Curaçao, island in the Caribbean Sea and a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is situated some 37 miles (60 km) north of the coast of Venezuela. Although physiographically part of the South American continental shelf, Curaçao and neighbouring islands off the… Continue Reading “Curacao History and Future”
European lawmakers issued a stark warning about the region’s growing water crisis ahead of another extreme summer, saying there is a pressing need to tackle issues such as scarcity, food security and pollution. The Water Crisis in Europe, forced parliament lawmakers to call for… Continue Reading “European Water Crisis”
The world’s reserve currency fulfills a unique role in the global economy. It is the currency held in reserve by sovereigns, central banks, banks, and large businesses to facilitate the financing and transactions of global trade. Importantly, all the currencies on the chart were… Continue Reading “History of World Reserve Currencies since 1250”
Met een ramp in wording drukt het kabinet het plan door, zonder de gevolgen te onderzoeken? Het gaat dus gebeuren: een gigantisch windmolenpark op onze Noordzee. Ondanks alle bezwaren, die uit allerlei hoeken komen en op heel wat te verwachten problemen wijzen, zet men… Continue Reading “Windmolenpark op de Noordzee”
Believe it or not, but by the 1700’s, deciding whether or not to take sugar with your tea had become a political statement. While sugar-free diets are now all the rage, the motivations behind this health trend are a far cry from those of… Continue Reading “How British women helped to abolish slavery in 1804”
During glacial Pleistocene, the entry to the famous Cosquer Cave was 100 meters (330 ft) above sea level, but the Holocene sea level rise, propelled lately by climate change, has meant that the entrance to the cave is now 37 meters (121 ft) below… Continue Reading “Race against Time to save the 33,000-Year-Old Underwater Cosquer Cave”
Rain showers can sometimes take a bizarre turn: in very rare cases, animals such as fish and frogs have been known to fall from the sky alongside water droplets, and around the world, people have experienced what’s known as blood rain, where the water… Continue Reading “Blood Rain in Spain”
Everything in nature—flowering, breeding, migration—lives and dies by a clock that is being recalibrated by climate change. We don’t yet know how severe the consequences may be. Timing is everything in nature. From the opening notes of a songbird’s spring chorus to the seasonal… Continue Reading “Nature is out of Sync—and that’s reshaping Everything, everywhere”
Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui, is most famous for the hundreds of moai statues scattered throughout its coastline. A special territory of Chile that was incorporated in 1888, the entire island, located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, is protected within the UNESCO… Continue Reading “The Ceremonial Village of Orongo @ Eastern Island, Chili”
According to Yuri Knorozov, you don’t need to jump across the pyramids to understand how to work with texts. Knorozov was a Soviet linguist and ethnographer who managed to decipher the script of the Maya civilization. He published an article in 1952 proclaiming his… Continue Reading “Deciphering the Maya Script”
The forthcoming edition of The Ocean Race, which sets sail from Alicante, Spain, on the 15th January, is set to feature the most ambitious and comprehensive science program created by a sporting event. The round-the-world sailing race will measure microplastic pollution, gather information about… Continue Reading “The Ocean Race to collect data about the Global Environment”
Several decades after their re-introduction, Sweden’s wild boar population has exploded from hundreds to hundreds of thousands, becoming the single largest reason for domestic hunting dog injuries, as well as a bane for the nations crop farmers. In recent years, Sweden’s wild boar population… Continue Reading “Sweden suffering from Wild Boar Invasion”
Deforestation is the greatest threat to the orangutan’s survival, and a great percentage of deforestation is set in motion to convert the land to oil palm cultivation. The rain forest, the natural habitat of the orangutan, is cleared for the benefit of plantations that… Continue Reading “Indonesia Orangutan Jungle School”