Maybe nice guys really do finish last. Or at least the healthy and sensible ones. A new study conducted by Belgium’s Ghent University that delves into women’s ‘in-built’ obsession with bad boys has found that men who smoke and drink are far more attractive to females.The study, titled ‘The Young Male Cigarette and Alcohol Syndrome’, asked 239 Belgian women between the ages of 17 and 30 to read short profiles of a selection of men (including their smoking and drinking habits) and rate their suitability as long-term and short-term partners.Unfortunate news for the non-smoking and drinking men of the world, the women found men who smoke cigarettes and drink more attractive as short-term romantic partners. The study found that sex appeal is linked to how ‘risky’ the man appears to be, with lead researcher Eveline Vincke likening the behaviour to a male “mating strategy”.“As male physical and risk-taking behaviour gains attractiveness in short-term mating contexts and given that smoking and drinking have considerable physical costs, this study explores the possibility that tobacco and alcohol use is part of a male short-term mating strategy,” the abstract explains. “The experiment showed that women perceive men who smoke and drink as being more short-term oriented in their sexuality than nonusers.”Interestingly, the researchers also conducted a follow-up study on 171 Belgian men, quizzing them on their smoking and drinking habits, as well as attitudes towards sex. It found that men who drunk more alcohol were less inhibited sexually, and smokers were more interested in short-term relationships than non-smoking men.Okay, so even though the cigarette-rolling, boozed up bad boys of this world are proven to be more attractive and apparently appear more “sexually open” to women, it’s only as a short-term romantic partner. Just make sure you’re the smoke-free sober option when your dream girl wants Mr. Right and not Mr. Right Now.

The post Why Women Love Men Who Smoke & Drink appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Taiwan is a progressive place, full of quirky restaurant concepts, lush forests, delicious food and plenty of other far-out things to do. One thing Taiwan has also mastered is the art of good stationery.

We’re not talking your average leaky biro and ragged Spirax notebook, either. We’re referring to innovative and exciting stationery products for the gentleman who cares about the tools he uses at his office, whether it be at work or at home.

Leading trend authority WGSN has tapped into the burgeoning Taiwanese stationery scene and nominated 5 companies discovered at the Taipei, Taiwan creative expo. Consider these next time you’re organising, cataloguing, storing, filing or just stocking up the office. Check them out below.

#1 Blacktail

Blacktail’s latest collection uses recycled waste from East Taiwan that is pulverised then pressurized into a lightweight composite fabric that can be shaped into laptop cases, pouches and soft storage containers. Talk about one man’s trash being another’s treasure.

BUY

#2 Beyond Object

Beyond Object sells stationery from a young design studio between London and Taipei and have made quite a name for themselves from Maison & Objet Paris to Milan Design Week. The brand claims to be “different from the norm”, blending sleek contemporary lines with an affordable price point (thanks to clever crowdfunding, fairs and exhibitions). The ‘sculptural’ USB key is a must-see.

BUY

#3 Ystudio

Ystudio has been around since 2012 but continues “linking past memories with modern life”. The result? Classic yet fresh writing accessories designed to be treasured and passed on. Ystudio places emphasis on brass and gilded details, from pens, to magnets and pen containers.

BUY

#4 No. 30

Did you know that the no. 30 is the number assigned to zinc in the periodic table? It’s also the core material used in No. 30 stationery products. The brand sprouted from a 40-year-old family-run factory from Changhua, Taiwan and since 2013 has collaborated with international designers to explore contemporary interpretations of metal, smooth colours, mirrored finishes and inner hand-painted enamel coating for mix-n-match stationery storage solutions.

BUY

#5 Danzo Studio

Born in 2013, Danzo Studio is the brainchild of Wei-Lun Tseng who first founded the brand as a creative collective and now collaborates with various brands as well as producing Danzo signature stationery for men who love simplicity and an industrial aesthetic. The brand’s latest collection, Landscape, features a set of desktop accessories composed of aluminium alloy and inspired by the rift valley of East Taiwan.

BUY

The post 5 Stationery Brands Every Man Needs In His Office appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The iconic Palm Springs located inland of California has long been a Summer retreat for the rich and famous.

According to some, it’s also one of the most photographed places in the world. So how does one go about reimagining Palm Springs in a way that is rarely seen? They recruit Melbourne-based photographer Tom Blachford to capture the modernist architecture set against the desolate desert backdrop.

In a series entitled ‘Midnight Modern’, Blachford takes part three on a journey where the urban landscape meets the natural amongst the sensational glow of the midnight stars.

The project was conducted over five nights and sees Blachford returning to Palm Springs for the seventh time.

“I am fascinated by this feeling that the city is both nostalgic and current,” he told Cool Hunting.

“It transports you back in time to these houses and this scenery—to this lifestyle that has been there for 70 years.”

“It’s kind of a shrine to hedonism and sunlight and cocktails and all the good things. But, as I learn more about this period, all of this was going on at a time of massive historical moments.”

The photography itself is nothing short of mesmerising with vintage and period-correct vehicles lined perfectly around the homes and amongst desert shrubs.

Blachford will be holding a Sydney exhibition at the Blackeye Gallery from May 24 through to June 11.

The post Melbourne Photographer Captures The Retro Heritage Of Palm Springs appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Just when you think you’re up-to-date with all of NASA‘s discoveries and have just come to terms with the fact that there is, in fact, water on Mars, the space agency has thrown a spanner in the works in discovering 1,284 new planets outside our solar system.

