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Bette Midler started cleaning a neglected New York park in 1995; 30 years later, her group has planted 200,000 trees and built an artificial oyster reef

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Bette Midler started cleaning a neglected New York park in 1995; 30 years later, her group has planted 200,000 trees and built an artificial oyster reef

Bette Midler once spent her mornings clearing parks in Northern Manhattan that the city had all but abandoned. Thirty years later, that early effort has grown into the New York Restoration Project, a charity credited with reshaping green space across all five boroughs. The organisation has planted more than 200,000 trees since 1995, alongside removing … Read more

In 1941, US Steel built a summer camp lodge at Indiana Dunes; after about 50 years closed, it has reopened and workers found an original time capsule hidden in its walls

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In 1941, US Steel built a summer camp lodge at Indiana Dunes; after about 50 years closed, it has reopened and workers found an original time capsule hidden in its walls

According to the report, in 1941, the U.S. Steel Company built the lodge for the children of its employees. The Good Fellow Youth Camp, which ran from 1941 to 1975, provided generations of young people with an opportunity to get outdoors in what would later become Indiana Dunes National Park. Generations of Northwest Indiana children … Read more

Built in 1881 and closed in 2004 over structural problems, a Smithsonian building restored for $55 million has finally been chosen for a permanent new life

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Built in 1881 and closed in 2004 over structural problems, a Smithsonian building restored for $55 million has finally been chosen for a permanent new life

The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building in 2021. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) The Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents has officially chosen the historic Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall as the permanent home of the National Museum of the American Latino. The decision ends a long debate over the museum’s location and removes … Read more

Laurene Powell Jobs left Wall Street and moved to Florence for eight months, then built a multibillion-dollar empire funding education, climate and social change

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Laurene Powell Jobs left Wall Street and moved to Florence for eight months, then built a multibillion-dollar empire funding education, climate and social change

Laurene Powell Jobs took an unconventional route from Wall Street to becoming one of the most influential philanthropists and investors in the United States. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985, she spent a year at Merrill Lynch and two years at Goldman Sachs before leaving finance and moving to Florence, Italy, where … Read more

Built in 1928 and bought by a future Dallas mayor, this French-style castle was doubled in size; 98 years later, it’s heading to auction after a $5.8M listing

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Built in 1928 and bought by a future Dallas mayor, this French-style castle was doubled in size; 98 years later, it’s heading to auction after a $5.8M listing

After sitting on the market for nearly a year with no buyers, the 1928 French Norman mansion ‘Château des Grotteaux’ is heading for auction. Concierge Auctions will handle the sale, opening bidding on September 16 at around $2 million, according to CandysDirt. This is a significant drop from its initial asking price of almost $5.8 … Read more

Meet Hao Ting Lyu, Qing Ying Cao, Bai Xuan Ye, Yuanhao Zhang and Jia An Pan, Chinese students who built a low-cost underwater messaging system for divers

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Meet Hao Ting Lyu, Qing Ying Cao, Bai Xuan Ye, Yuanhao Zhang and Jia An Pan, Chinese students who built a low-cost underwater messaging system for divers

Image: Conrad Space Center For divers beneath the surface, communication can become surprisingly difficult. Radio signals that work reliably on land do not travel effectively through water, leaving divers dependent on hand signals, pre-arranged plans or specialised equipment when they need to communicate. Five Chinese students, Hao Ting Lyu, Qing Ying Cao, Bai Xuan Ye, … Read more

In 2002, Alabama architecture students stacked 72,000 worn carpet tiles into the walls of a family home; Rural Studio has now built more than 200 projects

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In 2002, Alabama architecture students stacked 72,000 worn carpet tiles into the walls of a family home; Rural Studio has now built more than 200 projects

A house in Alabama contains walls adorned with 72,000 individual stacked tiles held in compression by a heavy wooden-ring beam. Belonging to the Harris family, the abode contains a bedroom above and a tornado shelter below. The minds behind the idea trace back to Rural Studio, an off-campus design-build program, rooted in Hale County and … Read more

Two vacant Connecticut office buildings built in 1980 and 1982 will become 286 apartments in a $120 million conversion, reusing 511,000 sq ft instead of tearing them down

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Two vacant Connecticut office buildings built in 1980 and 1982 will become 286 apartments in a $120 million conversion, reusing 511,000 sq ft instead of tearing them down

A pair of vacant office buildings in Connecticut have been acquired for redevelopment as multifamily housing. In a joint venture between developers Saber-Hightower LLC and Granoff Real Estate, 101 and 201 Merritt 7, in the Merritt 7 office park in the New York City suburb of Norwalk, Connecticut, will be the sites of the project. … Read more

Meet Scott Merrow, the 14-year-old New Hampshire gamer who built a 3D-printed adaptive VR controller after he found he could not grip the standard left-hand controller

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Meet Scott Merrow, the 14-year-old New Hampshire gamer who built a 3D-printed adaptive VR controller after he found he could not grip the standard left-hand controller

Scott began the project as a school assignment and asked his uncle, Brandyn Lewis, a mechanical engineer, to help him. For 14-year-old Scott Merrow of Auburn, New Hampshire, playing video games has always meant finding his own way to use a standard controller. A gamer who enjoys playing virtual reality games with his friends, Scott … Read more

In 1776, a Gettysburg minister built his stone home; 200 years later a young couple saved it from demolition, and today the city’s oldest building is marking its 250th birthday

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In 1776, a Gettysburg minister built his stone home; 200 years later a young couple saved it from demolition, and today the city's oldest building is marking its 250th birthday

In 1776, a Gettysburg minister built his stone home Gettysburg’s oldest surviving building, the 1776 Dobbin House, marked its 250th anniversary on Wednesday, 26 August 2026, celebrating two and a half centuries since Irish-born Presbyterian minister Reverend Alexander Dobbin completed the stone home. The anniversary was marked with a public reenactment of Dobbin’s original 1776 … Read more