How Iceland is regrowing forests destroyed by the Vikings
Iceland is beautiful yet barren country, but it wasn’t always like this. When the Vikings first arrived to Iceland more than a millennium ago, they found an uninhabited landscape with plentiful forests and other woodlands. So what happened? The Vikings began chopping down and burning Iceland’s Read More...
To cure affluenza, we have to be satisfied with the stuff we already own
If people maintained and repaired their possessions, the world economy and the impact of human activity on the environment would be transformed. Unfortunately, we as a society have been trained to love things not for their material function, but for the symbolic act of acquiring and possessing. If Read More...
Paris is getting a ‘white forest’ tower that will feature 2,000 plants
Construction on a greenery-covered tower, designed by the Italian firm Stefano Boeri Architetti, will soon start in the Parisian suburb of Villiers-sur-Marne in France. On the outside, 2,000 trees, plants, and shrubs will fill the building’s facade, roof, and balconies. Inside, the building Read More...
India wants to initiate clean cooking movement by tapping solar energy market
BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave a call to start-ups run by the city youth to initiate a clean cooking movement by tapping the huge market potential of solar energy, saying they would get blessings of women from the poor sections of Read More...
Is the sharing economy working?
Not long ago, I moved apartments, and beneath the weight of work and lethargy a number of small, nagging tasks remained undone. Some art work had to be hung from wall moldings, using Read More...
An organic farming revolution is helping bring food security to Cuba
At one point in time, Cuba was only growing sugar as their main crop. Now the island nation is in the midst of a small-scale organic revolution that’s helping to feed a state that is still very reliant on other countries for food. See here how Cuba after the collapse of the Soviet Union and years Read More...
A small town in Iceland created a “levitating” crosswalk to slow traffic
Instead of installing speed bumps to get drivers to slow down, a city in Iceland recently painted a “floating” pedestrian crossing on the street. The eye-popping optical illusion makes it seem as if the crosswalk is levitating a few inches off the ground. When they get nearer and nearer to this Read More...
How inmates, scientists, and government workers are teaming up to save a butterfly
If you have been reading news about the western part of the United States in the past few months, you wouldn’t be a fool to think lighting a fire in a forest or prairie is a terrible idea. But that’s exactly what a motley collection of prison inmates, Native ecologists, and military base Read More...
Sound meditation is becoming the biggest relaxation trend in San Francisco
Meditation comes in all shapes and sizes, and also sounds for that matter. In San Francisco, thousands of people are meditating by taking a “bath” in sound and fall into some sort of musically-induced bliss. If you’re curious about what this would be like, check out what this journalist had Read More...
Adding magnesium to your diet helps your body function at its best
According to this doctor, there’s one supplement that is essential for your health: magnesium. The mineral serves to help you avoid fatigue, insomnia, migraines, anxiety, muscle cramps, and even depression. The problem is that when you’re stressed, your brain compensates for it by using up the Read More...