Sippin' the tea

Coming out of the hippie dippie ’60s, it was no wonder that the mushroom motif started popping up everywhere in the 1970s. Wallpaper, lamps, cushions, you name it. And you probably had a mug just like this in your kitchen as well.

Whatever mug you’re workin’ with these days, you might want to consider putting some tea in, it if you haven’t already. New research out of Northwestern University has found that tea leaves naturally purify water and absorb harmful metals.

One for the tillerman, please ;)

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

IN THE NEWS

Canadians more concerned about “deeper threat” than tariffs

U.S. president Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs “economy-wide” on Canada, triggering a trade war almost every credible economist has said will wreak economic havoc across both countries.

A recent poll conducted by Leger found that, while Canadians are concerned about the economic impact of these tariffs, more are concerned about the “deeper threat” of the tariffs being used not as an end unto themselves, but as a method of applying “economic force” to coerce Canada into becoming the 51st American state.

83% of those polled said they’re worried the tariffs are being used to force Canada into a “closer and more formal economic relationship with the United States.”

73% said they’d favour a dollar-for-dollar response to whatever economic attack Trump launches against Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Trump he would respond by imposing tariffs on up to $155 billion of American products should the U.S. president implement 25% tariffs on Canadian goods.

The ordeal has rendered Canadians—known the world over for being the most polite people on earth—fed up and angry, venting their frustrations by going so far as to boo the American national anthem in public places, most recently displayed by over 30,000 fans at WWE’s Elimination Chamber event held at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on Saturday.

Trump will deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term tonight at the Capitol in front of a joint session of Congress.

RETIREMENT

70 becoming the new 65

The notion of pushing back the retirement age officially has been picking up steam for years, largely because many are already observing 70 as the new 65 in practice.

While plenty of economists tend to focus on the economic ripple effects of the pandemic today, the reality is a great many continue to feel the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, which took a huge bite out of retirement savings everywhere.

Combined with today’s elevated cost of living, these effects have forced many to adjust their retirement lifestyles, or delay their retirement altogether. 66% of Canadian near-retirees are making such changes, according to a recent poll conducted by CIBC.

If you aren’t making changes, or at least making preparations for retiring in a world that costs more, financial planners are advising that you consider it.

“Look at an actual budget, and part of that budget should include retirement savings and making sure we’re taking advantage of all the different registered plans,” said Jamie Golombek, the managing director of CIBC tax and estate planning.

With so many worried about outliving their retirement savings, many are convinced they’ll need to push back their retirement, or work part-time during it. The CIBC poll found roughly 70% of respondents are feeling this way in today’s economic climate.

GOVERNMENT

Ontario voter turnout exceeds expectations

Ontario’s voters turned out at a higher rate than expected last week, with roughly 45.4% of eligible voters casting a ballot.

While still a number most would describe as unacceptably low, it eclipsed the turnout of the 2022 election by a full percentage point.

Elections Ontario said as of the other day, return data suggested about five million Ontarians came out to vote in an election that most knew ahead of time would have a lopsided result in favour of the incumbent Progressive Conservatives.

Little changed in terms of the Ontario legislature’s balance of power. Doug Ford earned a third straight majority government as premier of Ontario, with his party earning 80 seats. The NDP won 27 seats, returning as the Official Opposition.

Perhaps most notably, the Liberals won 14 seats in Parliament, allowing them to finally regain official party status after losing it in a landslide 2018 election loss when the province, after more than 10 years, had enough of the party’s governance.

TECH TUESDAYS

Feeling queasy? iPhone can help

59% of adults have experienced the dreaded feeling of motion sickness at some point in their lives from reading a book or looking at their phone while in a moving vehicle. This is caused by a disconnect between different parts of the human anatomy responsible for balance.

According to Dr. Mohamed Elrakhawy, an assistant professor in the department of otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, the human balance system is “made up of a few different parts, including your vision…your inner ear, as well as balance sensors in all of your muscles throughout your body.”

“And all that information has to come together, and the brain has to integrate it to make sense of it so that you have a good sense of where you are in space and if you’re moving, what direction you’re moving.”

It turns out Apple’s iOS 18 for iPhone has a feature that adds small dots to the phone’s screen that move in tandem with the motion of the car. The dots replicate the motion the driver visually experiences, because drivers tend not to get car sick.

To access this feature, click Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Show vehicle motion cues.

AUTO

Pop-up ads in cars?

As more and more technology is deployed in automotive manufacturing, newer cars tend to have electronic screens, sometimes the size of a laptop, instead of the tradtional dashboard most of us grew up with. While they’re sleek looking and convenient, they also present the perfect opportunity for something most motorists would probably rather never see inside their car: pop-up ads.

One user on Reddit recently posted about his Jeep Cherokee’s display screen surfacing clickable ads that he could not skip out of. The ads would appear every time the vehicle came to a stop.

This means that, whether anyone likes it or not, pop-up ads inside cars are already here, and it’s not hard to see why automakers would want to take full advantage. Driving patterns and routines provide plenty of data points for advertisers to use, making it to advertisers.

On top of that, automakers don’t just sell cars anymore, they sell add-ons that consumers can buy in addition to the car, including digital subscription services that can be advertised to motorists inside their vehicle.

Such digital services will have a $1.68 billion market globally within the next seven years, growing from $473 million today. That growth will likely be at least partly driven by advertising.

SCIENCE

Just groove to it

A new study published in PLOS One by researchers at Concordia University suggests people will groove to just about anything.

The instinct to bop your head to music is thought to be in direct relation to one’s enjoyment of the song, but the study suggests the former may cause the latter, particularly given the instinct’s pervasiveness even in people with musical anhedonia (a condition that leaves people finding little to no pleasure in music).

The study’s authors had two groups—one with musical anhedonia and one without—listen to 50 separate clips of music and rate their desire to groove to the music after listening to each clip, and how much they enjoyed the clip.

“Normally, we would expect to see an inverted U-shaped response to rhythmic complexity, meaning that we want to move to music that is of medium complex rhythms as opposed to music that is very simple or very complex,” said Isaac Romkey, a PhD student in Concordia’s Department of Psychology.

“…But that is not what we saw. That implies that for those with musical anhedonia, they derive pleasure from the urge to move. More generally, it suggests that the urge to move may itself generate pleasure.” 🕺

CURIOSITIES

Vincent Van Legogh?

In an effort to build public awareness and support for one of history’s greatest and most famous artists, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam partnered with LEGO to showcase a rendition of his 1889 “Sunflowers” painting made entirely out of LEGO.

The museum’s curator, Nienke Bakker, stood in front of the painting the other day and told Reuters she hoped the collaboration would bring familiarity to Van Gogh’s work.

"The great thing is that people can actually build it themselves and build up a composition in a way that a painter builds up a composition," she said.

The structure contains 2,615 pieces, including adjustable pedals, all of which took several hours to construct.

"It was exciting to try and kind of mimic all of the shapes in the painting with existing LEGO elements," said Stijn Oom, who works for LEGO and designed the piece, which he said wasn’t as difficult as one may think, given the way Van Gogh’s signature bold brush strokes lent themselves to LEGO’s block designs.

Limited edition replicas are available to be purchased from LEGO by fans around the world, including in both the United States and Canada.

STAKE TRIVIA

A sonny day

It just so happens that today is National Sons Day, so we naturally found ourselves thinking of a few iconic pop culture lads.

From Tom Cruise in Risky Business, to the boys in The Brady Bunch, we’re quizzing you on some of the finest sons from the ’70s and ’80s 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.