These extraordinary bricks reflect sunlight into dark streets
In 2013, French designer Nathanaël Abeille started working with material expert Carlos Muniagurria to develop a way to turn common, inexpensive bricks into highly reflective objects capable of illuminating streets, apartments, and buildings that don’t receive direct sunlight–especially in Read More...
Black gold: can homegrown caviar catch on?
Can caviar from North Carolina stand up to the cheaper Chinese product? A local farm tries to get Americans to Read More...
Tata Power plans $5 billion push to boost renewable capacity
Tata Power Co., one of India’s largest private power utilities, is planning to invest as much as $5 billion to ramp up its renewable capacity fourfold, according to its top Read More...
A strait-laced writer explores psychedelics, leaves the door of perception ajar
Microdosing is hot. If you haven’t heard — but you probably have, from reports of its use at Silicon Valley workplaces, from Ayelet Waldman’s memoir “A Really Good Day,” from dozens of news stories — to microdose is to take small amounts of LSD, which generate “subperceptual” Read More...
Report: UK can move from coal to clean without gas
The British government has pledged to switch all air-polluting coal-fired power plants by 2025. To do so, the government plans to build new large gas plants. However, a new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature shows that the UK can move straight from coal to clean, renewable energy and skip Read More...
Amidst ever more high-tech, the future of the bike is bright
The talk is about self-driving cars. However, when it comes to "personal mobility for the last mile", the more than a century old bike will prove unbeatable. Especially with bike-sharing becoming easier and more efficient. In 2010 Americans shared 320,000 rides; in 2016 to 28 Read More...
A serious plan to reduce global warming: Resurrecting the mammoth
After decades of research, a pair of Russian scientists has demonstrated that if the diverse species of herbivores that once populated the subpolar region of the Arctic are brought back, permafrost melting can be prevented. Some perspective on the scope and implication of this proposal: If it Read More...
This man’s blood saved 2.4 million babies in 60 years
As a 14-year old Australian boy James Harrison, after major surgery, was saved by blood transfusions. In his gratitude, he pledged that he would donate blood as soon as he had turned 18--the required age at that time. In the 1960s, many babies in Australia were dying each year as a result of a Read More...
Celebrating motherhood around the world (pictures)
In honor of Mother's Day National Geographic published this beautiful photo series of mothers around the world and through the Read More...
Broccoli is the only vegetable you actually need to eat, according to a doctor
The next time you go to make a green smoothie, you can put down the spinach and other vegetables and pick up something a little different instead. According to Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, the author of "The Four Pillar Plan", there is only one vegetable people really need to eat — Read More...