Italy
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The world’s largest vertical garden is as long as a city block
At 13,595 square feet, the world's largest vertical garden is definitely bigger than your piddly window box -- think more like “hotel ballroom.”
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These trees on wheels double as wifi hotspots
It doesn’t seem fair that car-owning people can use parking spots (or rent them at extremely low rates) to store their cars, but the car-free don’t get to use them to store our stuff. We have 50 cents, and we live here too! Fortunately, Milanese designer Matteo Cibic has found an easy way for the […]
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Critical List: Keystone XL could raise gas prices; Italy earthquake threatens cheese
Counter to everything Republicans say, building the Keystone XL could raise gas prices. Please, parents, don’t buy your children trendy pets in imitation of popular book characters. In England, hundreds of Harry Potter-inspired pet owls are being dropped off at animal shelters after their owners realized that they’re expensive to care for and don’t actually […]
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Capsized cruise ship could ruin pristine marine park
The reef-stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia managed to crash itself in one of the most pristine marine areas in the Mediterranean. Of course. And as the ship lists dangerously, threatening to fall further into the ocean and spill tons of oil, endangered species and other marine life are at risk. The ship has 2,400 tons […]
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Food Studies: Old-world innovation
Le Biancane geothermal park.Photo: Yvone De Zeeuw Food Studies features the voices of volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. Pipelines carry steam directly to consumers from the power plant.Vapor escapes through mountains of white rocks. Steam billows […]
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Flooding hits Italian countryside; climate change will bring more torrential rains
Americans may not care about weather-related disasters in places like Tuvalu, but it's possible that mudslides and flooding devastating some of Italy's most beautiful tourist ares will make a blip on the country's collective radar screen. (How will we prove we're cultured if Italy's one big mud pile?) Six people have died and hundreds more […]
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The world's first vertical forest is under construction in Milan
We've pretty much established that trees are awesome -- they make you smart, improve your home's value, filter pollution, provide shade, and produce oxygen. But even in a city that prioritizes green spaces, surface area is at a premium. How do you provide enough trees while still living densely? Milan, Italy, has a creative answer: a forest in the form of a skyscraper.
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Busting Monsanto's 'better' broccoli
The seed giant is now selling a ready-to-eat broccoli product meant to "maintain your body's defenses against the damage of environmental pollutants and free radicals." Can you taste the irony?