The Lowdown on Municipal Trash Incinerators
Burning household trash in massive incinerators saves landfill space, but it also introduces a host of other waste management issues.
How the Plague Reshaped the World
The bacterium that causes the plague emerged relatively recently, as bacterium go. And yet the pandemics it's created have altered the world.
Dreaming of Spaceflight in 1920s Russia
Early in the 20th century, Cosmism was all the rage in Russia, inspiring a utopian and mystical view of interstellar travel.
Why Luddites Are Fashionable Again
Today we call anyone with a flip phone a Luddite. But the term has radical origins.
Three Ways to Turn Your Apartment into a Sustainable Garden
Even the smallest city dwelling has enough space for a mini-meadow or a few flower pots.
How Urban Agriculture Can Meet Its Potential
New York City's urban agriculture has not been found to provide benefits to either hungry people or the environment. How could city farms work better?
The Hidden Extinction Crisis
The extinction crisis might be even worse than we think, because we tend to mostly pay attention to terrestrial vertebrates.
Do Airplanes Really Make You Sick?
A Curious Reader asks: Am I really at a higher risk of getting sick on an airplane?
The Quantum Random Number Generator
It’s real. And it will use quantum entanglement to generate true mathematical randomness. Here’s why that matters.
It’s Time to Break Up the Apple App Store
Apple's stranglehold on the App Store is problematic. Our technology columnist explains why.