Nature and the environment
Cultural diversity
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Insularity can be a good thing, for creatures and cultures alike
The plight of threatened species can help us understand – and respond to – the endangerment of local ideas and practices
by Antone Martinho-Truswell
Animals
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Learn to tune into birdsong – respite and fascination await
Listening deeply to the sounds of birds is a powerful form of meditation and a first step towards a rewarding new hobby
by David M Logue
Nature and the environment
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Rewilding attachment theory by recognising Earth as a caregiver
We are raised by people, but we are also raised by the Earth – here’s what that means for our emotional development
by Vanessa Chakour
Transcendent experience
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Do you find the 21st century overstimulating? Try ‘longstorming’
As the treadmill of life speeds up, sublime outdoor spaces help us tap into timescales that are longer, slower, planetary
by Vincent Ialenti
Sacred places
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Paganism is a potent force in Ireland’s conservation movement
Long-held beliefs in an ‘Otherworld’ inhabited by wrathful fairies are now driving a resurgence in Irish eco-activism
by Juju Lane
Meaning and the good life
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You can be a materialist and find meaning in the universe
My hard-nosed materialism led me to an existential crisis, but then I realised the difference between science and scientism
by Jessica Tracy
Sacred places
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Nan Shepherd delved into a queer erotic kinship with nature
In the Highlands, Nan Shepherd found an erotic kinship with nature: ‘The Living Mountain’ a core text for queer ecology
by Melissa Matthewson
Food and drink
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La cucina povera delivers the fare we need to sustain us now
La cucina povera made do with whatever was available in nonna’s kitchen garden, and remains the perfect fare for our times
by Louise Fabiani
Nature and the environment
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What does water want? Most humans seem to have forgotten
Asking what water wants sounds a bit mystical, even radical. But it’s a practical, proven path to creating a better world
by Erica Gies
Sacred places
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Our children will need to find the beauty in our burnt planet
How will our children find beauty in a world rapidly breaking into what observers call a spectacle of unremitting loss?
by Stephen J Pyne
Nature and the environment
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Why people across the world see constellations, not just stars
Orion, the Big Dipper and the rest reflect shared features of human perception – but also diverse cultural interpretations
by Simon J Cropper, Duane W Hamacher, Daniel R Little & Charles Kemp
Animals
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Sex lives of the pygmy seahorses – a hidden, miniature marvel
Randy females, pregnant males and breeding quartets: the secret sex lives of the pygmy seahorses of Sulawesi in Indonesia
by Richard Smith