When Sergi arrived, it started to rain. He strategically positioned himself at one of the small round tables and ordered a coffee. It's spring. It rains and it's sunny, and it's as hot as it is cold, but here, leaning against the wall under the awning, Sergi is having a blast, watching the world go by right in front of him. Like a movie. Now it's raining hard and a boy walks quickly, covering his head with his backpack; a stylish couple, with matching trench coats, advance slowly under a black umbrella, a bulldog watches Sergi while a huge drool hangs from its mouth, and a girl in flip-flops types on her phone. Today he'll have a spill.

Scents have the power to transform atmospheres, modulate behaviors, and can seduce, comfort, or heal. The sense of smell is the mirror of a society and also a historical portrait. This is stated by Dr. in neurosciences and research professor at CSIC, Laura López-Mascaraque, in her book El fascinante universo del olfato, published by geoPlaneta. A volume that aims to highlight the sense of smell, probably the greatly forgotten one, as priority has always been given to what we see and hear, when, in reality, smell is the gateway to memory and emotions and a way to explore the world.

Pol, Nil, Jan, Roc and Jacobo have met at Sol Soler on Plaça del Sol in Gràcia for some beers. As soon as they entered, Roc saw a girl who caught his attention.

We've seen it in countless movies: "Hello, my name is so-and-so and I'm an alcoholic." We know the acronym Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and what it represents. But what we might not know is that behind these initials –and this recurring phrase– lies a twelve-step therapeutic method created by two men from Ohio in 1935, which has since helped millions of people worldwide. This method is now applied in 68 countries, including Spain, where there are up to 586 active Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) groups. A study by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital concluded in 2020 that this AA twelve-step therapy "is more effective than other established treatments for increasing abstinence" and improves outcomes, especially "in the long term," helping people stay sober for longer. The survival and constant global expansion of this system for nearly a century also attest to its effectiveness.

Medieval cartographers, when they reached the edge of a map and no longer knew what to draw, would write: Hic sunt dracones. “Here be dragons.” At that time, the world was not a perfect sphere, but a finite board where, if you strayed too far from the coast, you risked falling off the precipice. The path had ended, beyond lay only the void, the fog, and sea beasts.

“I’m noticing it’s getting harder and harder for me to go out partying,” says Albert Thió Hortoneda, 26, from Barcelona. “You go into a club at two in the morning, you’ve paid 20 euros, and to get your money’s worth, you have to stay until six. This throws my sleep patterns off a bit,” he explains. He says that packaged, consumer-focused partying that lasts for hours on end doesn’t appeal to him. “I hadn’t really thought about it being a generational thing, but I do see that a lot of people around me are experiencing the same thing,” he points out. In fact, articles and videos with hashtags like "We've normalized not going out"where very young people speak openly about not going out partying in their 20s. What was once a stigma – having to tell friends not to include you in their plans – seems to have found its niche on TikTok with hashtags on well-being and self-care.

She embodies all the contradictions of modern feminism: she's a successful businesswoman, a self-sufficient mother, unmarried, and has built an empire thanks to her image. Quite a girlbossAnd yet, her feminism neither questions nor criticizes the patriarchy; it simply aspires to have it all. She is the model and influencer Kylie Jenner, one of many who have triumphed on social media by showcasing such a high level of beauty and perfection, has only strengthened the system from which so many women try to escape. A patriarchal beauty standard that is becoming increasingly strict, but which disguises itself as female empowerment.

At the end of 2025, Pantone proclaimed the Color of the Year to be cloud dancerAn off-white that, under a poetic evocation of lightness and calm, was nonetheless an unusual choice: for the first time, white assumed the annual spotlight. The decision generated controversy. Not only because white remains, for many, more of an absence than a color, but also because, in a political context marked by the resurgence of identity politics and conservative discourses, some interpreted it as unsettling symbolism.

Let's be honest. Most of us, when the temperature drops below five degrees Celsius, don't feel like leaving the house, and if we do, we turn into a kind of human onion wrapped in thermal layers, polar fleece, and wool, with red noses. But what if we told you that, while we're glued to the heating, the world outside is transforming into an ephemeral art gallery?

Birgitte Thorup Nielsen (67 years old) carefully descends the icy stairs to avoid slipping. The sea water is -1 degree Celsius, and the strong wind whips up waves that splash her swimsuit before she enters the water. On a winter morning, the sun is hidden behind a gray sky, and the air temperature is -4 degrees Celsius, but the gusts of wind make the cold feel even more intense.

Did you know that the world's wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests? And that although they only cover 6% of the Earth's land surface, they harbor 40% of the world's biodiversity? This and much more is what is highlighted every February 2nd, World Wetlands Day. This date also reminds us of the urgent need to protect these fragile and often overlooked ecosystems. "People are guided by aesthetics, and a forest is more attractive than a wetland, which is often considered just a source of mosquitoes and bad smells," warns Margarita Menéndez, professor of ecology at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona. This lack of "attractive" animals in our country—unlike the hippos we might find on a safari in Kenya—means we ignore a hidden biodiversity of amphibians, reptiles, and macroinvertebrates that are the true driving force of the global food web.

