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The famous "Big Hole" in Kimberley, South Africa

Peering Into Some of the World’s Largest Mines

This interactive map will show you the sources of the planet’s precious metals

Willowsford is the first neighborhood to take Development Supported Agriculture mainstream.

Bringing the Farm to Your Backyard

Development Supported Agriculture is a growing trend in the housing world, and one subdivision is taking it mainstream

A doctor administers a common glaucoma test.

Tech Watch

A Smart Sensor Could Detect Glaucoma Before Your Doctor Does

A pair of Washington researchers could be first to implant an electronic sensor—designed to give real-time analysis of the disease—directly into the eye

Night attack at Fort Stevens on July 11, 1864

Washington, D.C.

When Washington, D.C. Came Close to Being Conquered by the Confederacy

The year was 1864, and the South was all but beaten, yet Jubal Early’s ragged army had D.C. within its grasp

Adult Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) with gathered insect prey. This is one of the fifteen species shown to be affected by elevated imidacloprid concentrations in surface water in the Netherlands.

New Research

Popular Pesticides Linked to Drops in Bird Populations

This is the latest in a string of studies suggesting that some pesticides impact birds as well as pollinators

When the Last of the Great Auks Died, It Was by the Crush of a Fisherman’s Boot

Birds once plentiful and abundant, are the subject of a new exhibition at the Natural History Museum

Pork and Anise Soup with Rice Noodles.

These Photos and Recipes of Authentic Thai Food Will Make You Drool for Curry

Food writer and photographer Jean-Pierre Gabriel spent 3 years traveling and developing the ultimate encyclopedia of Thai cuisine

In cities, where the urban heat island effect can raise the local temperature several degrees higher than nearby rural areas, summer is a time to cool off wherever you can.

New Research

Why the City Is (Usually) Hotter than the Countryside

The smoothness of the landscape and the local climate—not the materials of the concrete jungle—govern the urban heat island effect, a new study finds

Finger coral's fatness and indiscretion when it comes to algal partners gives it an edge in warming waters.

New Research

Fat Corals Fare Best As Climate Changes

Corals with significant energy reserves that welcome all types of symbiotic algae species won’t easily die if hit with multiple bleaching events

Anyone with a touchscreen can help shape the constantly evolving Universal Typeface.

The Universal Typeface Project Averages the World’s Handwriting to Produce an Incredibly Average Font

With your help, ballpoint pioneer BIC aims to create a font as common as their pens

The clip-on Bluetooth device guides you through less-stressful days by keeping tabs on how you're breathing.

Tech Watch

Stressed? The Latest In Wearables Could Help Keep You Calm

Spire, a clip-on Bluetooth device available this fall, keeps tabs on stress by monitoring how you breathe

At the time of his death on May 9, 2014, Alexander Imich was the world's oldest man.

Keeping Track of the Oldest People in the World

The Gerontology Research Group catalogues on all of the world’s confirmed supercentenarians, or persons over 110 years old

Is this the face of a cold-blooded man-eater?

14 Fun Facts About Piranhas

They’re not cute and cuddly, but they may be misunderstood, and scientists are rewriting the fish’s fearsome stereotype

The yellow card is an elegant design solution that has been adopted by several sports.

World Cup 2014

Who Invented the Yellow Card?

Penalty cards are a surprisingly recent creation that were, perhaps unsurprisingly, inspired by traffic lights

The TellMeDave robot is designed to take orders.

Tech Watch

Robots Are Smart—But Can They Understand Us?

Researchers at Cornell are developing a new way for the machines to interpret the imprecise way humans speak

Skulls of the genus Homo, including two from Homo erectus on the right

New Research

Ability to Adapt Gave Early Humans the Edge Over Other Hominins

Features thought to be characteristic of early Homo lineages actually evolved before Homo arose. Rather, our flexible nature defines us

14 Fun Facts About Fireworks

Number three: Fireworks are just chemical reactions

Visit These Iconic Forrest Gump Filming Locations

Unlike a box of chocolates, you can know what you’re going to get with these places from Gump’s epic life

Check out the Colonial Ties cocktail, or find a new favorite below.

Five All-American Cocktail Recipes from the Nation’s Top Mixologists

Raise a glass this summer to America’s vibrant cocktail history by whipping up some of these classic drinks

Among the many downsides of natural gas extraction are the small earthquakes caused by injecting wastewater back into the earth. Above, an oil rig drills for natural gas through shale.

New Research

Time to Start Paying Attention to Fracking’s Earthquakes

With wastewater injection sparking swarms of small quakes, some states are taking notice of the danger

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