🌍 Environment

• 💎Nine Ways to Make a Diamond

  Explore how minerals shape life on Earth and beyond in our latest study, revealing nine unique ways to create a diamond.

• 🌍The Sky is Falling

  Learn about the day Mario Molina won the Nobel Prize for proving the sky *was* falling, detailed in a fact-checked History Channel podcast episode.

• 🌲The quietest place in the lower forty-eight

  This excerpt highlights the profound tranquility of Olympic National Park and its unique auditory experience in nature.

• 🌳Tree gender and pollen counts

  Exploring the unintended consequences of urban landscaping choices on seasonal allergies and pollen distribution.

• 🌿Marginalia

  Reflecting on Wendell Berry's thoughts about the importance of margins and wildness in our lives.

• 🐚Bad News for Wood Boats

  The shipworm, a clam with destructive potential, is now encroaching on the Baltic Sea, impacting cultural artifacts.

• 🌱Another one bites the dust

  Dirt-eating is a peculiar practice that connects nutrition, soil health, and cultural history.

• 🗑️garbage is spiritual

  A.R. Ammons reflects on the spiritual significance of garbage and its role in our lives.

• 🌊Ponte Vecchio 5, by Leigh Wen

  Taiwanese-American artist Leigh Wen captures the essence of water in her stunning mural-size paintings, like "Ponte Vecchio 5."

• 🗑️Sign your work!

  Yvonne Froud, a shopkeeper in Joys Green, Gloucestershire, has taken a creative approach to combat littering among local children by marking snack wrappers with their names and encouraging them to take responsibility for their waste.

• 🛍️Use, storage, and sale

  A significant move in Delhi as officials take a strong stance against plastic bags, following the footsteps of other countries like Rwanda and Bhutan. "Carry a plastic bag in Delhi and you could be imprisoned for five years..."

• 🌳A mental break from the urban roil

  Exploring the cognitive toll of urban life and the healing power of nature.

• 🦃Wild Turkey, by John James Audubon

  Audubon's art often required his subjects to be hunted first, illustrating a complex relationship between nature and preservation.

• 🌄Viewing the City’s Places of Interest in Springtime, by Yao Lu

  Yao Lu's striking photography intertwines art and environmental commentary, highlighting the ecological shifts in China.

• 🍃Virtue as vice

  A reflection on how our perceptions of virtue often intertwine with cultural tastes, highlighting the complexities of our choices and environmental impact.

• 🏡Love throws a line

  The impact of technology on our expectations of laundry, contrasting high-tech solutions with simpler alternatives.

• 🌳City and Forest, by Katy Wu

  A young illustrator's work captures the delicate balance between nature and culture, inspired by the beloved film My Neighbour Totoro.

• 🌉Walkway over 101, by Kurt Manley

  I appreciate the striking contrasts found in the relationship between civilization and nature.

• 🚗That’s progress for you

  A look at the evolution of fuel efficiency in cars, highlighting a stark decline in options despite increasing consumer demand.

• 🐋Wooden whales

  Reflecting on the delicate balance of nature and technology through the lens of whales and human fascination.

• 🍽️The trayless cafeteria

  The removal of cafeteria trays at universities aims to reduce food waste and promote sustainability.

• 🚦Want safer roads? Make them seem more dangerous

  The transformation of a busy intersection into a safer, more harmonious space showcases the power of human awareness in traffic dynamics.

• 🌍The claims we make on nature and beauty

  An insightful critique by Rebecca Solnit on the intersection of beauty, nature, and politics in sports, particularly during the Olympics.

• 🌆Garbage barges vs. vertical farms

  Exploring why urban environments may not be ideal for high-tech food production despite their many advantages.

• 🌍Before and after, around the world

  A reflection on humanity's impact on the environment through changing landscapes over time.

• ⛑️Sandbag challenge

  Researchers examined how professional engineers outperformed volunteers in building effective sandbag dikes, highlighting the importance of expertise in flood prevention.

• 🌄The Largest Human-Made Art on Earth

  An exploration of Jim Denevan's massive ephemeral art, where creativity meets the vastness of nature.