Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is greater than we ever thought. And by greater, I mean worse. According to research published last month, it’s “increasing exponentially and at a faster rate than in surrounding waters.” The slurry of trash and seawater loosely held together by Pacific currents spans 617,762 square miles, roughly twice the size…
Cover Photo Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Spitsbergen Island, Norway. Credit Spencer Lowell for The New York Times All around the world, scientists are building repositories of everything from seeds to ice to mammal milk — racing to preserve a natural order that is fast disappearing. 点击查看本文中文版 Photographs by SPENCER LOWELL and TEXT BY MALIA WOLLANJULY…
That water’s hot: Tourists walk in mist near the geyser at Geysir, Iceland, which gave the phenomenon its name. Stoyan Nenov/Reuters Iceland Is Sick of Tourists’ Bad Behavior Visitors are underestimating the country’s dangers—and taking locals for granted. This month, Iceland’s ongoing tourism problems took a dark turn. Over the first weekend of July,…
Spiders are quite literally all around us. A recent entomological survey of North Carolina homes turned up spiders in 100 percent of them, including 68 percent of bathrooms and more than three-quarters of bedrooms. There’s a good chance at least one spider is staring at you right now, sizing you up from a darkened corner of…
Google Microdata Mobile only ad Article “Cover” Five neuroscientists argue that fancy new technologies have led the field astray. Google Metadata A rat’s brain activity is recorded by sensors connected to its head. Reuters It’s a good time to be interested in the brain. Neuroscientists can now turn neurons on or off with just a…
Story Highlights Five years ago the U.S. saw one of its most extreme weather months in history. February 2017 shares similarities with March 2012 because of the widespread early-season warmth. The eastern U.S. experienced a rash of extreme weather in February 2017, from record warmth that has led to the early blooming of trees and…
President Trump on Thursday signed legislation ending a key Obama administration coal mining rule. The bill quashes the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule, a regulation to protect waterways from coal mining waste that officials finalized in December. The legislation is the second Trump has signed into law ending an Obama-era environmental regulation. On Tuesday, he signed…
People attend the Outdoor Retailer show at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City in January. (Rick Bowmer/AP) The twice-a-year Outdoor Retailer show is the world’s largest trade exhibition for one of the world’s fastest-growing industries. It’s where companies such as Patagonia, the North Face, REI, Black Diamond and Polartec hawk their coolest…
The House voted to overturn the Obama administration’s ‘Fair Chase’ rule. CREDIT: AP Photo/Becky Bohrer The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to legalize the killing of black bear cubs and their mothers at their dens in Alaska’s national wildlife refuges. The controversial measure, backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA), overturns a ‘Fair Chase’ rule,…
Today, Senate Republicans are holding a hearing to find out how best to repeal the Endangered Species Act. Republican lawmakers have wanted to “modernize” the Endangered Species Act for years, mainly on the basis that the laws protecting the habitats of various species are inhibiting the potential for drilling, mining, and land development across America. With…