What do Indian air hostesses, James Bond dressed in drag and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have in common? Before you get carried away, I’ll tell you: International Women’s Day, celebrated on the 8th of March. Last year, more than a hundred countries around world commemorated the 100th anniversary […]

When a  few years ago I first got interested in this topic, I obsessively read all I could about it. The oldest paper I found at that time was from 1965 and bore the title: “Women in Science: Why So Few?” Yes, it’s the same as the title of the current posting […]

On April 22, 2012, the 43rd Earth Day was celebrated. On the same day, Vladimir Lenin celebrated (posthumously, of course) his 142nd birthday, meaning he was born exactly 100 years prior to the first Earth Day. As far as I can tell, this is a coincidence. But some people aren’t […]

Cities have long been considered unsustainable for their excessive resource consumption—Howard Odum famously deemed them “parasites” for not contributing to ecosystem regeneration. However, a growing environmental consciousness, accompanied by an emphasis on local and DIY projects, seems to have inspired citizens to get their hands dirty as “green” projects are […]

Amid the dire tragedy of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, I was completely in awe of the world’s response. We seemed to be throwing every possible resource we could at saving lives and healing wounds. The logistics were challenging, as Haiti is an island country whose infrastructure was largely destroyed. And […]