem to fly by. Sunday evening comes around and often we’re struck by Sunday sadness, soon followed by Monday misery. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are some tips for spending those precious 48 hours in a way that boosts energy, helps you tap into your creative synapses, and prepare for a productive week ahead.

In workout wear (and even with denim pants), synthetic materials like polyester and elastane are crucial elements to help designers bring together comfort, fit and fashion. Newer fabrics are also longer-lasting, easy to clean, and don’t wrinkle easily. And polyester can wick sweat away from your skin, keeping you feeling moisture-free during intensive workouts.

At the height of the financial crisis, the White House frequently found itself turning to veterans of Goldman Sachs to tackle the emergency, leading to the firm’s nickname: Government Sachs. Of course this was no accident, as then-US Treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. was a Goldman alum.

For movie theaters that play foreign films, subtitles are a necessity, dubbing an added bonus. That goes for downloaded movies and TV shows as well. But dubbed entertainment isn’t easy to come by, and viewers usually end up with the cumbersome task of simultaneously reading subtitles while watching the scenes.