Balancing act

May 15, 2025

Have you ever thought about the beauty of the teeter totter? It was simple physics, but man was it and fun. Plus, it taught you how to work with others to achieve a goal. You know, like sending them to the moon! 🤣

Yes, the teeter totter taught us some important lessons. Perhaps that was the inspiration behind German artist Martin Binder’s latest work—a seesaw-like bench that only works when you cooperate with fellow sitters.

We’re all in this together, Stakers ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card!)

IN THE NEWS

No need for floor crossing: Carney

CBC News

In a Tuesday interview with CTV News’ Chief Political Correspondent, Vassy Kapelos, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he has a “clear mandate” and doesn’t need to convince MPs from other parties to cross the floor in order to grant his government a majority in the House.

“We just had an election…19 million Canadians voted. More Canadians voted for a political party, the Liberal Party, than ever before. We have more votes than anyone else. We have majorities in seven of the 10 provinces. We have the most seats in Parliament,” Carney said.

Kapelos pressed the PM on which version of him the country can expect between the one that wrote the book Values, which asserts a need for the global economy to redefine its assessment of value based on the “climate imperative,” or the one who said he was in favour of Canada becoming an energy superpower.

In his response, Carney said Canada has the resources to export both traditional and green energy in droves, allowing it to become dominant on a global scale in the energy space.

You can watch the full interview here.

HEALTH

Living near a golf course may heighten risk of Parkinson’s

Unsplash

A new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests living near a golf course could lead to a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

It may sound strange on the surface, but the researchers determined there may be a causal link derived from a heightened exposure to the many pesticides typically sprayed all over golf courses.

The risk factor extrapolated from the study was significant, as well. The researchers found living within a mile of a course can lead to a 126% higher chance of developing the neurodegenerative illness compared to those living at least six miles away from one.

“This isn’t the first study that links Parkinson’s disease with pesticides,” said co-author Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist and the director of the Center for the Brain and the Environment at Atria Health and Research Institute in New York.

“This just adds additional evidence that this isn’t just happening among farmers. This is happening to people living in suburban areas that have an increased risk of getting Parkinson’s disease simply because of where they live,” he said.

POLITICS

Electoral reform could ease division

Vecteezy

Political divides in Canada are becoming increasingly regional and increasingly polarized, leading some to think they’re fueling separatist sentiments in some of those regions—most notably in Alberta as of late.

According to an investigation conducted by Halifax-based MQO Research, had electoral reform been implemented prior to the election—opting for Brazil’s proportional representation system over Canada’s first-past-the-post system—Alberta wouldn’t have been as deeply blue, Nova Scotia wouldn’t have been as deeply red, and the NDP would still have official party status.

“You wouldn’t have giant, monolithic representation in any one area. You would have a little bit more speckle,” said Brenden Sommerhalder, president of MQO Research. “Every party got sliced in a weird way at least somewhere this last election, because of first-past-the-post.”

For example, Liberals won just 57% of the vote in Nova Scotia, but won 91% of the seats; Conservatives won 64% of Alberta’s vote, and 92% of the province’s seats.

Canada’s current electoral system fuels division and reforming that system could stifle the tribalism growing on both sides of the political floor in various regions across the country.

THIRSTY THURSDAYS

Negroni to the top

Unsplash

Drinks International surveyed 100 of the best bars across 30 different countries, and topping the 2025 list of the Best Selling Classic Cocktails was the negroni.

The iconic cocktail—delicious and simple with equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari—has topped the list for what’s now four consecutive years.

The origins of the timeless drink are often disputed. Some say it was invented in Florence, Italy by nobleman Count Camillo Negroni, who’d spent time in the American West and rather than having an Americano (soda, sweet vermouth, Campari), he asked for gin instead of soda water.

Descendants of another Negroni contest this, saying it was actually invented in the 1880s by French general Oliver de Negroni in Senegal in the mid-1800s.

Regardless of its origins, the Negroni had become a staple of cocktail culture by the mid-1900s and was the drink of choice in the artistic communities surrounding film director Orson Welles and Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev.

Today, some may say it’s on the Mount Rushmore of cocktails, as evidenced by its consistent global popularity and—in the case of Drinks International—supremacy over the last half decade.

HEALTH

Dried fruit lowers risk of illness

Tenor

Researchers at Anhui, China’s University of Science and Technology studied the eating habits of 186,168 Brits and found those who regularly had dried fruit with certain types of cereal had an 18% lower risk of dying from heart disease and an 11% lower risk of dying from cancer.

The study, published in Nutrition Journal, analyzed the dried fruit and cereal preference data, and then circled back years later to analyze mortality statistics from the same dataset.

In terms of what types of dried fruit, the researchers found it really only depended on personal preference. Anything from dried raisins, to apricots, prunes, dates, and cranberries provided sufficient quantities of potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, and fiber.

The study also found certain types of cereal reduced the risk of all-cause mortality, including muesli and bran cereal. Plain cereal like oat crunch or cereals that are artificially sweetened led to a heightened risk.

SPORTS

Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe reinstated

MakeAGif

After being permanently banned from Major League Baseball, Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson were ineligible to be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Changing the league’s policy on such bans to have them expire at death, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the other day that both men, along with the entire roster of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, have been reinstated and are now eligible for Cooperstown.

Manfred previously rejected a plea for Rose to be reinstated, saying in 2015 that “Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life.”

Rose passed away on Sept. 30, and his lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov—along with Pete’s daughter Fawn—met with Manfred in December. On Jan. 8, a new petition was filed by Lenkov to have Rose reinstated, citing a belief that the purpose of Rule 21 had been fulfilled.

"In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served,” Manfred said in a letter back to Lenkov. “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.”

With the reinstatements of Rose and Jackson, the two will be eligible for Hall of Fame induction as early as 2028.

MUSIC

You got the music in you

Pexels

A new study suggests when a song hits just right, it literally affects the internal rhythms of the human body and brain, syncing up the natural oscillations of the latter with music’s rhythm and pitch.

In other words, a song’s intuitive beat or harmonies resonate so well with the brain because they cause the natural patterns of rhythm and oscillation to link up with the external stimulus of a song.

"This theory suggests that music is powerful not just because we hear it, but because our brains and bodies become it," says Caroline Palmer, neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal. "That has big implications for therapy, education, and technology."

The study borrows from what’s called neural resonance theory (NRT) to make its case, which suggests sounds pulsating in certain patterns at various pitches will cause certain types of reactions in various parts of the brain, from the cerebral cortex, to the auditory nerve, brain stem, and cochlea.

"Statistically universal structures may have arisen in music because they correspond to stable states of complex, pattern-forming dynamical systems," the authors explain, suggesting the history and evolution of music has been based specifically on how much it resonates in the attentive human mind.

STAKE TRIVIA

Full screen blitz

Giphy

Apart from seeing them on the court, field, or ice, a handful of the best athletes made some iconic appearances in TV and film throughout the ’70s and ’80s 😎

Think you know your stuff when it comes to athletes turned actor? Find out with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified tomorrow afternoon—keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.

*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.

**SEE FULL 1000TH ISSUE GIVEAWAY RULES HERE.

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