Human Environment
Public and private places and buildings, including cities, monuments, parks and reservations
The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance
Her claim of being "the Heiress to $15,000" was just one of the many falsehoods that carried Cassie Chadwick from city to city and bounced check to bounced check
June 27, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
Bacteria, Plants Turn Garbage Dump into Beautiful Park
Thanks to the help of some hungry bacteria and plants, a 150-foot high garbage dump in Colombia is being transformed into a public park. The microbes and greens are neutralizing the contaminated soil, sucking up heavy metals and feasting on chemicals. Wired’s Olivia Solon describes how the project got off the ground: A team from [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Hunt for a Bottle of Asturias Cider and the Stories of More Drinks From Northern Spain
In this part of Europe, a glass of rioja is nice, but nothing beats apple cider, a way of life
June 27, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Greatest Globe on Earth
Now kept at the American Geographical Society in New York, the globe is precious not for its age or beauty, but for the explorers who signed it
June 25, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Beautiful Dinosaurs Ripped From Time
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles has beautiful dinosaur displays, but what do the exhibits tell us about your connection to Triceratops and kin?
June 22, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
For a Happy Hotel Experience, Take the Middle Road
Neither too luxurious nor too austere, mid-range inns are often a great choice for travelers. Here are some of my favorites in Europe, Mexico and Morocco
June 18, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
430 Square Foot Apartment Isn’t Too Small for Indoor/Outdoor Shower
Living in a tiny space often means taking risks with design. An architect convinced Rui Miguel and Sonia Lopez, who live in a 430 square foot apartment, that to connect with the outside world, they should cut a hole in the roof. Disguised as part of a rooftop planter, the hole feeds directly into their [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
How to Assemble a Giant
A new museum exhibit presents one of the largest dinosaurs ever found
June 18, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Googie: Architecture of the Space Age
The futurist design movement that divided critics and and swept the nation with space age coffee shops.
June 15, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
A Toast to the Astoria Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russia
A Russian icon in the Art Nouveau style on St. Isaac‘s Square near the Neva River, the Astoria evokes a Belle Époque world gone by
June 13, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Can Brown Bears Survive in the Pyrenees?
The keepers of sheep and cows helped eliminate the Pyrenean brown bear in the first place, and shepherds are not thrilled to see France's largest predator return
June 12, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Prospero’s Island in the South Pacific
Was it Bermuda—or the dreamy French Polynesian island of Huahine—that inspired the setting for Shakespeare's The Tempest?
June 11, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
A Serious Look at Funny Faces
A history of caricatures exposes the inside jokes
June 08, 2012 |
By Henry Adams
Jaipur via The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
A delightful new film takes viewers to India’s picturesque western state of Rajasthan
June 07, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
On the Cheese Trail in the Pyrenees
Make a fuss in the road and stomp your feet, and someone will appear. Spit out some gibberish about “fromage a vendre,” and that should do it. You'll get your cheese
June 07, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
1923 Envisions the Two-Wheeled Flying Car of 1973
As cars got larger in the 1920s, the "Helicar" was presented as the solution to congested city streets
June 06, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Passion in the Poconos
Home of the heart-shaped tub, the Pennsylvania mountains once rivaled Niagara Falls as a honeymoon destination
June 01, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Sharing Pork Chops With Jackson Pollock
Richard Field was an undergrad with gumption when he visited the painter at his Long Island home. Nearly 60 years later, Field recalls the memorable affair
June 01, 2012 |
By Henry Adams
The New Hot Item on the Housing Market: Bomb Shelters
The cold war may be over, but sales of a new breed of bomb shelter are on the rise. Prepare to survive Armageddon in style
June 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Where Lance Remains the King
Among the peaks, cirques and summits of the French Pyrenees, the greeting call to an American on a bike may always be "Armstrong!"
May 31, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