Adriana Jarrín was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was only 26. Luckily, it was detected early and chemotherapy saved her life, but both the shock of the diagnosis and the entire process had a profound emotional impact, in addition to significant physical weakness, she recounts. "A cousin recommended I start doing yoga, and it was truly an incredible encouragement and helped me tremendously." "Above all, the feeling of doing something for myself helped me cope better with the illness," she explains. That was in 2005, and today Jarrín dedicates her life to helping other cancer patients. She not only offers oncology yoga in several hospitals, but also trains teachers of this type of yoga at the Radika Foundation and has written a book. Yoga in times of cancer (Editorial Platform).

Cooking cannot be declared dead. Although it's declining at home, partly due to the avalanche of ready-made meals marketed as the antidote to lack of time, cooking is an eternal act that cannot simply disappear. This is the prediction of veteran cook, culinary scholar, and writer Rosa Tovar, who remains optimistic despite seeing the global outlook as "very bleak." She reminds us that "human life is impossible without food," that there's no need to resort to outlandish dishes—lentils or broth can be "a marvel"—and she has faith that cooking will endure.

Daniel Knowles was born in the United Kingdom and now lives in Chicago, USA. In both countries, he says he is fed up with hearing radio alerts about a new "Carmageddon"The typical apocalyptic traffic jams on the return from vacation. That's where the idea for the title of his book came from." Carmageddon (Captain Swing), where this journalist, former correspondent of The Economist It analyzes the forces that have made the car the king of transportation in today's society and its implications, starting with air pollution. "We are approaching 2 billion cars worldwide, but the number is growing much faster than the population," it warns. Nearly 25% of the CO₂ emitted globally comes from transportation, and three-quarters of these emissions are from road transport. And this only considers the gases that warm the planet; cars also emit other gases and particles harmful to health, such as NO₂.₂ or PM2.5. "The switch to electric cars [which is now even being called into question with the reversal of European policies] isn't the solution, I think; it's only part of it," says Knowles via videoconference from Chicago. He explains that Europeans drive an average of 10,000 kilometers a year. In the United States, where public transportation is minimal and everything revolves around the car, it's nearly double: 19,000 kilometers on average. Knowles did the math, and converting all of this to electric cars would require "spending twice as much on electricity." There's no alternative; it's necessary to reduce car use.

Naturalistic, community, wild, urban, botanical, minimalist, edible, floral gardens... The range of gardens found around the world seems almost infinite and is constantly evolving, always responding to the needs of each era. And this isn't a contemporary phenomenon, because throughout the history of gardening, each period has had its own style, reflecting the aesthetic preferences of each time and culture, as well as the climatic conditions, the terrain, and the materials available. From the hydraulic efficiency and symmetry of Egyptian gardens, through the multifunctionality and emphasis on landscaping in ancient Greece, to the spatial control of medieval gardens, the minimalism of Japanese gardens, or the geometric rigor of French gardens.

"I'm tired." This is a phrase frequently heard in the office of Anna Sánchez Bendahan, a sexologist and couples therapist. This exhaustion has little to do with not getting enough sleep: "Many women are tired of relating in the same way, of seeing themselves in the same patterns, or of the same thing happening to them all the time with men," explains the expert, adding that "in response, women express that they need a break in their sexual relationships." This phenomenon, known as voluntary celibacy, is attracting more and more young women and is mostly not linked to religious reasons. Social media and the use of hashtags as celibacy either volcel –term that brings together the word voluntary (voluntary) and celibacy (celibacy)-, influencers and artists of the stature of Rosalía – who stated on the Radio Chica podcast of Radio Primavera Sound: "We no longer make room for crushesThat fantasy that leads nowhere is over. Right now, I... single, volcel"They have contributed to making the issue visible, since we can talk about it without taboos and give it a name. "It's part of a new way of referring to something that probably already existed, but that is now fashionable and that we have redefined," argues Sánchez Bendahan.

What happens inside the brain of a person who creates music? And when they play their instrument or go on stage? Or even more: how can they use their neurobiology to enhance attention and interpretive freedom? Giulia Valle, composer, jazz bassist, teacher, and author of the book, discusses all of this. Brain as a team: neuroscience for performance and motivation in music (and other arts) (Editorial Versos & Reversos, 2025).

A wood-burning stove, candles, warm light. Windows on all four walls and in the roof. Outside, it's all forest; dry leaves forming an endless carpet before your eyes. You can feel the dampness of a Swedish autumn, but inside, everything is warm. Mysig, they call it Swedish, which would be the equivalent of the more famous Danish hygge. This little house in the middle of one of the many forests of southern Sweden has been a highly sought-after destination this autumn. A few lucky people were able to enjoy it without paying a penny. The only price was silence.

In 2015, Nandu Jubany and Anna Orte welcomed the ARA team to their home in Calldetenes (Osona). To mark Can Jubany's 30th anniversary, we returned.

The shock came very early. She was only five years old and on a school trip to a zoo. The image of those dolphins, which she knew from documentaries swimming freely in the sea, circling in a concrete pool, grated on her. On the way home, she innocently asked, "Do the dolphins go back home now?" Her parents had to tell her the truth. They had to talk to her about the captivity“I couldn’t wrap my head around it. At that moment, I decided I would fight for their freedom,” recalls Olivia Mandle.