The Atacama desert, which stretches for approximately 1,600 km along the western coast of the cone of South America, is the driest place on Earth. Some weather stations there have never recorded rainfall throughout their existence. But it‘s far from barren: many species live here that occur nowhere else, adapted to its extreme conditions. And...
World
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Cash Is King for Sanctioned Russian, Venezuelan Oligarchs
It was a deal that brought together oligarchs from some of America’s top adversaries. “The key is the cash,” the oil broker wrote in a text message, offering a deep discount on Venezuelan crude shipments to an associate who claimed to be fronting for the owner of Russia’s biggest aluminum company. “As soon as you...
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Why Migrants Bring Gifts from Abroad. a Sense of Obligation and a Fear of Social Backlash
An estimated 281 million migrants span the globe. The remittances they send home get a lot of attention from policymakers and development agencies like the World Bank due to their positive impacts on developing economies. This is because the movement of money is – for the most part – quantifiable, as much of it goes...
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‘Animism’ Recognizes How Animals, Places and Plants Have Power Over Humans – and It’s Finding Renewed Interest Around the World
A movement known as “new animism,” which seeks to secure personhood rights for nonhuman beings through legal means, is gaining a following around the globe. New animist environmental activists are not the only ones using the term. Animism itself has become fashionable. Some spirituality bloggers talk about animism as a way to deepen one’s spiritual...
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Crippling Civilian Infrastructure Has Long Been Part of Russian Generals’ Playbook – Putin Is Merely Expanding That Approach
In response to massive battlefield setbacks, Russia has increased its attacks in Ukraine on everything from power plants and dams to railways, pipelines and ports. These attacks against civilian infrastructure are not random. Rather, they reflect an insidious calculus integral to modern Russian military theory. For more than 20 years, Russian military journals have emphasized...
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Beyond Humans – Mammal Combat in Extreme Environs
A new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Colorado State University, and the National Park Service indicates previously unknown high altitude contests between two of America’s most sensational mammals – mountain goats and bighorn sheep – over access to minerals previously unavailable due to the past presence of glaciers which, now, are vanishing due...
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Global Hunger, Carbon Emissions Could Both Spike If War Limits Grain Exports
If Russia’s invasion and the ensuing war significantly reduce Ukrainian grain exports, surging prices could increase food insecurity and carbon dioxide emissions, as marginal land is pushed into crop production. That’s the chain reaction predicted by modeling from a research team that includes Amani Elobeid, a teaching professor of economics at Iowa State University. An...
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What Is Cultural Appropriation and Why Is It So Harmful?
Die Antwoord is a South African band that uses hip-hop music to create a style it calls “zef”. Since it first appeared in 2009, Die Antwoord has been criticised for cultural appropriation (using cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative way). It’s accused of copying the lyrics and styles of Cape Town artists...
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Europe Has Never Had a Global Voice – but That May Be Changing with Rise of Digital Media
An oft-quoted question attributed (probably wrongly) to the former US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger: “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?”, still resonates as an indication of Europe’s lack of unity and leadership. It also signals a disconnect in transatlantic communications that is due, in part, to the lack of...
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Hijab Rules Have Nothing to Do with Islamic Tenets and Everything to Do with Repressing Women
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was held by Iran’s morality police for not complying with the country’s hijab rules has drawn global attention to the repression of women in Iran. Neighboring Saudi Arabia, a Sunni country, theologically and politically opposed to Shiite Iran, has similar restrictive rules when it comes to women....
