Eau de Nil, the Light-Green Color of Egypt-Obsessed Europe

Katy Kelleher presages a boom in eau de Nil, the slippery color that snakes through Egypt.
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8 Weirdest Presidential Nicknames

Most of us know about “Tricky Dick,” but can you identify “The Grand Wrestler” or “Big Steve”?
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Russia’s New Hypersonic Missile Travels Nearly Two Miles a Second

“Zircon” would likely be unstoppable by today’s cutting edge air defenses.
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The Katskhi Pillar

A natural limestone monolith located at the village of Katskhi in the western Georgian region of Imereti.
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Drones Used to Find Toy-Like "Butterfly" Land Mines

Quadcopters with thermal imagery cameras can help detect vicious mini-mines that often kill or maim children
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A History of Flavoring Food With Beaver Butt Juice

No, castoreum is not a cheap substitute for strawberries; it’s luxe, artisanal secretions from a beaver's rear end.
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How the Civil War Changed Christmas in the United States

As the Civil War’s first Christmas neared, a pair of young lovers, Nathaniel Dawson and Elodie Todd, a Confederate soldier and his eventual bride, wrote to one
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Late 1890s - A Trip Through Paris, France (speed corrected w/ added sound)

A collection of high quality remastered prints from the dawn of film taken in Belle Époque-era Paris, France from 1896-1900. Slowed down footage to a natural rate and added in sound for ambiance.
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Nā Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii

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The British Royals Have Always Been Scum

Despite generations of imperial murder, torture, rape, and plunder, the British ruling class still gets the brown-nose treatment in historical depictions. Not so in The Favourite, where the royals are shown as the disgusting creatures they were and still are. By Eileen Jones.
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'Let's forget Brexit and enjoy our last Christmas with running water'

It’s been tough to find much to laugh about this year. But Britain’s most savage satirist is going to give it a go... By Frankie Boyle.
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This sparkling water is the first drink to get its fizz from CO2 captured from the atmosphere

If you walk into a supermarket in Switzerland sometime early next year and buy a bottle of Valser–a brand of sparkling water owned by Coca-Cola–the fizz inside might have come from CO2 sucked from the atmosphere. Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland, the bottling plant that makes the drinks, just partnered with Climeworks, one of the world’s pioneers of direct air capture of carbon dioxide, as a new supplier.
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Canada’s Christmas tree in a bottle

First developed by Canada’s indigenous peoples, spruce beer was commonly used to prevent scurvy, even by French navigator Jacques Cartier. Today, it continues to have a following.
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How to avoid the middle-income trap: Lessons from Poland, a European Tiger

Poland is one of a handful of economies that have sustained high growth and graduated to high-income country status.
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This City Already Shows What Life Will Be Like in a World Heated by Climate Change

It's become more clear than ever this year that climate change is very real and that we are already seeing the effects.
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Why are Poles unimpressed with Poland’s economic achievements?

Poland’s rapid economic ascent has created new challenges that have challenged its citizens’ resilience.
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ISP Faces 'Net Neutrality' Investigation For Pirate Site Blocking Retaliation - TorrentFreak

After being ordered to block a number of piracy-related domains following a complaint from academic publisher Elsevier, Swedish ISP Bahnhof retaliated by semi-blocking Elsevier's own website and barring the court from visiting Bahnhof.se. Those actions have now prompted Sweden's telecoms watchdog to initiate an inquiry to determine whether the ISP breached net neutrality rules.
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Why China’s electric-car industry is leaving Detroit, Japan, and Germany in the dust

China was no good at cars. Then EVs came along.
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Australian Gag Order Stokes Global Debate on Secrecy

When a local judge placed a gag order on a high-profile criminal case, it muzzled journalists and publishers around the world from reporting on a subject of international interest.
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How Yellow Fever Turned New Orleans Into The 'City Of The Dead'

Some years the virus would wipe out a tenth of the population, earning New Orleans the nickname "Necropolis." The gruesome disease killed thousands, scapegoated immigrants and upheld white supremacy.
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Egypt reveals 'one of a kind' tomb find

Archaeologists in Egypt unveil the tomb of a high priest, untouched for 4,400 years.
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The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker review – a feminist Iliad

This brilliant retelling of Homer’s epic poem focuses on the cost of war to women through the story of Briseis, Achilles’ concubine
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Super Injunction Silences News About Vatican Official's Child Molestation Conviction, And That's Bullshit

We've written in the past about things like "super injunctions" in the UK and elsewhere that often put a huge and near absolute gag order on writing about a famous person enmeshed in some sort of scandal, and apparently Australia has...
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Genetic study of people with acne raises prospect of new treatment