The exoplanets were discovered by the Kepler space telescope which has been scanning 150,000 stars for signs of orbiting bodies since it launched in 2009. The Kepler telescope has been focusing, in particular, on planets that might be able to support life.

“This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth,” said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington.

The Kepler telescope works by observing a dimming light of a star (known as a transit) each time an orbiting passes in front of it. Of the newly discovered planets, NASA has found that based on size, nearly 550 could be rocky planets just like Earth.

“Nine of these orbit in their sun’s habitable zone, which is the distance from a star where orbiting planets can have surface temperatures that allow liquid water to pool,” said NASA. This means these “habitable” planets may harbour life.

Despite the exciting discovery, even the most advanced space telescopes now being built, including the James Webb Space Telescope, may not be able to shed much more light on the exoplanets if life does exist.

That’s not to say it isn’t a huge step forward for NASA. “Thanks to Kepler and the research community, we now know there could be more planets than stars,” said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director at NASA headquarters. Perhaps, we’re not alone.

The post NASA Has Just Discovered 1,284 New Planets Outside Our Solar System appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

The new kids on the old block are back with an extended trailer for the much anticipated Top Gear revival sans Jeremy Clarkson and co.

Ever since Clarkson was unceremoniously given his marching orders by the BBC, a new Top Gear has been in the works with many doubting the chemistry of its past presenters could be replicated – a winning formula in the long-running motoring series.

But if the trailer is anything to go by, the same exciting cut scenes and humour seems to be there albeit from a fresh cast which includes Chris Evans (throwing up no less), The Stig, Matt LeBlanc, Sabine Schmitz, and Jenson Button having heaps of laughs behind the wheel.

Hold on tight as the show rolls out all the stops including fighter jet races in an attempt to trump Clarkson’s new Amazon show.

The post New Top Gear Trailer Reveals Jets, Drifting & Half Million Dollar Burnouts appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

French artist Florent Tanet wants to make you anxious with a new photo series called Equilibrium. The suspenseful images are almost impossible to believe, but were created without the use of Photoshop.

Tanet calls the series “a quest for stability using everyday life objects.” By balancing items that seem poised to collapse at any time, Tanet plays with the relationship between safety and danger. The images create a sense of unease, but also wonder, in the viewer. Whether it’s glasses stacked vertically or matchsticks held together by torque and fingertips, catastrophe never feels far away.

The post The Precarious Photo Series That Wants You To Feel Weird Inside appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Before he was piloting the Millennium Falcon and wooing galactic princesses, Harrison Ford had a more humble calling. A home partially built by the A-lister during his days as a carpenter recently entered the market for US$8.9 million.

The luxurious California mansion, located on 1.37 acres of serene gated grounds in Los Angeles, includes a recording studio built by Ford in the 1970s. And that’s not its only claim to fame – the home has been owned by actor Dick Van Dyke, Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, and musician Sergio Mendes. It was Mendes who commissioned the studio (and who shared a picture of a shirtless, pre-fame Ford working on the project on Facebook in 2015).

The post Inside The Luxe LA Mansion Partially Built By Pre-Fame Harrison Ford appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

If there was any indication needed of Apple Pay’s pulling power in Australia then this could be it. ANZ Banking Group has today announced that its exclusive deal with Apple’s pay wave service has driven a surge in credit card and deposit account applications.

This news has no doubt startled ANZ’s competition and pushed other banks into renegotiating with the American tech giant. If the claims from ANZ are indeed true, then the scurry over Apple Pay could be duly warranted due to the billions worth of transaction fee income up for grabs.

Shayne Elliott who is the chief executive of ANZ said that the bank’s online credit card applications had jumped by 20 percent since the Apple Pay service was announced on April 28.

He added that the Apple Pay announcement also saw online deposit applications hit their highest record yet at more than double the average. Unfortunately information such as the number of Visa debit and credit cards loaded to Apple Pay can be disclosed due to the strict confidentiality agreements imposed by Apple on ANZ.

As an indicator though, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that ANZ’s Apple Pay microsite received 61,000 unique visitors across four days whilst traffic to the ANZ homepage was up by 6 percent since the Apple Pay announcement.

As ANZ continues to capitalise on Apple Pay’s popularity with an extensive advertising campaign roll out, Westpac’s chief executive Brian Hartzer and NAB’s Andrew Thorburn said that their own negotiations with Apple are ongoing.

“It would be nice for us to offer [Apple Pay] in the context of what we are doing but in the end it has to be commercially sustainabl,” said Hartzer.

“We will continue to talk to [Apple] and other wallet providers and see where we get to.”

Meanwhile, Thorburn admitted that their bank “would like to deploy it [NAB pay] with Apple. But obviously that is an important conversation that we will have to have with them. We think NAB pay is strong and easily deployable on any device, we just need to work with the providers to get that to be the case.”

A cashless future is on its way indeed.

The post ANZ Bank's Apple Pay Partnership Is Driving A New Surge In Customers appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

We recently reported the arrival of GoPro’s Omni VR camera – a cube which houses six GoPros to capture 360 degree video in high definition. Well now the company has released its own stunning vision from the rig which showcases the device’s immersive viewing environment.

In the free-style skiing video which was shot in the Tyrolean Alps of Austria, viewers can simply toggle to the direction they want to look in.

It’s important to note that the rig isn’t just a 3D printed housing as GoPro have implemented proprietary hardware to allow all six cameras to achieve pixel level synchronisation. This means that the captured footage can be experienced in an interactive video like the above or by using a VR headset.

The post GoPro Shows Off Spectacular Vision From Its New 360 Degree Camera appeared first on DMARGE Australia.