A service provider explains that women may choose midwives from within their community to keep their status private. Another line cuts to the core: “There’s a lack of understanding… especially psychologically.”
Opening these samples is like cracking open air that existed long before dinosaurs, before forests, before animals of any kind. As lead researcher Justin Park put it: “It’s an incredible feeling to crack open a sample of air that’s a billion years older than the dinosaurs.”
Overall, links between climate change and biodiversity are relatively well covered in national strategies, but the relationships involving pollution — including how climate and biodiversity pressures heighten pollution risks — are often missing. Policies designed to explicitly manage trade-offs, especially around pollution, remain limited.
Round homes ask us to rethink building conventions. Their curves offer comfort, efficiency, and surprising strength—but they require intentional window design. Whether you’re building in the desert, forest, or city fringe, one of these solutions will fit your climate, materials, and aesthetic.
I once lived on a kibbutz in Israel for a year. The saddest sound I ever heard was a newborn calf crying for its mother. That’s the hidden soundtrack of the dairy industry — cows separated from their calves within hours, udders swollen, pumped with hormones, antibiotics, and additives like Bovaer to squeeze out more […]
Across Ontario and California, builders are rethinking concrete housing through inflatable-shell design—an approach that replaces wooden formwork with air and innovation. A 1,000-square-foot low-carbon concrete shell, insulated with hempcrete, can be erected in a day and cost far less than conventional construction. Over time, the savings in energy, materials, and mortgage costs make this model a realistic response to rising living expenses and climate stress. With low-carbon cement, hempcrete walls, and renewable energy, inflatable concrete homes show how even the world’s most carbon-heavy material can become part of a sustainable future—if built smartly, and within local building codes.
Some small Binishell prototypes have been built for around US $3,500 using sprayed concrete over an inflatable form. Automatic Construction reports shell costs of roughly $10–$30 per square foot for 100- to 200-square-foot prototypes—far below standard homebuilding prices. The Vienna method is described as “quick and cost-saving” for double-curved shell structures, but specific dollar/€ cost numbers are not given in the available sources.
When otters become sick or die, entire marine ecosystems begin to unravel. Their contamination is not a side note. It is a warning.
Belém in Brazil may be remembered as the summit where nature moved from a side-event to system change. If you are there at the event, Look for bigger blended-finance vehicles for forests and watersheds, standardized biodiversity/ecosystem credit frameworks, clearer guidance on how trade tools like CBAM and deforestation-free rules interact with development and equity goals, and concrete deals in the Amazon and beyond that link restoration to export growth.
Experimental biofabricators are now printing patterns on fabric using mushroom-based inks, and even making mushroom paper and mushroom-based leather—creating textiles that age, change, and biodegrade intentionally. Quilts that are meant to return to the earth.
I was contemplating how to ready myself for old age, using the body wisely, and still attending to daily routines. Such was the state of inner asking when grace responded with the arrival of MoonCool, an e-trike. Silence is what I did not wish to disturb for me, the forest, and its creatures.
In the world of architecture and design, there’s a growing movement towards exploring new, uncharted territories. While renowned firms like Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid have undeniably shaped the skyline of modern architecture, there’s a wealth of untapped potential in emerging voices that can offer bold, innovative, and sustainable alternatives. These next five studios are pushing the boundaries of creativity, blending technology with art, and designing spaces that respond to the future needs of communities and the planet. Let’s take a closer look at these pioneers who are crafting tomorrow’s architectural landscape today.
Make your bike so ugly so that it's never stolen again.
The research reveals that human brains contain approximately a spoon's worth of microplastics and nanoplastics - MNPs - with levels 3 to 5 times higher in individuals with documented dementia diagnoses.
Chickens don’t need to free range to be happy, healthy and productive. It’s possible to raise chickens even in cities. What you need is a backyard and commitment. A well-built coop and an enclosed run offer protection from predators and the weather, as well as space to nest and run around.