This week’s cover, by the designer Frank Viva, is a colorful, lyrical springtime ode to the pleasures of biking. We spoke to Viva about his love affair with cycling, his island retreat, and learning to prioritize what matters.
Geoffrey O’Brien – Schemes Gone Awry
Richard Wilbur’s translations of Molière, now in the Library of America, have a fluency that goes beyond meter and rhyme to encompass textures of speech and movements of thought.
Molière: The Complete Richard Wilbur Translations
Fintan O’Toole – Our Hypocrisy on War Crimes
The US’s history of moral evasiveness around wartime atrocities undermines the very institution that might eventually bring Putin and his subordinates to justice: the International Criminal Court.
Conservation efforts for waterbirds, such as the Dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus) pictured on the cover, have centred on creating protected areas to maintain suitable habitats. But it has been unclear to what extent protected areas affect species’ population levels. In this week’s issue, Hannah Wauchope and her colleagues present an analysis that suggests protected areas have a mixed impact on waterbird populations. The researchers examined 1,506 protected areas to assess how they affected 27,055 waterbird populations across the globe. By assessing population levels before and after the implementation of protection, and comparing this change between protected and unprotected areas, the researchers identified the mixed impact, but also saw a strong indication that areas that were managed for waterbirds or their habitats were more likely to benefit populations. As a result, the team suggests that conservation strategies will require not only an increase in the number of protected areas, but active management of those areas to have the best chance of success.
Download PDF – Sites compete to mark global changes of the 1950s and define new geological age
Download PDF – Agency wants to retool its surveys and decennial census to improve efficiency and generate better data
Download PDF – Critics challenge data underpinning “resolution immunology,” triggering university probes
Download PDF – As prosecutors evaluate complaints from animal rights groups, labs try to reduce surplus
Download PDF – Atmospheric analog to ocean’s acoustic channel could be used to monitor eruptions and bombs
The June issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK) is out now. The cover story this month focuses on Scandinavia Denmark, Norway and Sweden — where nature throws out the rulebook. Shaped by the elements and ruled by the seasons, this is a region not only bound by cultural ties, but by a love for epic outdoor adventures. From oyster safaris on Denmark’s dramatic shoreline and wilderness camping in Norwegian national parks to learning about Sámi culture in Swedish Lapland, these are the ultimate Scandinavian experiences.
South Africa: Safari projects are bouncing back after the pandemic in the country’s wild north east.
Portugal: Historic vines and traditional local sweets await on a journey through the Douro Valley.
Mauritius: Meet the conservationists preserving the islands’ extraordinary natural treasures.
Times Literary Supplement, May 6, 2022 – This week’s @TheTLS, featuring James Fenton on Volume IV of John Richardson’s Picasso biography; @joemoransblog on the “Premonitions Bureau”; @JuliusKrein on the American Right; @MElizabethLowry on William Kentridge; @AnaAliciaGarza on James Agee – and more
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