Stories by Mara Hvistendahl

1 World, 10 Billion People: Who Thrives, and Who Falls Behind?

Quality of life on an increasingly crowded planet depends on decisions made today

The government ended a one-child limit, but the policy already encouraged millions of abortions of females, causing lasting damage

A technology originally developed for maritime navigation and detection has become the dominant method for sex selection

One of the first electrical appliances made its way into the home as a purported medical device

A substitute for coins turned into a passport for globalization

Where do rainbows come from? What about flying cars, love and LSD?

Demand soars, populations dwindle of caterpillar fungus used to treat everything from cancer to erectile dysfunction

Even the Chinese government suspects the massive dam may cause significant environmental damage

Though it stretches for some 4,500 miles, the ancient Chinese fortification is not as visible from orbit as modern desert roads

By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation