Watery Farming in Mexico (Mongabay and Associated Press)
by Teresa de Miguel
Just outside the bustle of Mexico City, island farms known as chinampas use methods developed before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Many of the farms, which are traditionally passed down to men within a family, have been abandoned. Some women have stepped up to revive them.

Finally, a New Pain Drug (Works in Progress)
by Michelle Ma
Since ancient times, medicines that work like opium have been by far the best option for stopping acute pain. A new drug targets pain in an entirely different way. Developing it wasn’t a simple matter.

Inanimate, but on the Move (Noema)
by Conor Feehly
Simple bits of matter like oil droplets sometimes behave in ways that almost seem intentional, like moving in directions that allow the movement to continue. Some scientists think studying this non-living action might help us understand the very beginnings of life.

The Incredible Properties of an Innovation in Chemistry (Reuters)
by Johan Ahlander, Niklas Pollard, and Marie Mannes
This year’s winners of the Nobel chemistry prize, Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi, developed materials known as metal-organic frameworks that can hold enormous quantities of gas in a tiny space. Their uses include promising methods for cleaning up toxic pollution.

Did the Easter Island Statues “Walk” Into Their Places? (Ars Technica)
by Jennifer Ouellette
It’s a longstanding mystery: How did an island people with no modern technology put the statues of Easter Island, known as maoi, in their places? One idea, backed by oral tradition, modern experimentation, and computer modeling, is that they were made to “walk.”

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