Vietnam is in danger. Rising sea levels pose a huge threat to this coastal country. In less than 100 years much of southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta – the heart of the nation’s rice production – could go the way of Atlantis. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment predicts that the ocean...
With its 26 million people, Delhi has been described as a microcosm of India, with trappings from the country’s many cultures, religions and traditions. Centuries of global trade, conquest and colonisation have made the city one of the world’s most multicultural. And residents who adapt to this ever-changing culture are...
As always, the Saudia Airline flight from Riyadh to Medina started with prayer. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the flight attendant said over the intercom. “The text that you are about to hear is a supplication that the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, used to pray before travelling.” The rest was...
In the village of Tahala, solar panels not only improved the agricultural economy – they also helped residents connect with God. A remote region Tucked away in the Anti-Atlas mountain range, southern Morocco’s Tafraout region doesn’t attract many tourists. Those visitors who do brave the winding roads from cities like...
You may think thoughts are inconsequential – coming and going in a sometimes meaningful or meaningless way. But the thoughts we have and the way we think are more substantial than you may realize. Getting into patterns of thought and creating different beliefs essentially shape our lives and our outlook...
The beauty salons, swimming pools and even wireless communications of today’s huge cruise ships all got their start with the “floating palaces” of a century ago. When the world’s then-largest ocean liner embarked on its first transatlantic voyage in September 1907, thousands of spectators gathered at the docks of Liverpool...
Félix Ramón Guirola Cepero has used everything from tin fencing to PVC pipes in his efforts to build the world’s tallest bicycle. It’s not possible to keep up with 52-year-old Félix Ramón Guirola Cepero, and it’s not wise to try. On a bright winter day, he flew down Havana’s famed...
What makes dreams into reality? I believe that perhaps the most important – and an often ignored – thing is simply taking action. I used to be really bad at it when I was younger. Back then I usually got stuck. I got stuck in my dreams about what I...
One of the largest religious structure on earth has puzzled and enchanted visitors for centuries. How did it come to be? António da Madelena, a Portuguese Capuchin friar, was one of the first Western visitors to Angkor Wat, the monumental and moated 12th Century Hindu-Buddhist temple in what, today, 1is...
The Ledge, Willis Tower, Chicago Glass floors are rarely less than exciting. Will they bear your weight? Might they trigger vertigo? Here’s one way of finding out, The Ledge, a pair of retractable glass pods projecting from the 103rd floor of Chicago’s Willis Tower, the second tallest building in the...
In a few decades, AI will outstrip many of the abilities we believe make us special. This is a grand challenge for our age, argues researcher Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, and it may require an ‘irrational’ response. One of the most consequential pieces of news from the US in early 2017 was...
Scientists have long puzzled over how animals reach remote islands in the midst of our vast oceans. There are plenty of possible explanations, but now it seems they may have neglected an essential element: landslides. A study of weevils in the Canary Islands suggests that animals can travel from one...
The stress is rising. You’re starting to feel frustrated with situation you’re in. Or angry. Or maybe sad and like you just want to pack up and go home. But at the same time you also know that you need to keep calm. To be able to think clearly. To not...
When Nazi forces reached Leningrad in the summer of 1941, rather than risk the lives of thousands of soldiers battling fierce Soviet resistance, the generals chose instead to blockade the city. It left Leningrad’s three million residents almost completely cut-off from the outside world for 900 days. During those terrible...
From coffee to cheques and the three-course meal, the Muslim world has given the world many innovations that we take for granted in daily life. Here are the 20 of them and a brief story of the men behind the creation. Coffee The story goes that an Arab named Khalid...
For many expats, finding new friends can ease the often overwhelming task of adjusting to a new life abroad. But with huge variances in local culture and language capabilities, some places can definitely feel more welcoming than others. To determine where expats might find the best success of fitting in...
I don’t know who invented the term “Second City”, but I’m willing to bet it wasn’t someone who lived in one. Yes, technically a Second City is simply a nation’s second most populous city but, let’s face it, the term also implies inferiority, second-class status. No wonder residents of Second...
Fascinated by mysteries of the deep Recenty we were reminded that there’s still plenty to both love and learn about our planet, as news went viral about a 16th-century church in Mexico spookily rising from the watery depths. Abandoned in the 18th Century after a plague swept through the Chiapas region,...
Deep beneath a hill in the Worcestershire countryside, about 20 miles west of Birmingham, lie a series of hidden tunnels. Once home to a secret aeroplane factory during World War Two, they were later repurposed to protect the UK in the event of a nuclear war: it’s from here that...
The part of the brain that governs emotions such as fear and anxiety also helps mice hunt. That structure, the amygdala, orchestrates a mouse’s ability to both stalk a cricket and deliver a fatal bite, scientists report January 12 in Cell. Scientists made select nerve cells in mice’s brains sensitive to...
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