editorial
Varna Culture is thought to be one
of the most advanced civilizations of
ancient Europe. Older than the empires
of Mesopotamia and Egypt, Varna has the
largest prehistoric necropolis in Southeastern Europe and, as far as we know,
was the first to craft golden artifacts.
April Holloway introduces us to its cultural practices, complex funerary rites,
belief systems, and more.
Boyan Slat was only 17 when he solved
a problem that most said was insoluble,
and had thus never been attempted:
cleaning the floating plastic from the
oceans. He then launched The Ocean
Cleanup Project and has so far raised $2
million to make his idea reality. Jacquelyn
Keun has interviewed this teenager who
is amazing the world and leading a unique
environmental initiative.
Rob Hutchinson returns in this issue
with surprising psychological phenomena.
Have you ever wondered why you believe
in determined things? Let’s change the
question to explain the trick: why do we
believe what we want to believe? Rob’s
wonderful article answers this question.
We have also interviewed Dr. Irving
Kirsch, Associated Director in the Placebo
Studies Program at Harvard Medical
School, about his research and findings
on placebos. This article reveals some
surprising and bizarre facts about placebo effects.
And to close the issue we address the
problem of the extinction of the bees,
which is strictly linked to their lack of
food. Declan Perry teaches us how the
discovery of new non-toxic biopesticides
could improve the bleak situation of our
bees.
2
Mado Martinez
Editorial Director
Ispectrum
magazine
Published Bimonthly
ISSN 2053-1869
Editorial Director
Mado Martinez,
[email protected]
Art Director
Rayna Petrova
[email protected]
Contributing Editors
Matt Loveday
[email protected]
Jennifer James
Ravinder Dhindsa
Contributing Writers
April Holloway
Jacquelyn Keun
Rob Hutchinson
Declan Perry
Images
Cover : Zoomorphous applications, gold,
Eneolithic necropolis – Varna
Photo credit: Varna Regional Museum of History
commons.wikimeadia.org ,
morguefile.com ,
freeimages.com
www.ispectrummagazine.com
[email protected]
+44 7938 707 164 (UK)
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