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Disappearing World

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geological oddities

An Entire Continent Went Missing—But Scientists Have Found It Again

Fear not, these geologists are good at their jobs.
Olivia Young November 2, 2023
Paolo Olbi in his workshop in the 17th- and 18th-century Palazzo Ca’ Zenobio in Venice.
islands

Keeping the Centuries-Old Tradition of Venetian Bookbinding Alive

Inspired by a 15th-century editor, Paolo Olbi pushes to keep this from being the last chapter.
Vittoria Traverso July 29, 2022
Sange Norbu milks a yak in Northeast India.
mountains

The Last Cheesemakers of the Eastern Himalayas

India and Bhutan's yak herders face steep challenges.
Jitaditya Narzary June 8, 2022
farms

Podcast: Maine’s Burning Blueberry Fields

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team October 19, 2021
The Dadivank monastery is an example of Armenian church architecture, located in Azerbaijan and watched by Russian peacekeepers.
churches

Cultural Heritage Is Caught Up in the Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh

A priest fights to defend an ancient monastery after a quick, decisive war.
Tom Mutch December 10, 2020
Overhead view of kissa Bugen’s well-designed and engineered pizza toast.
food

The Man Who Walked Across Japan for Pizza Toast

A new book chronicles the country's disappearing kissaten.
Lauren Moya Ford December 3, 2020
Chen Guorui's artworks—no matter the shape or size—are formed from base units of rice grains formed into triangles.
art

This Artist Sculpts Animals and Flowers From Grains of Rice

Guorui Chen brought a hometown tradition back from extinction.
Zeyi Yang October 9, 2020
A wasp investigates the fruit and flowers atop a saguaro cactus south of Sells, Arizona.
deserts

The Ancient Art of Harvesting Fruit in the Desert

Treasured by the Tohono O’odham, saguaro fruit appear only in the Sonoran summer.
Chris Malloy September 25, 2020
Giulio Geraldi surveys the skies at sunset. He worries about rain, which can end the manna season.
trees

The Mountains Where Manna Flows From Trees

Giulio Geraldi brought cultivation of the sweet stuff back from the verge of extinction.
Emiliano Ruprah August 25, 2020
Enter the dragon!
Singapore

Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle

This family-owned pottery shop is home to the last operational dragon kiln in Singapore.
Video

Reviving the Lost Art of Cambodian Shadow Puppetry

3:54
From May 11th to October 15th, the six usho of Gifu City perform their ancestral work.
medieval

The Japanese Seabirds Who Fish for the Emperor

With only nine master fishermen left, a centuries-old tradition is at risk.
Luke Fater July 27, 2020
Muralidharan worked with illustrators Shrishti Dabolkar and Priyadarshini Narayana to create renderings of the vegetables featured in <em>Cook and See</em>.
food

Cracking the Case of South India's Missing Vegetables

A food designer used quarantine to track down the mystery produce in his grandmother's cookbook.
Reina Gattuso July 22, 2020
A <em>balam-kab</em>, a bee whose sole work is to guard and protect the hive's entrance from intruders.
food

The Protector of Mexico's Hidden Hives of Stingless Bees

Construction worker Efrain Cab comes from a long line of beekeepers.
Agostino Petroni July 9, 2020
music

The 90-Year-Old Virtuoso Keeping Naxi Music Alive in China

An underground musical tradition is under threat again.
Amy Zhang July 7, 2020
Towards the end of the burn, the fire can be spread simply by raking the burning straw.
farms

The Lost Art of Growing Blueberries With Fire

Using all four elements to grow the perfect berry.
Luke Fater July 6, 2020
At the Xochimilco natural reserve in Mexico City, the site of artificial islands created by the Aztecs for agricultural purposes, people use flat-bottomed river boats to get around.
farms

In Mexico City, the Coronavirus Is Bringing Back Aztec-Era ‘Floating Gardens’

Business is booming for farmers who plant on man-made islands.
Amanda Gokee June 25, 2020
An Ethiopian collector picks coffee from a wild Arabica tree in the Mankira Forest, Kafa.
forests

Inside Ethiopia's Endangered Wild-Coffee Forests

The demise of Arabica's birthplace would be a catastrophe for the industry.
Jeff Koehler June 15, 2020