|
Listen To This Story
 |
PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Brazilian Ecologists’ New Approach to Deforestation and Poverty Battle (Maria)
The author writes, “In a remote corner of the Amazon, Brazilian ecologists are trying to succeed where a lack of governance has proved disastrous. They’re managing a stretch of land in a way that welcomes both local people and scientists to engage in preserving the world’s largest tropical forest. The goal is ambitious: counter the forces that have destroyed 10% of the forest in less than four decades and create something that can be replicated in other parts of the Amazon.”
Judge: Racism Permeates US Legal System — And Spokane Case Proves It (Reader Steve)
From The Seattle Times: “One of the state’s most prominent appellate judges has castigated his colleagues, ripped on police racism, and denounced prejudiced prosecutors in a blistering opinion stemming from the violent 2019 arrest and subsequent prosecution of a Black man who kissed a white woman against her will at a Spokane-area restaurant.”
New Proof Finds the ‘Ultimate Instability’ in a Solar System Model (Sean)
From Quanta Magazine: “For the first time, mathematicians have proved that planetary orbits in a solar system will always be unstable.”
This Little-Known Rule Shapes Parking in America. Cities Are Reversing It (Russ)
From CNN: “Approximately 2 billion parking spots cover the country, enough to pave over the entire state of Connecticut. … But now, US Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA)recently introduced a bill that would eliminate parking minimums for new affordable residential, retail, industrial, and commercial construction. Separately, he introduced legislation to scrap parking requirements close to public transit.”
How to Quit Cars (Sean)
From The New Yorker: “They crowd streets, belch carbon, bifurcate communities, and destroy the urban fabric. Will we ever overcome our addiction?”
In Ancient Egypt, Severed Hands Were Spoils of War (Mili)
From The New York Times: “Archaeologists offer a new explanation for one of the century’s grislier finds, “a carefully gathered collection of hands” in a 3,500-year-old temple.”
