Environment
April 23, 2019

Couple Spends 20 Years Planting an Entire Forest and Animals Have Returned

Nearly 30 years ago, Brazilian photojournalist Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado returned from East Africa, where he was on location documenting the horrors of the Rwanda genocide. Following this traumatizing project, Salgado was to take over his family's sprawling cattle ranch in Minas Gerais—a region he remembered as a lush and lively rainforest. Unfortunately, the area had undergone a drastic transformation; only about 0.5% was covered in trees, and all of the wildlife had disappeared.

Read Article

Street Art
April 22, 2019

Interview: Street Artist Learns Freediving to Paint Underwater on Artificial Reefs

Artist Sean Yoro, better known as Hula, grew up in Hawaii, where his love of nature flourished and later combined with his artistic talents. He’s most commonly recognized for his murals that play with watery reflections in forgotten spaces, which he often paints while floating atop his surfboard. Using environmentally-friendly pigments, the artist’s figures seem to emerge from the water like mermaids drawing the viewer in with their eyes.

Read Article

Resources
April 21, 2019

Oxford’s Free Online Lectures Teach You How to Think Clearly During Arguments

Have you ever struggled to articulate yourself during an argument? It can be hard to get your point across during heated moments, which often leads to even more frustration and unresolved issues. But arguments aren't always bad—they can actually be healthy if they’re dealt with in the right way. If you want to learn how, check out Critical Reasoning For Beginners: a series of free, online lectures led by Oxford University’s philosophy professor Marianne Talbot.

Read Article

Architecture
April 19, 2019

Researchers Have Figured Out a Way to Move 25 Tons of Stone by Hand

When it comes to moving 25 tons of stone, heavy machinery is probably the first option that comes to mind. But, if we consider massive monuments like the Moai on Easter Island, there must’ve been some way that ancient peoples were able to transport such heavy material without the advent of machines. The Cambridge-based firm Matter Design has come closer to understanding this engineering feat with their research on “weightless” concrete forms.

Read Article

My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.