In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Are we actually growing horns on the back of our necks? While previous research into prolonged cellphone use and its effects on human bone anatomy suggested so – turns out, it’s not a thing, at all.
*
In 2014, MH 370, a Malaysian flight that left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing never reached its destination. Five years later, the search for its debris, its trajectory after the initial disappearance, and the story of its passengers’ last few hours remain a mystery.
*
Millennials are increasingly being talked down to (what’s new, right?) about the way they handle their personal finances. The answer, apparently, is to cut down on frivolous expenses, such as lattes. Here’s why that advice doesn’t make sense.
*
A cruise vacation generally brings to mind older holiday-goers, stale food, and lots and lots of boredom. For BuzzFeed’sShannon Keating, however, a lesbian cruise by the travel company Olivia, was more a “grown-up lesbian camp,” that changed the trajectory of her entire life.
*
Beauty standards for women, aimed at staunchly keeping them in the “feminine-looking” category, have permeated the sports world, often to the detriment of female athletes’ self-expression. The Women’s NBA league in the U.S., however, is making an attempt to change, by allowing the women to dress however they want.
*
Language is an ever-evolving phenomenon, but humans love to be gatekeepers of its rules, constantly taking up arms against those who don’t or can’t follow them. The language wars are epitomized in this exploration of the greatest lingual conflicts we deal with.
*
Obesity is widely known to pose risks to prospective mothers and their potential children. The risks may deter fertility clinics from denying treatment to women who are obese and might want children. Is the judgment ethical, or even derived from fact-based caution?
*
An inside look into China’s schools (in reality, prisons) where more than a million Muslims have been sent to be cured of their supposed ailment: religious extremism.
*
From dogs to reptiles to insects, humans are increasingly using animals for emotional support. One problem: our public spaces, such as restaurants and airlines, are ill-equipped to handle this new way of coping. Pet owners have resorted to faking certifications from doctors that establish their need to keep the pets, but the government has caught on.
