Unless you’re living in a Mad Men era, where Don and Betty Drapers are lighting up like chimneys everywhere from the living room to the office cubicle, then you’d be fully aware that smoking is terrible for your health.

Why Smoking Isn’t Cool

Apart from making you look (and smell) like a walking, talking ashtray, smoking can lead to a nasty bunch of life-threatening illnesses and diseases. “It is well known that smoking causes emphysema, leading to chronic obstruct pulmonary disease (COPD)”, says Dr. Hui Chen, Senior Lecturer in the School of Life Science at UTS. For those who aren’t as up-to-speed on medical science, patients with COPD have significantly reduced lung function which means great difficulty in getting one of life’s most important tasks done: breathing.If you’re a smoker, come wintertime and you’ll be more susceptible to colds and lung infections. You’ll be more prone to lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes (no surprise there), and ‘central obesity’, which according to Dr. Chen is where the fat tends to accumulate around the waistline. Smoking also leads to muscle loss, which combined with a fatter belly can mean an increase in diabetes – never fun for anyone.Perhaps most pertinent to men, however, is the fact that smoking can decrease testosterone levels and affect sexual functions. “The chance of struggling with premature ejaculation is high with smokers,” says Dr. Chen.Keen to avoid all of the above? Well, here’s how quitting smoking will affect you.

Physical Effects

According to Dr Chen, the most prominent physical change when you quit smoking is everyone’s worst enemy: weight gain. “Some people use snacking to divert the temptation to puff on a cigarette. However, there is more to the story.”The combination of coffee and cigarettes didn’t earn its reputation as ‘the supermodel diet’ for no reason. “Nicotine itself can suppress the appetite,” says Dr. Chen. This means that full-time smokers naturally tend to steer clear of fatty foods when they’re feeding a nicotine habit, but once the cold turley sets in, food is a former smoker’s main priority.Unfortunately, it only gets worse. Apparently, nicotine is also pretty powerful when it comes to addiction. “Without it to satisfy the addiction pathway in the brain, junk foods like donuts and chips are used to make the pathway happy instead,” says Dr. Chen. “This is because the addiction to certain foods is controlled by the same pathway in the brain as nicotine addiction.” In fact, smokers who are trying to quit apparently seek junk food subconsciously, which means you’ll have little willpower when it comes to your 3pm chocolate cravings.

Mental Effects

What goes up must come down, and like any drug, nicotine is a rollercoaster of emotion if you’re a smoker. “Nicotine in cigarette smoke can increase the release of happy chemicals in the brain, like dopamine and serotonin. This makes the smokers want more,” says Dr. Chen.This comedown can be quite rough, resulting in crankiness (we’ve all felt the wrath of a smoker who is trying to quit). “The craving for a cigarette can also make people anxious and stressed.”According to Dr. Chen, some smokers claim that lighting up can make them work more efficiently, but scientific research suggests the exact opposite. “Smoking can impair brain function, but quitting can definitely stop this effect.”

Why Quit?

It’s not all bad news, magnificent bastards. Quitting smoking ain’t easy but it’s definitely conducive to you living a longer life. In fact, there’s a huge variety of health benefits from finally flushing that pack of smokes.You could enjoy improved lung function and blood vessel health, improved physical and mental fitness, you’ll be less likely to get all sorts of cancers, and most importantly for those who care about their bank balance, you’ll be saving a lot of money. According to Quit.org, if you smoke a pack of 20 cigarettes for an average $21 a day, you’d be saving almost $7,700 a year by quitting. That could get you 3 of these slick Dolce & Gabanna suits. Not bad.

But How?

So you’re finally ready to ditch the cigarillos. But how? While cold turkey might seem like the most badass Bear Grylls way to quit, it might not be the best option. “Using nicotine replacement to gradually wean from the nicotine addiction is a gentle way to quit smoking,” says Dr. Chen.“At the same time, getting into the habit of regular exercise is beneficial as exercise can also increase the happy chemicals in the brain and at the same time prevent weight gain due to increased eating.”If you’re still struggling, there’s always the option of channeling your inner Leonardo DiCaprio and going for a stylish e-cigarette, but be weary. “Although they’re not completely naive in terms of toxic chemicals in the vapour, they do contain much less toxins and smokers do have improved lung function after they switch to e-cigarettes,” says Dr. Chen.So there you have it. Quitting smoking does sound like a pain in the arse, but if it means you’ll live longer and your girlfriend won’t have to keep kissing an ashtray, we say it’s definitely worth it.

