Human Environment
Public and private places and buildings, including cities, monuments, parks and reservations
China Acknowledges It Has a Problem With Pollution-Laden ‘Cancer Villages’
This is most likely the first that authorities dubbed pollution-laden problem locations "cancer villages" in an official report
February 26, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Dead Woman Who Brought Down the Mayor
Vivian Gordon was a reputed prostitute and blackmailer—but her murder led to the downfall of New York Mayor Jimmy Walker
February 25, 2013 |
By Rachel Shteir
Who Owns This Half-Million Dollar Banksy Mural?
A public piece of art, painted on a private wall, by an pseudonymous artist. Who owns the work?
February 25, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Artificial Wetland Uses Bacteria to Clean Pharmaceuticals From Sewage
By harnessing bacteria to do the heavy lifting, a way to clean pharmaceuticals from waste water
February 22, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Soviet Sniper
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 kills—and an advocate for women's rights. On a U.S. tour in 1942, she found a friend in the first lady.
February 21, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Vilcabamba: Paradise Going Bad?
Life in this legendary town in Ecuador's Valley of Longevity may be too good—and too long—to be true
February 20, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
When Cane Juice Meets Yeast: Brewing in Ecuador
The sugarcane trail takes the author across the Andes, into home liquor distilleries and from juice shack to juice shack as he pursues fermented sugarcane wine
February 14, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
Should National Parks Offer Wifi and Cellular Coverage?
Is cellular coverage inevitable in U.S. national parks, some of the nation's last wireless hold-outs?
February 13, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
What Makes the Trout in Ecuador Look Like Salmon?
Aiming to catch a few trout for dinner, the author decides to try his luck at one of the region's many "sport fishing" sites
February 12, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
All Those Hours Inside Could Make You Nearsighted
Just being inside all the time might be creating a population full of nearsighted people
February 11, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Bike, Bark, Bite, Blood: The Perils of Cycling in Rabies Country
An unfortunate run in with a mutt in Ecuador turned into a trip to the doctor's to be treated for rabies, a surprisingly fatal disease
February 07, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
A Football Team With No One to Play Against
Listen closely around the public parks of Quito, Ecuador, and you just might hear that familiar sound: "Hut hut hike!"
February 06, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
Why Did the Lights Go Out in the Superdome?
What actually caused the power outage in the 73,000 seat Superdome? Well, it's unclear
February 04, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and his Tower
The inventor's vision of a global wireless-transmission tower proved to be his undoing
February 04, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Strange Ball in a Strange Place: Watching the Super Bowl in Ecuador
America's Biggest Game brings excitement, curiosity and some boredom to Ecuador
February 04, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
Faces From Afar: Two Canadian Travelers Bring Love, Goodwill and Water Filters to the Needy
Give a man a glass of water, and you may quench his thirst. But teach him to build a water filter, as Rod and Ingrid McCarroll are doing, and he'll have clean water for life
February 01, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
China’s Air Pollution Is So Bad That One Entrepreneur Is Selling Fresh Air in Cans
It’s a bleak state of affairs indeed when a Mel Brooks schtickfest from the '80s actually predicts the future
January 31, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
Prince Charles Rides the London Tube for First Time in 33 Years
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall graced the plebeians subway commuters with their presence to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the London tube's creation
January 30, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Trash and the Future of Traveling Museum Exhibits
A traveling exhibit ditches the trucks and goes digital to teach environmentally-friendly ways of living
January 30, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
Much Ado About Nothing at the Equator
Just north of Quito stands a grand and glowing tribute to one of Ecuador’s proudest features: the Equator. The problem is, it was built in the wrong place
January 30, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
