Just how big is India's 'Mount Everest of Trash'?
The Ghazipur dump keeps growing and growing every year, catching fire and leaching toxins into the ground. What can be done about it?
- The Ghazipur dump in Delhi has become so overgrown that locals refer to it as "Mount Everest."
- In 2017, a landslide from the dump spilled over onto adjacent roads, killing two locals.
- The dump is a serious health risk and source of pollution, but it also serves as an example of India's broader challenges with waste management.
What makes prions the 'zombie protein'?
How can a misfolded protein be behind some of the strangest and deadliest diseases out there?
- Prions don't sound so bad at first blush: they're simply proteins that have the wrong shape.
- They may sound innocuous, but "catching" prions is always fatal, and there is no cure.
- Curiously, the most famous case of a prion disease outbreak happened in a cannibalistic tribe in Papua New Guinea.
Mental health management is an under-appreciated life skill
Without a healthy mind, tackling the life's challenges becomes exponentially more difficult.
- Most people know about the importance of managing your finances or eating a healthy diet, but few pay as much attention to their mental health.
- If we engage in bad habits, we might suddenly find ourselves confined to our beds by fatigue or up all night with anxiety.
- Research has shown that these four activities are crucial to maintaining a healthy state of mind.
Kettling: Why is this police tactic so controversial?
In any sufficiently large protest, police officers may "kettle" protesters. Critics say it violates human rights, while advocates claim its one of the few safe tools available to police during a protest.
- "Kettling" is when police form a cordon surrounding a group of protesters, immobilizing them for hours or directing them to a single exit.
- It's an effective tactic to control the movements of a crowd, but it also catches people indiscriminately — journalists, protesters, rioters, innocent civilians — and cuts people off from food, water, and toilets for hours.
- Some police officers have taken advantage of kettles to abuse protesters, but its still seen as one of the few effective ways to control a potentially violent crowd.
Matt Davis writes stories about science, technology, bizarre anecdotes from history, esoteric odds and ends, bleak but nevertheless fascinating environmental issues, and whatever else grabs his easily grabbed attention. When he's not writing, he's traveling, reading, eating, or sleeping.