The post Quitting Smoking: What It Really Does To Your Body appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

You don’t win gold by snacking on chocolate bars and sipping beer all day. The elite athletes of the Rio 2016 Olympics are on daily diets that have been carefully crafted with the help of dieticians and nutritionists, who take into account levels of training, calories and physical requirements.

According to TIME, Olympian diets are different depending on the kind of sport they’re competing in. For swimmers who train for longer distances, carbohydrates are required straight out of the pool to make up for calories burned. For sprinters, protein is needed to refuel and replenish muscles that have depleted their energy supplies in such a short amount of time.

Here are a few examples of what a typical day of fuelling an Olympian looks like:

Seth Weil, U.S. Rower

6am – 2 cups of coffee, peanut butter and jelly in a flour tortilla
6:30-9am – 50oz of water, 30oz of Gatorade before, during and after practice. After practice a bacon, egg, cheese and avocado bagel with a side of fruit and another 15-16 ounces of coffee.
Mid-Morning Snacks – Dried cranberries, pretzel chips, 5 ounces of hummus and another 30-40 ounces of water.
11:30am – A vegetable snack e.g. arugula salad with cucumbers, red bell pepper, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Noon – 3 carne asada tacos with cilantro, onion, lime and 20 ounces of water
2pm – A Cliff Builder Bar. Before, during and after second practice 60-80 oz of water and 20 ounces of Gatorade.
4pm – After practice a protein shake with 20 ounces of water and a bowl of cereal.
6:30pm – Shredded kale salad with chick peas, carrots, red onion, lemon olive oil and vinegar dressing, salt and pepper, along with a bowl of bowtie pasta topped with 2 chicken breasts and 20 ounces of water. Ice cream for dessert.
9pm – Trader Joe’s 3-layer hummus and 10 Altoids arctic mints throughout the day.

Shalane Flanagan, U.S. Long-Distance Runner

6:30am – Oatmeal with almond butter, bananas, berries, nuts, honey and dried fruit, 2 cups of coffee with cream.a
11am – After workout, a 16-ounce smoothie with beets, frozen blueberries, almond butter, frozen banana, coconut water and ginger.
Noon – A hearty grain salad with quinoa, veggies, nuts, cheese, and olive-based dressing, topped with a hardboiled egg, leftover chicken or another protein from the night before.
4pm – A pre-workout snack of ‘superhero muffins’ made with almond flour and butter, carrots, zucchini, maple syrup for sweet energy and eggs for protein, plus coconut water combined with sparkling mineral water and fresh lemon.
6pm – Red meat like quarter-pound bison or grass-fed beef burger with sweet potato fries and salad.
8:30pm – Herbal tea and homemade cookies made of sweet potato and oatmeal.

The post How To Eat Like A Rio 2016 Olympian appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

They say age is just a number, but when it comes to relationships, that number could far more important than you think. A new study conducted by Emory University in Atlanta says there’s an ideal age difference that can heighten your chances of a lasting relationship.The study, which looked at 3,000 people, found that the greater the age gap, the greater the risk of breaking-up.To be more specific, researchers found that couples with a 5-year age gap are 18% more likely to split than an equal-age couple, and if you’re in a relationship with a 10-year age gap, then you’re 39% more likely to break up. It only gets worse the more the gap grows, as couples with a 20-year age gap have a 95% chance of splitting up. Sheesh.While the study acknowledges that these are just patterns, and results could come down to partners having conflicting goals and interests at different stages in their lives, it also found an ideal age gap amongst all the break-ups. Apparently, a 1-year age gap is the sweet spot, with the chances of divorce standing at a much less intimidating 3%.“It could just be that the types of couples with those characteristics are the types of couples who are, on average, more likely to divorce for other reasons,” said researcher Hugo Mialon. We think whether you’re a bonafide cradle snatcher or cougar-lover, everyone is different.

The post The Ideal Age Difference In A Relationship appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Tattoos have been around since the beginning of human civilisation and one theme has remained consistent throughout that time: living, breathing tattoo artists.

If the Skynet future is anything to go by though, tattoos may soon be inked by non-human entities. That’s right, robots jabbing permanent ink-filled needles directly into your skin. Given that machines today are drastically more accurate than humans when it comes to precision tasks, this process has yet to be applied to delicate human subjects which requires evaluation and perception at every stage of the process.

Still, that didn’t stop a French design duo called Tatoué from teaming up with San Francisco’s Autodesk’s Pier 9 Workshop to create a robot whose sole task is to ink nervous human test subjects. The machine would have no doubt gone through various test phases of jabbing dummies and different surfaces before going anywhere near a human limb but the question still beckons in the back of the mind: good machines have gone bad before, right?

The post Tattoos Of The Future Will Be Done By Robots appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Britain scored big at the 2016 Spirited Awards at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans.

Each year, the Spirited Awards honour the world’s best bars, bartenders, writers, and experts in the cocktail industry. American and International committees select winners from over 20 award categories ranging from Best American Cocktail Bar to International Bartender of the Year to World’s Best Cocktail menu.

Following a strong performance at last year’s awards, Britannia ruled in 2016. London is home to four of the eight nominees for World’s Best Cocktail Bar, including the winner, and claimed a number of other key categories. Beyond the British Isles, San Francisco and New York City received top honours in the US and Tokyo took the prize for International Bartender of the Year.

Of course, the World’s Best Bar award is the most coveted of the evening. The winner is determined by the most total votes for both American and International finalists in the following categories: Best High Volume Cocktail Bar, Best Hotel Bar, Best Restaurant Bar, Best Cocktail Bar, or World’s Best Cocktail Menu.

Ultimately, it was The Connaught Bar in – you guessed it – London that took home the 2016 trophy and the bragging rights that come with it.

“The industry did not disappoint with such strong nominees in every category,” said Simon Ford, Spirited Awards Chairman, in a statement. “Congratulations to the winners. You absolutely earned this honor.”

The post The World's Best Bars Announced At The 10th Annual Spirited Awards appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

A new study from Oxford Economics confirms what many already know: open offices lower both employee output and employee morale.

Working in an eccentric tech startup sounds like a dream. A fridge is stocked with free snacks. A rock wall ensures you stay in shape. A company-wide kickball game rages every Thursday. There’s a designated nap room for when your brain needs a break. You’ve been to summer camps that were less fun than coming into the office.

The problem is, in addition to all those quirky perks, that uber-trendy company has probably also embraced the open-place office, a structure that scientific studies have repeatedly slammed. The recent Oxford Economics study surveyed more than 600 executives and 600 employees to better understand what works (and what doesn’t) about open-plan layouts. The results show that threats to productivity and worker peace of mind are bigger issues than most executives realise.

Researchers found that employees value being able to focus without distractions more than anything else in their work environment, but frequently find it difficult with the noise and distractions endemic to open offices.

“Ambient noise and lack of personal space can make it hard for employees to concentrate and get things done,” says Jeff Lowe, vice president of marketing at Smart Technologies, the Canada-based developer of interactive learning tools and software. As workplace privacy dwindles, people have fewer places to escape the sounds of their coworkers’ chatter, sneezes, and phone calls.

The study also exposed a disconnect between executives and non-executive employees. While 53% of employees reported feeling less satisfied and less productive when they had to work through ambient noise, just 35% of executives felt the same way. Additionally, only 41% of employees said they have the necessary tools to filter out distractions, while 63% of executives felt that their employees had everything they needed.

The discrepancies aren’t surprising when you consider the difference in physical workspaces. Sixty-two percent of top-level workers score coveted private offices. That same privilege is granted to a scant 14% of employees. It’s no wonder executives don’t consider minimising distractions an office priority – they rarely experience them.

Forbes calls it a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. “The results show that threats to productivity and worker peace of mind are bigger issues than most executives realize, and most do not have the technology or strategies in place to deal with the problems,” reports the magazine. “But if productivity suffers—which it clearly does—then companies are actually losing money because employees aren’t able to perform and produce as efficiently as they could without distractions.”

Employees are increasingly turning to telecommuting to combat the distractions. According to a recent report, 80-90% of the total US workforce prefers to telework at least part of the time. According to another, 95% of employees say that the ability to telework affects their decision to stay with a company.

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There’s a reason New Zealand’s scenery was chosen to be a playground for hobbits, wizards, elves, and orcs. The land of the long white cloud is home to breathtaking topography that ranges from indigenous beech forests (magical even when Galadriel isn’t in residence) to scorching beaches to wine country.

