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Contents 1 Today's featured article 2 Selected anniversaries 3 In the news 4 Did you know...

Today's featured article

The World Without Us is a non-fiction book about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared, written by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books. It is a book-length expansion of Weisman's own February 2005 Discover article "Earth Without People". Written largely as a thought experiment, it outlines, for example, how cities and houses would deteriorate, how long man-made artifacts would last, and how remaining lifeforms would evolve. Weisman concludes that residential neighborhoods would become forests within 500 years, and that radioactive waste, bronze statues, plastics, and Mount Rushmore will be among the longest lasting evidence of human presence on Earth. The author of four previous books and numerous articles for magazines, Weisman traveled around the world to interview academics, scientists and other authorities. He used quotes from these interviews to explain the effects of the natural environment and to substantiate predictions. The book has been translated and published in France, Germany, Portugal and Spain. It was successful in the U.S., reaching #6 on the New York Times Best Seller list. It ranked #1 on Time and Entertainment Weekly's top 10 non-fiction books of 2007. The book has received largely positive reviews, specifically for Weisman's journalistic and scientific writing style, but some have questioned the relevance of its subject matter. (more...)

In the news

• A magnitude 6.8 M_w earthquake strikes Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on the Japanese island of Honshū.
• Flooding (rising Des Moines River pictured) continues in the Midwestern United States, leading to the evacuation of thousands of homes.
• NBC journalist Tim Russert dies suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 58.
• Irish voters reject the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum, thus putting into question the reform program of the European Union.
• The People's Republic of China and Taiwan hold their first formal talks in a decade on improving Cross-Strait relations.
• Pakistan condemns a United States air strike near the Afghan border that killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops, along with eight Taliban militants.
• Amid an outbreak of tornadoes and derechos in central and eastern North America, a tornado hits a Boy Scout camp in Iowa, killing four.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

  Did you know...

  
  From Wikipedia's newest articles:

  

• ... that the Red Bridge (pictured), one of the former Aar bridges in Berne, was nicknamed the "Angel of Death" because of frequent fatal accidents?
• ... that the Vermont Square, Lincoln Heights, and Cahuenga Branches are the only surviving Carnegie libraries in Los Angeles?
• ... that Bob Beck led the effort to capture and breed the remaining wild Guam Rails, Micronesian Kingfishers and other endangered Guamanian native birds in captivity?
• ... that Christopher Smart's Hymns for the Amusement of Children were finished by the author while in debtors' prison and that he died before receiving notice that the work was a success?
• ... that Widtsoe, Utah was made a ghost town in 1936 by the federal Resettlement Administration, a New Deal program that bought out indebted landowners?
• ... that the Czech castle of Hauenštejn is private property of a descendant of the so-called "Father of the Nation" František Palacký?
• ... that the Church of Daniel's Band, based in Michigan, chose its name from the title of a sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon in London?
• ... that in 1926 Skabo Jernbanevognfabrikk produced a firewood-powered snow melter?
  
  Archive – Start a new article...