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According to criminal investigators a serial killer can be defined as a person who enjoys luring, attacking and killing his victims based on an established ritual. Interestingly enough, in spite of the fact that when they are caught the reasons that drove them to kill another human being appears normal, it is necessary to point out that these killers can be classified into three categories based on the murder motifs, more exactly as lust, missionary and visionary serial killers.

Given the indescribable ways they use to torture and eventually assassinate their victims as well as the fact that most serial killers appear normal, happy and sociable, many asked themselves whether these vicious criminals have some trademarks to make them easier to identify. Actually, serial killer profilers have managed to determine some traits that all these ruthless assassins share. Let’s elaborate.

1. Cruelty towards animals

As criminal profilers pointed out, around 99% of the serial killers start showing cruelty to animals even from an early age. What makes matters worse is the fact that their families do not notice this negative behavior or perceive it as child’s play. More often than not, hurting and/or killing an animal demonstrate the need to take control and dominate. Since they cannot do that with older brothers or parents, they will turn to the closest entity that can be controlled, family pets.

2. Bed wetting beyond the toilet training period

Bed wetting is in general perceived as a normal behavior if it manifest during the early years of a child’s life when he is just learning about how to use the toilet. However, it is theorized that serial killers continue to wet their beds after this timeframe, sometimes even as far as the teen years. Since this could constitute a subject of ridicule and abuse from parents and older siblings, criminal investigators suggest it might be linked to developing a sociopathic behavior specific for serial killers.

3. Have suffered extended psychological abuse

While every parent might yell at his child when he/she does something wrong, for most serial killers parental reproach often turns into humiliation, unfair treatment, beating and a lot of psychological abuse. Due to the fact that didn’t benefit from any support, encouragement or affection from their parents, it is only natural that they have desensitized and started feeling this is the natural order of things. Moreover, one of the reasons why their crimes are shocking is because they do not develop any sense of empathy.

4. Often fantasize about holding total control

Due to the constant abuse they are subjected to, an overwhelming number of serial killers admit that they often had horrific fantasies about mutilation, trauma and desecration. It is important to note that these fantasies cannot be classified as childhood nightmares especially since they are mainly about a serial killer in the making who is taking control and being the actual assailant. On a side note, before they commit their first murder most serial killers fantasize about it very frequently, in order to discover how to make it “perfect”.

5. Dysfunctional relationships that enforce isolation and solitude

In the vast majority of interviews, serial killers confess they experienced debilitating family relationships throughout their entire childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, their relatives are always fighting and are simply unable to sit in a single location for too long. The aforementioned factors essentially limit the child’s opportunity to make friends and have meaningful relationships. Consequentially, most of them end up growing isolated from their peers and feeling lonely.

The food production and consumption over the past fifty years has changed dramatically. Now that the world population has reached the impressive number of seven billion and is expected to exceed nine billion in the next few decades, the issue of how the people are going to feed themselves becomes more stringent than ever. Fortunately, we’ve always found a way and you only need to think of how we handled the growing demand in chicken and beef to have a positive view on the matter. In fact, scientists worldwide are currently testing various dietary innovations to account for consumption needs in the future. Let’s review the potential foods people are going to eat in the future.

1. Genetically modified foods

This technology is currently in its infancy and we’re already seeing genetically modified foods in the markets. What science intends to do from this point is find a way to improve the current existing aliments by transforming them into more nutritious, harder, bigger and tastier foods. In short, they plan on making food better so people need to eat less of it. The first advantage that comes to mind entails that farmers will grow plants faster and hence, the yearly production will increase. But who knows, if food can be genetically modified then perhaps in the future it can also be engineered to act as medication in case of certain diseases as well.

2. Nanofoods

While many confuse the genetically modified food with nanofoods, they constitute entirely two different concepts. More exactly, the first implies altering the genes (and hence the aliment), whereas the second entails redeveloping the atomic structure of the food. Although not exactly nanofoods, the closest example that pops to mind are the preservatives currently used in numerous types of foods. The project is in a very early stage and it already has the ambitious goal of making the food taste accordingly with the preference of the consumer.

3. In-vitro meat

Because the vast majority of people living on the planet prefer meat, scientists have poured a lot of resources into replicating this delicious aliment. However, in spite of their efforts to replace meat with something else, the results have mostly been disappointing. The good news is that these days science focuses on a new idea to compensate for meat without having to grow and kill an animal for it, the in-vitro meat. If the outcomes of the project will prove positive, then we will not only have the best replacement for meat, but science will also make a big breakthrough in eliminating the world’s hunger problem.

4. Vegetarian meat

Replacing actual meat with ingredients that have nothing to do with animals was not very well perceived a few years ago. However, as the meat industry becomes more expensive and challenging to manage, the idea of eating vegetarian meat does not seem so bizarre nowadays. The latest innovation in the field is the testing of fungi dubbed Quorn, a type of fungus that actually taster very similar to meat. Providing this works out well, the meat of the future will not only be cheaper but also significantly healthier.

5. Weeds

The weeds that can constitute the dietary basis in the future are not necessarily the concept you are accustomed to in the traditional sense. It essentially needs to be a weed that has a great nutritional value and that also taste good, like purslane. Even though farmers are reluctant to grow purslane due to the fact that it tends to choke any other plant growing around it, scientists claim that it contains a bundle of vitamins and minerals, which make it a better alternative to carrots and spinach. Furthermore, it actually tastes good and perhaps the trump card of this weed is that it can grow anywhere.

Ranging from oil spills to climate change, we have seen and heard about all kings of environmental disasters and hazards. Here are 10 potential disasters –some of which have already begun to have an effect on our lives.

1. Global Warming

It is the world’s biggest environmental disaster. It began a long time ago, and is just getting worse day by day. In the last century the average temperature worldwide rose by 1.25F/0.7c. In 2003, 10% of the glaciers in Switzerland had disappeared.

2. Vanishing Species

Due to global warming and climate changes over 20% to 30% of world’s animal species will become extinct. We will lose some of our most beautiful animals and birds such as Javan Rhinoceros, Giant Panda. Black footed Ferret among others. Conservation efforts have been put on the fast track, but they may be too late for some of them.

3. Moving Mountain Ranges and Melting Glaciers

The Himalayas are melting at an alarming rate. Their glaciers feed nine major rivers which are the main source of water for countries such as China, India and Bangladesh. The melting glaciers are causing immense flooding problems. This is true not just for the Himalayas but also for other ranges such as the Andes and the Alps.

4. Drying Rivers

On the one hand the glaciers are melting and causing floods, on the other hand the rivers are drying up. Global warming and indiscriminate use of water has dried up this vital resource. Water scarcity is a problem that has to be tackled on a war footing since it affects everyone on a personal level.

5. Deforestation

Logging and burning of trees in a forest area is termed at deforestation. Frequently it occurs due to new settlements being built as in the Amazon rain forest, or due to the demand for wood as fuel and for building purposes. Deforestation contributes to global warming and the increased greenhouse effect.