It's always amazing when an artist can portray something banal in a fascinating new light. Claire Droppert does just that with these captivating images of sand thrown through the air. For the series, called Sand Creatures, the Rotterdam-based photographer captured chunks of sand suspended in mid-air, snapping super detailed photos in which the sand piles appear almost as clouds. The images are......read more
Richard Misrach's Desert Cantos is the result of a life's work spent exploring landscapes of the American southwest. The project, patterned after The Cantos of Ezra Pound, takes the form of a long, epic visual poem, with eighteen chapters that cover desert subjects as diverse as a military base in Utah, a man-made flood in California, sublime skies in Arizona, and arts happenings......read more
Yes, you read that headline right. A team of Harvard scientists have hit upon an energy storage breakthrough based on a common molecule that is found in rhubarb. The research, led by Harvard professor Michael Aziz, makes use of what's known as a "flow battery." Unlike typical batteries, which rely on chemical solids to hold the charge and convert it to electricity, flow batteries use liquid to......read more
New York City is converting 250,000 street light fixtures to energy-efficient, light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan made the announcement together on the recently renovated Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, where pedestrian fixtures have already been replaced with LEDs, saving a reported $70,000 a year. “With roughly a......read more
As much as any urban center, Barcelona is defined by its architecture. The Spanish city's buildings are its greatest tourist attraction, and it is the only city ever to win a Royal Gold Medal for architecture. In his photo series Backside Waterfront Barcelona, Benjamin Gerull presents the city in a new light, one that challenges the viewer's assumptions about its identity. It is a project about......read more
Kate Sheppard for The Huffington Post: Former Vice President Al Gore sees parallels between the last two and a half weeks of budget chaos on Capitol Hill and the climate crisis: Many will deny there's a problem -- until they are ultimately compelled to take action by forces beyond their control. "The tendency by many members of Congress to deny the reality of the government shutdown and the......read more
Synth-pop fans might be familiar with Reuben Wu as a founding member of Ladytron, the Liverpudlian electro band named after the classic Roxy Music song. It turns out that Wu is also an accomplished photographer, with a defined aesthetic that could only be described as surreal. His work as a touring musician has afforded him access to places in the world that most of us will never see. Wu......read more
Predicting the effects of climate change is tricky business, and nowhere is that more evident that in the oceans. In 2011, sea levels actually declined sharply, before going up again in 2012. Despite the year-to-year wonkiness, there is scientific consensus that we are in the early stages of what is likely to be a substantial rise in sea level. But how fast it will happen--and how high they will......read more
The Mississippi Delta is a mythical place, filled to the brim with characters and stories that have helped shape America as we know it. Memphis photographer Jeane Umbreit manages to capture the ethereal appeal of the Deep South in these layered, double exposed images of landscapes, people, and wildlife. The photos, shot along the highway south of Memphis, are digitally enhanced to deliver a......read more
Danielle Nierenberg for The Huffington Post: In the United States, everyone becomes a chef on the Fourth of July. Whether hosting a backyard barbeque or an elegant brunch, Independence Day is as much about sharing a meal with family and friends as it as about observing the nation's birthday. While preparing your own culinary feats for the Fourth, it's never a bad idea to take tips from the......read more