Miscellaneous
What if Bitcoin could help mitigate climate change?
How do you like a juicy story with a brilliant and creative free-spirited character as its main protagonist, and a crazy plot to solve humanity’s biggest challenge—the very same one that has had governments dragging their feet for decades? The free spirit is James d’Angelo, who started his Read More...
Community Supported Art allows artists to find their audience around the U.S.
Inspired by the success of the CSA movement, the artist-led economic development agency Springboard for the Arts created a twist on the usual CSA in 2010, substituting “Art” for “Agriculture.” Boxes may include paintings, limited-edition prints, textiles, fine art photographs, and Read More...
Innocent
What he does in prison is less mysterious than you might think: he teachesliterature to inmates.And what he accomplishes with those classes needs to be told. Almost none of the inmates who take Wareham’s classes commit crimes again after being released. His 13-week course consists of reading Read More...
Talking is very primitive
I have the time. “Also, in talking, we can never be precise. It’s really hard to convey ideas, especially when we speak in different languages. You and I now talk in English. Yet, you are fluent in Dutch, I am fluent in Spanish. I’m sure that we’ll soon have a misunderstanding.” So what Read More...
Optimism: There's always a way
That unfounded optimism always infuriated me. Nor is it the kind of optimism this magazine espouses. Optimism doesn’t mean denying reality. Or seeing sunshine when it’s raining. According to the dictionary, the everyday meaning of optimism is "hopefulness and confidence about the future or the Read More...
"I don’t believe in diets"
A diet, according to Verburgh, assumes that you will, against your will, for a certain period of time, eat less. “That’s wrong on three levels,” he says. “All health benefits matter only if you stick to a diet your whole life, and that doesn’t work for most diets.” Eating against your Read More...
Amur tigers thrive again in Russia after nearing extinction
Good news from Russia is too rare an occurrence to ignore. Here is a successful conservation story, with Amur tigers thriving again in the Far East of the country at more than 540 individuals compared to less than 40 back in the 1940s — with a 28.5-percent population increase in the last decade Read More...
A warming blanket to save millions of newborn babies worldwide
Fifteen million hypothermic babies are born every year around the world, including three million who die during the first month of life. Embrace has developed a tiny sleeping bag with proprietary technology that stabilizes the temperature of the newborn for 1.5 percent of the cost of regular Read More...
Riding a bike connects urban dwellers the world over
Here is a crowdsourced world tour of the most cycle-friendly cities, brought to you by The Guardian. It's a global movement! One that speaks volume about the fossil fuel-free world that we're growing into. Travel, discover, learn… and enjoy the Read More...
Federal judge upholds GMO ban in Oregon to protect organic farms
A legal decision which goes against the powerful agribusiness lobby is enough of a rare occurrence to be worth mentioning—celebrating even. The Monsanto-backed plaintiffs were non-organic farms who sought to overturn a 2014 ordinance passed by Jackson County voters, banning the use of genetically Read More...