Lightning hitting your house or a storm flooding your basement used to be an “act of God.” But can you call a flood or wildfire a “natural” disaster if climate change is the cause and humans failed to prevent the calamity?
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Science
Floods and fires have always been with us, but now we’re crossing over into a new stage of permacrisis. What survival strategies do we need for this age of disaster?
Writer Annalee Newitz has spent a lot of time walking around ancient lost cities and imagining future human civilizations on other planets. Newitz is a hard-headed, realistic optimist who believes the one technology that can save us is stories.
Many Buddhists say psychedelics violate the prohibition against intoxicants. Spring Washam straddles this divide as both a Buddhist teacher and founder of an ayahuasca church.
Plant scientist Monica Gagliano did a series of groundbreaking experiments that suggest plants have intelligence. But she hasn’t talked—until now—about the leap of faith she took when a plant told her to go on a darkness retreat—for 39 days.
The nocturnal songs of nightingales have captivated artists, poets and musicians for generations. Folk singer Sam Lee celebrates their annual return through intimate nighttime duets — performed in total darkness — that blend human voice and nightingale song.
The longest nights of the year are here. How many of us will see them? When light pollution is making it harder to experience natural darkness, learning how to reconnect with the planet’s ancient nocturnal rhythms can be profoundly restorative.
Witnessing the beauty of synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains inspired author Leigh Ann Henion to turn off her porch light and discover the vast natural world that thrives in the darkness.
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