It all has its charms, but come winter, only one landscape matters: the mountains.

Skiing & Snowboarding

NZ’s not-so-hidden winter treasures revolve around skiing and snowboarding. Snow bunnies have their pick of a long list of resorts and runs, where postcard views appear at every turn. A short journey from Christchurch takes you to Mount Hutt, Porters, Craigieburn, and Mount Olympus. Further south, in Queenstown, world-class resorts await at Treble Cone, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, and Cardrona. More advanced athletes can skip the lift ticket in favour of the ultimate snowsports undertaking: heli-skiing on New Zealand’s most off-the-grid terrain.

Glacier Hiking

Hiking Franz Josef Glacier or Fox Glacier is on the to-do list of many a tourist, and there’s no better time to make the trek than winter. Sadly, climate change has caused rapid melting that makes it practically impossible to trek up the mountains towards the glaciers. Adventurers who want to experience the ice must now arrive via helicopter. Those who brave the journey (and its prohibitive cost) can arm themselves with an ice axe and explore the fascinating and terrifying crevasses of one of the country’s greatest natural wonders.

Ice Diving

Even underwater, New Zealand’s reputation for adventure holds strong. Those who are part polar bear can take a crack at ice diving in the alpine town of Wanaka. Beginners need not apply. Ice diving is extreme and potentially perilous (not to mention frigid), but your reward for confronting the conditions is a beauty few will ever experience. Dive master Steve Traynor, who owns a PADI Dive Centre in Wanaka, leads annual expeditions below the iced-over surface of Lake Alta for a small group of lucky (or looney) divers.

Hot Springs

After a long day of outdoor exploits, a dose of relaxation is in order. New Zealand’s hot springs are especially inviting when snow is on the ground. Take the plunge in the piping hot pools of Hanmer Springs or Tekapo Springs, where a soak is a winter rite of passage. Both offer a variety of thermal pools, saunas and steam rooms, and indulgent spa services – because if you haven’t earned a bit of spoiling after swimming under ice or barrelling down a mountain on planks of wood, when have you?

Dog Sledding

Join man’s best friend for an unforgettable winter adventure. Both first-timers and experienced mushers can spend quality time behind a dog team on the spectacular trails of the Southern Alps. Choose from a short trip, a multi-day sled dog training camp, or a scenic flight by helicopter that brings you in to your four-legged crew high up in the mountains. You’ll learn about these phenomenal animal athletes while feeling the thrill of riding in the basket of the sled or taking command of your own sled dog team.

TranzAlpine Train

If you were inspired by our coverage of the world’s most epic rail journeys, this is the NZ winter getaway for you. The TranzAlpine train links the South Island’s east and west coasts, from Christchurch to Greymouth, via the Southern Alps. Over the course of the 4.5 hour journey, you’ll cruise through frosty fields, climb snow-capped peaks, trace the Waimakariri River, and descend through thick beech forest before arriving at your final destination. Be sure to secure a spot in the open-air carriage to maximise your scenery viewing opportunities.

The post The 6 Best Snow Adventures In New Zealand appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The world is full of amazing architecture and buildings that can be compared to beautiful works of art.

That’s why when Business Insider asked architects to tell them the one building that they think is a game-changer for building design, inspired them to become architects, or that they simply find stunning, we can imagine it would have been no easy feat.

Luckily, the architects were able to narrow it down to a list of 16 breathtaking buildings, that even those who aren’t into architecture can appreciate.

From the quintessentially beautiful Parthenon in Greece, to the amazing scale and longevity of the Forbidden City temple in China, colourful Hubertus House in Amsterdam, the ‘Big Lebowski’ Sheats Goldstein residence in LA, and even the Empire State Building in New York, the list is made up of museums, universities, airport centres, historical icons and even actual homes.

The post 16 Most Breathtaking Buildings In The World, According To Architects appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Christoph Waltz is an award-winning actor in film for very good reasons. His latest role for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 may well be his finest gig yet though as he takes on the various roles of the archetypal American.

From a gym-obsessed housewife to a cornrowed rapper to an elementary school geek and even Abraham Lincoln, the Oscar Award-winning Austrian-German hilariously pokes fun at all of the stereotypes one could think of. What’s more is that he does it whilst seamlessly integrating the latest Samsung smartphone into the clever narrative which takes a stab at middle white class America.

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