As Fires Rage In The Amazon, Brazil Massacres Activists Trying To Save The Rain Forest
Jane de Oliveira set out to protect the world’s largest rain forest from the corporate interests that are burning it to the ground. Then the armed men showed up.
As Warming Waters Make Shellfish Toxic, A Way Of Life Becomes Deadly For Alaskans
Coastal states have developed statewide systems to keep their recreational and subsistence harvesters safe from paralytic shellfish poisoning. Alaska has no such system. State environmental health officials say the sheer length of its coast makes monitoring shellfish for the toxin impossible.
How A Group Of Citizens Revived A British Era Lake In India
The lake was built by the British for irrigating nearby farmlands. But gradually it became a dumpsite for Salem’s municipal solid waste. In 2010 the Salem Citizen’s Forum (SCF) took over the work of cleaning the lake. Using the silt of the lake, the SCF created 45 small islands.
‘It’s Been Hell’: Inside The Town Where Trumpers Are Building A Private Wall
Either as a demonstration of loyalty to the president or, in the case of one developer, a bid for lucrative government contracts, some private citizens are furiously erecting their own barriers along the Southwest border. The latest iteration, the three-and-a-half-mile Rio Grande Valley wall, is now nearly complete.
An Olympic Hockey Hero, A Violent Crime And The Specter Of Brain Trauma
Forty years ago, Mark Pavelich played a crucial role in the U.S. hockey team’s triumph over the Russians. He is unquestionably the least understood of the ’80 Olympic heroes, and someone who may have been betrayed by the very sport he loved. Was there a steep cost for his lifetime on the ice?
How A Volcano In Hawaii Became A Battleground For Astronomy
Native Hawaiians are protecting the mountain of Maunakea, at the heart of Hawaii’s Big Island, from the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) at its summit, where the facility would join venerable observatories like the twin Keck domes and NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility.
Inside The Strange World Of Kidnap And Ransom Survival Schools
Risks Inc. is one of a few dozen private companies I had found that offer kidnap prevention and survival courses. Costs range from about $600 to a couple thousand dollars. Some are entirely in a classroom; others include role-playing.
That Wonderful Summer
On July 4, 1988, FIFA awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States. At the time, there was no top-flight professional league in the U.S., and it had been 38 years since the country had participated in a World Cup. As a condition for awarding the tournament, FIFA required the United States to create a new professional league.
Life Under The Algorithm
Increase your output, get paid more. Wages go up with productivity. Until, it turns out, they don’t anymore. The unwinding of this agreement in recent decades, such that workers must continue to produce more without expecting it to show up in their pay stubs, has now been the subject of a good deal of discussion and debate.
The Green Sludge That Could Transform Our Diets
One potential alternative food source – both for humans and the animals we eat – is algae. Microalgae is rich in protein, amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins. Could the green stuff that appears on ponds and lakes after a particularly warm spell be the answer to the planet’s food security problems?
How Eliud Kipchoge Broke Running’s Mythic Barrier
It was one of sport’s great question marks: Is it humanly possible to run 26.2 miles in under two hours? Then Eliud Kipchoge did it. What followed was international fame—and plenty of controversy. GQ flew to Kipchoge’s ultra-rarefied Kenyan training ground to meet the man who pulled off the impossible.
What Happened When Tulsa Paid People To Work Remotely
Traditionally, cities looking to spur their economies may offer incentives to attract businesses. Tulsa is testing out a new premise: Pay people instead. The first class of hand-picked remote workers moved to Tulsa in exchange for $10,000 and a built-in community. The city might just be luring them to stay.
Moving Millions, Leaving Mayhem
Garda bought its way into the U.S. armored car industry in 2005, swallowing rivals until it blanketed the nation. But in its rush to grow, Garda took shortcuts that put unsafe trucks and error-prone drivers on the road. The result has been armored trucks hurtling out of control in communities across America.
The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist
The skilled climber and thief Vjeran Tomic, whom the French press referred to as Spider-Man, has described robbery as an act of imagination. He was driven partly by aesthetic desire. “Certain paintings can provoke me like an emotional shock,” he said.
The Education Of Natalie Jean
For years, Mormon mommy blogger Natalie Lovin curated a picture-perfect life. Natalie’s job was being a lovably quirky wife and mother who documented her idyllic life online. Then she left the church—and her husband.
The Art Of Eviction
In Brooklyn, the median rent has gone up about 10 percent in the six years since Quick Evic was founded, allowing the company to expand aggressively. In 2014 it brought in $20,000 in revenue, which ballooned to more than $300,000 by 2017. How one company helps landlords exploit a loophole in New York’s tenant laws.
How Two Lottery-Crazed Bank Clerks Cooked Up China’s Biggest Bank Robbery
On April 16, 2007, the fuzzy, grey star had just set, and the bustling streets cast further into darkness, when police detectives arrived at the Agricultural Bank of China. When detectives entered the vault, they were stumped. The suspects had left behind only one piece of physical evidence: a bag full of lottery tickets.
Uber Wars In Argentina
Since Uber arrived in Argentina in 2016, taxi drivers have come out in force, torching ride-share cars, beating drivers, and shaming passengers. There have been more than 1,041 fights — that have been reported to police, anyway.
The American Restaurant Is On Life Support
The restaurant industry is in a scary place, one that fairly guarantees heartbreak. We’re eating at street-corner stalls and food trucks, in front of the TV and at the grocery—everywhere but restaurants. They might not be here when we get back.
The Future’s Green For Copenhagen
Copenhagen has already earned its reputation as Europe’s capital of style and sustainability. Now the city is embarking on some of the world’s most ambitious architecture projects in a bid to become the greenest on earth.
The Ingenious System Bringing Water To The Chinese Desert
The Karez is a modern-day engineering marvel and a prime example of a native people working with, not against, the forces of nature to deliver their needs – in this case, water. Today, this system nourishes an area called Grape Valley, once an oasis for weary travelers along the Silk Road.