Ecuador's booming shrimp industry is driving deforestation of vital mangrove ecosystems, impacting shellfish gatherers and local communities. Despite regulations, mangrove clearing and pollution from farms continue, with weak enforcement and limited political will hindering conservation efforts.
Imperial Beach, California, has been closed for nearly three years due to toxic sludge from the Tijuana River. The pollution, including raw sewage and hydrogen sulfide gas, has caused health issues for residents and an estimated $500,000 annual loss in tourism revenue for the city.
A Chinese village director, Tian Ruliang, earned the nickname "Mud Buddha" after a photo showed him covered in mud while evacuating residents during heavy rainfall and a potential landslide in Shanghongyan Village, Yunnan province.
Yokohama's Northern Sludge Recycling Center in Tsurumi Ward is quietly storing over 10 tons of soil and sludge from decontamination efforts following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, with citizens largely unaware of the ongoing storage.
Amid rising global fertilizer prices, Japan is promoting domestic production using sewage sludge, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. Kobe City is recovering "magnesium ammonium phosphate" crystals, selling them to fertilizer makers for use in products like "Kobe Harvest."
Swedish sports nutrition brand Maurten is revolutionizing endurance running with its innovative hydrogel-based carbohydrate drinks and baking soda systems. Used by elite athletes like Sabastian Sawe, the products bypass stomach issues, allowing for greater energy intake and potentially redefining human performance limits.
Footballer has 664 million followers but his boring presence is a reminder of how reel-life destroys what it touchesBuy the backpack airlines hate. Fawn strangely at a child athlete. This TV presenter drank olive oil for a month and absolutely nothing happened. The streets (no actual streets involved) won’t forget (robots can’t forget) Paul Pogba (or equivalent coding).Nineties dance hits. Ruben Amorim loyalists. Argue with fake fans over a fake photo of fake empty seats. Buy a backpack that hates you because you once thought about buying a backpack, and like a Hungarian grandmother it will never, ever forget and you will be punished. Continue reading...
Soaring cost of building materials, lack of affordability and planning bottlenecks are some of the obstacles thwarting housing targetAt South and City College in Birmingham, dozens of young people clad in hi-vis vests and hard hats are building mini-walls and plastering half-formed rooms.Some weave in and out of stacks of bricks with wheelbarrows, while others use spirit levels to check the walls are straight and flat. In a few days time, these walls will be demolished and the plastering scraped away, for a new class to come in and try their hands. Continue reading...
