The dizzying, multi-layered story of a huge pearl that has been at the centre of elaborate hoaxes, claims and counter-claims, and havoc in the lives of those connected to it for over 80 years. http://bit.ly/atlantic-pearl
A story looking at the sheer complexity and scale involved in designing the floating cities that make up modern cruise ships. http://bit.ly/wired-cruise
A look at social media’s “black market” for influence in the form of followers and some of its intended and unintended consequences.
A look at the new credit scoring tools available in China, made possible by deep integration of services around a small handful of companies, and reaching into almost every part of daily life. As one user succinctly puts it – “If your friends are all high-score people, it’s good for you. If you have some bad-credit people as friends, it’s not nice.”
Whilst tactics to save rare species on the verge of extinction are well established, we may be missing another even bigger issue – the massive reduction of numbers in common species – from the skylark, to the tortoise, to the vulture.
A look at the work of snake-handling preachers in Kentucky.
A profile resulting from the first major interview with Hillary Clinton since her election defeat in November.
A former US Marine returns to cities in Iraq where he fought and lost friends, and assesses the situation on the ground today.
A piece reassessing the pirates of yesteryear and their impact on society, suggesting it was much more nuanced than is commonly understood. http://www.bit.ly/humanities-pirates