The world’s first genetic study of people with acne has raised the prospect of new treatments for those with severe cases of the skin condition. The study of almost 27,000 people, including 5,602 with severe acne, identified genetic differences that were more common in people with the skin condition. Scientists found that many of the genetic variants influenced the formation of hair follicles, which was previously an unknown risk factor for the condition. The researchers think that differences in the shape of hair follicles may make some people’s skin more prone to harbour bacteria, creating the conditions for acne.
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Florida craft brewery debuts biodegradable beer packaging

The new six-pack ring is made from wheat and barley instead of plastic, making it much more appealing to the more socially conscious consumers. 
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East Antarctica glacial stronghold melting as seas warm

Nasa detects ice retreat probably linked to ocean changes in region once thought stable
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Lockerbie - BBC News

The story of the Scottish town scarred by the bombing of Pan Am flight 103
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China’s "Social Credit System" Has Caused More Than Just Public Shaming

China is testing a new plan to urge its citizens to do more good and be more trustworthy - the Social Credit System. It’s kind of like the American credit score, except it tracks far more than financial transactions. It tracks good — and bad — deeds.
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How Seattle’s public library is stepping up to deal with the city’s homelessness crisis

A pioneering public organisation is taking a stand against the growing problem of homelessness on the West Coast. In so doing, it is re-defining the very idea of a library.
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Haud Yer Wheesht?

Ivery weekend, ye’ll find me at mercats in Embra, sellin ma airt. Whilst it’s hoo ah earn a livin, ah didnae choose tae mak airt celebratin Scotland’s culture, language an history as a money makker…
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UK can cancel Brexit, says EU court

The European Court of Justice rules that the UK can cancel Brexit without the consent of the other EU states.
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A Conference on Climate Change Became a Conference on Coal

At the summit in Poland, a missed opportunity.
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How the new autocrats of Europe are using democracy to consolidate power

Countries where freedom triumphed three decades ago are leading history’s march in reverse.
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When A 'Trade War' Involves Seizing And Imprisoning Foreign Execs, It's No Longer Just About Trade

For years we've been writing about the weird US government infatuation with the Chinese telco equipment firm, Huawei. The company has built a widely successful business, but going back many years there's been a loud whisper campaign that the...
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Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign

The long read: Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists to ‘tell China’s story well’ – as part of a worldwide influence campaign of astonishing scope and ambition
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26 Pictures Of America After The Attack On Pearl Harbor

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and injuring more than 1,000 others. Within the week, the US had officially entered World War II.
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Nigeria is turning to renewables to meet the energy demands of a growing population

In response to a soaring population and energy crisis, Nigeria invests $20 billion in Solar Power.
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State Dept. official: China holding 800k Muslim minorities in internment camps

State Department official Scott Busby told senators this week that China has detained at least 800,000 Muslim minorities in internment camps. 
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The Cavernous World under the Woods

On Vancouver Island, karst researchers hustle to save one of Earth’s most underappreciated—and fragile—ecosystems: an ecosystem hidden in plain sight. By Bruce Grierson.
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Were These Killings a ‘Massacre’? And Who Gets to Decide?

A small coastal town had a bitter fight over a monument, and in the end Aboriginal Australians saw their version of history told.
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Japanese Movie Sword Fight

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'Will I have existed?' The unprecedented plan to move an Arctic city

The world’s biggest iron ore tunnel mine is about to swallow the Swedish city of Kiruna. The company’s answer? Move the city
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Artist covers abandoned building in Warsaw with aluminium foil.

The installation called ‘Zabkowska 9, Take off’ was designed by artist Piotr Janowski and installed in November 2018.
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Rare White Reindeer Spotted in Norway

Photographer Mads Nordsvee describes the sighting as a "fairytale moment".
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ICE and Florida Sheriff try their hardest to deport man born in Philadelphia

Peter Brown was born in Philly, but he visited Jamaica for one day, years ago on a cruise. That gave U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Sheriff of Monroe County, Florida a good enough reason to detain Brown and attempt to deport him to Jamaica, even though he has never lived there and doesn't know a single person there.
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Here’s who to thank that we all survived the quake on Friday

Years of debate followed the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. This time, we reaped the benefit.
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Classic Who: GHW Bush and the JFK Assassination

Former President George H.W. Bush claimed to have trouble remembering where he was when John F. Kennedy was shot — in Bush’s own state. Helping refresh Bush 41’s memory leads in some fascinating directions. By Russ Baker.
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The underground cathedral protecting Tokyo from floods

An intricate system of dams, levees and tunnels defends the Japan’s capital. Will it be able to cope with climate change?
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The last true knight on Malta

The storied Knights of Malta shaped the Maltese capital of Valletta into a ‘city for gentlemen’, but how much longer can chivalry survive in the modern age?
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Gun No. 6: The untold story of Britain’s deadliest illegal firearm

We track the journey of a single gun, used in 11 shootings in six years. By Ashitha Nagesh.
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