“Es como una sopa. ¿Qué necesitamos para preparar una sopa?” [“It’s like a soup. What do we need to make soup?”] Steve Anderson surveys the group of college-age musicians — over 30 of them have squeezed into a small classroom … Read more
Orange traffic cones surround a fluorescent yellow-garbed construction worker on NC-12. He raises his hand perpendicular to the roadway, signaling to slow down with a weathered red stop sign. As cars speed past in the left-hand lane, enormous cranes on ocean barges lift heavy beams onto a bridge being built alongside the existing one.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what is a nearly 500-year-old painting worth? “Portrait of a Young Lady” sat in storage at the Ackland Art Museum since its arrival there in 1968, until UNC art history professor Christoph Brachmann pulled it from the vaults last year. He immediately sensed the possible importance of this piece, thought to be created in 1522 by Barthel Bruyn.
In the fall of 2018, when the James Webb Space Telescope launches to an orbit four times farther away than the Moon, it will have an unprecedented ability to see distant events and objects in the universe. Six times larger than the Hubble … Read more
Rachel Willis is a professor of American studies, global studies, and economics within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on how sea-level rise, drought, and increased storm severity threaten port communities, influence … Read more
Life-changing moments can come when you least expect them. On a hot August afternoon, Zena Cardman is working on her laptop from the comfort of her couch when she feels her phone buzz. The screen displays a number she doesn’t recognize — an area code from Houston, Texas. She hesitates to answer, thinking it might be a marketing call.
On a warm morning in mid-October, Ecuador’s colorful capital, Quito, buzzes with activity. Throngs of people move through the market in the Mariscal, Yaraví music emanates from cars stuck in traffic, and street vendors sell fragrant salchipapas and empanadas to tourists and locals alike. The equatorial city basks in the abundant sunshine and crisp air of the Andes mountain range.
It’s 3 a.m. on a Monday morning. Sweet-smelling steam wafts through a large warehouse in St. Pauls, North Carolina. A vat full of golden kernels bubbles while a nearby machine smashes two stones together, grinding the freshly cooked corn into … Read more
Therefore, let the moon Shine on thee in thy solitary walk; And let the misty mountain-winds be free To blow against thee: and, in after years, When these wild ecstasies shall be matured Into a sober pleasure; when they mind … Read more
“They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force — nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.” – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness When he … Read more
