Representative Image (AI-generated) For five months, a group of platypuses lived far from the waterways they once called home. Australia’s severe drought had transformed their habitat into an increasingly dangerous place, prompting conservationists to remove seven platypuses and place them in temporary care. But captivity was never meant to be permanent. Once conditions improved, the…

Mt Cathalia rises above downtown Ellenvill (Picture: Chonogram magazine) In the 1950s, Chinese American Army veteran Joseph Tso bought a 440-acre mountain property in Ellenville, New York, renamed it Mt Cathalia and developed a hotel and ski resort there. The property is now set to become part of Minnewaska State Park Preserve. According to Open…

Image(s): Left/Wikipedia/Right/Fandom Humanity has never had access to information on the scale available today. With a few taps, we can find scientific discoveries, historical records, news and opinions from almost anywhere in the world. Yet having more information does not necessarily mean becoming wiser about how to use it. Isaac Asimov captured this tension in…

In Kyoto’s Arashiyama area, bamboo groves are frequently damaged by graffiti. Kyoto’s famous Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is facing growing damage from tourists carving names and other writing into its bamboo stalks. A city investigation found that around 350 bamboo plants along the popular walking path had been damaged since spring 2025.The damage has prompted Kyoto…