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In Norway, an ambitious new standard for green building is catching on
In Drøbak, Norway, there’s a little school that’s one of the most unique — and possibly the greenest — in the world. On top, solar panels face the sun at a 33-degree angle, and beneath, energy wells tap geothermal Read More...
This researcher rode 5,000 miles with Uber to understand the gig economy
If you’re a frequent passenger of Lyft or Uber, there’s a good chance you’ve met your fair share of drivers. But probably not as many as Alex Rosenblat, an ethnographer and researcher at Data & Society, a nonprofit in New York that studies the social and cultural issues created by new Read More...
Finding the heart
How do we heal the heart? As a historian of religion, I often return to the Gnostic Gospels, an astonishing cache of more than fifty sacred texts, discovered in Egypt, in 1945. Many of them speak to this question: How do we gain the courage to overcome grief and despair? In one story, Jesus’s Read More...
Fungi research lifts lid on shy organisms that break down plastic
Could fungi help us deal with our plastic addiction? Scientists at London’s Kew Botanical Gardens think so. The first ever State of the World’s Fungi, produced by Kew Gardens and a team of around 100 scientists from 18 countries, reports that fungi successfully degrade polyurethane in a Read More...
Spice up your meals with this tasty healing aid
One of the main components that gives a curry dish its distinctive flavor is turmeric. Its tanginess, however, isn’t the only quality that gives this spice its reputation. For centuries, people have used it for its anti-inflammatory and disease-preventing properties. To reap the health benefits Read More...
Observe the frisky way houseplants behave when you’re not around
We know that having plants around the house can have amazing effects on our well-being, but did you know houseplants change their behavior when we’re away? Check out this exciting and oddly-satisfying timelapse to see the stunningly peculiar behavior of plants that we’ve been missing out Read More...
Research on the nutrition of your favorite foods is not what it seems
Our beliefs about how nutritious products are being increasingly shaped by scientific research dreamed up and paid for by major food companies. Borrowing a dirty tactic from the tobacco industry, the food industry has distorted science by paying for research that makes erroneous claims like that Read More...
Novel research finds mechanism that induces self-destruction in cancer cells
What was originally a study focused on finding the natural mechanisms that could protect organisms from cancer has led to a stunning finding: the researchers have discovered that inside every cell within the human body is a toxic code designed to trigger self-destruction if it senses a cell is Read More...
Doodling might actually be the best way to learn
Research suggests the most effective way to absorb and distill new information isn’t by repeatedly reading and writing information down, but by simply drawing it. A group of participants was given a list of words to memorize. Half were told to continuously rewrite them down, and the other half Read More...
Waymo can test fully driverless cars on California roads
Get ready to see mysteriously vacant cars roaming around California streets. The state DMV has granted Waymo a permit to test fully driverless vehicles (not even an observer) on public roads, making it the first company in the state to receive Read More...