<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/35827654.cms" /><br /> Every book will get you somewhere and the more you read, the more you will rock. That’s not philosophy but hardcore truth as the sizzling summer comes with events like readathons, to say nothing of year-long challenges like Indian Quills <keyword id="4228" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reading">Reading</keyword> 2014 where the more you read, rate and review <keyword id="5050" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="books">books</keyword> by <keyword id="3396" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-authors">Indian authors</keyword>, the more you gain in name, fame and prizes (books of your choice, of course).<br />
 <br /> Since plenty of exciting, can’t-miss titles have hit the shelves this month, what about bringing in some change to your summer reading list as well? This time, we have made it a heady mix of thoughtful non-fiction, suspenseful <keyword id="584616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Thrillers">thrillers</keyword>, hearty humor and soothing romance to keep you engaged throughout the lazy summer days. Here’s a list of six brand <keyword id="2276017" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-titles">new titles</keyword> that will make you sit up and take notice. Happy reading!<br />
<br />
<strong>Image: </strong>Thinkstock/Getty Images<br />


May Must-reads: Try
These 6 Titles For A Heady Mix Of Head, Heart And Humour

<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet"></a></p><div type="image" title="Joshua Kian riding a bike on a paved road surrounded by green rolling hills." height="999" width="1333" msid="99694973" hostid="261" sizebytes="127058"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Joshua Kian and Sarah Morgan quit flying because of the airline industry's environmental impact.</li><li>The couple now travel predominantly by bike, but they also take trains and hitchhike.</li><li>Their limited transportation options haven't stopped them from having thrilling adventures.</li></ul><p>In October 2017, Joshua Kian and Sarah Morgan boarded a plane in Porto, Portugal, heading home to England.</p><p>Kian, now 32, and Morgan, now 29, had just spent the past 18 months traveling through Asia and visiting countries including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Vietnam.</p><p>"We weren't thinking this is the last flight we were going to take," Kian told Insider.</p><p>But so far, it has been just that.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CmwHAb1N7PX/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CmwHAb1N7PX/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Josh and Sarah (@joshandsarahride)</a></p></div></blockquote> <p>Prior to the flight, Kian said, the couple had been in a months-long discussion centered on the environmental impact of their flights. They disembarked the plane, headed home, and decided to plan their next trip without flying.</p><p>One flightless trip turned into two, and five years later the couple haven't boarded a plane since.</p><p>They also haven't stopped traveling. Together, Kian and Morgan, who go by <a href="https://veggievagabonds.com/">Josh and Sarah Ride</a> on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/joshandsarahride/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdk1X_QIiv2LGUYYEB5XhSQ">YouTube</a>, have explored every national park in the UK and traveled thousands of miles by bike, train, bus, hitchhiking, and ferry.</p><p>Kian said he and Morgan hadn't promised they wouldn't ever fly again but had decided flying would be their last option when it came to travel.</p><p>They've swapped planes for bikes and weekend trips for yearlong adventures. So far, Kian said, they haven't looked back.</p><h2>A gradual decision to stop flying</h2><div type="image" title="Sarah Morgan pushes her bicycle in a snowy field on a cycling trip." height="843" width="1125" msid="99694978" hostid="261" sizebytes="150878"></div><p>From admiring waterfalls in Bali, Indonesia, to taking train rides across Sri Lanka, Kian and Morgan have visited five continents and more than 30 countries since they started dating over a decade ago.</p><p>"There's always been this burning desire to travel, which I've just never managed to properly itch," Kian said. "And I don't think it will ever really go away."</p><p>Specifically, the couple were drawn to outdoor experiences. And this interest in nature led to a desire to protect and preserve the environments they were visiting, Kian said.</p><p>Their first step was going vegan. About eight years ago, Kian and Morgan switched from a vegetarian to a vegan diet to help lower their carbon footprints. A two-week study by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220429-the-climate-benefits-of-veganism-and-vegetarianism" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BBC</a> last year, for instance, found that a plant-based vegan diet yielded the lowest carbon emissions compared with vegetarians and omnivores.</p><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="Joshua Kian and Sarah Morgan smiling while wearing bike helmets." height="1000" width="1333" msid="99694980" hostid="261" sizebytes="74418"></div><p>As the pair continued to purchase plane tickets for their travel during those early years, they became increasingly aware of the airline industry's negative impact on the planet.</p><p>Air travel is one of the most carbon-intensive transportation methods, experts have previously told Insider. For example, planes can emit six times as much carbon per passenger mile as trains, according to a <a href="https://time.com/6108578/why-flying-is-more-expensive-than-taking-the-train/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Time</a> article citing <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185559/carbon-footprint-of-travel-per-kilometer-by-mode-of-transport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Statista</a>. If the aviation industry were a country, it would be the sixth-largest emitter, according to the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/transportation_and_global_warming/airplane_emissions/#:~:text=Background,emissions%2C%20between%20Japan%20and%20Germany.">Center for Biological Diversity</a>.</p><p>The more research the pair did, the more aware they became of the airline industry's harm. Kian said it became clear that the biggest thing they could do to lower their carbon footprints was to stop flying.</p><p>"I realized that a lot of the other decisions I was making in my life to live more sustainable, it was all being trumped if I took a long-distance flight in that year," he said.</p><p>A trip to Vietnam put that into perspective. Kian recalled going on runs through thick smog and thinking the exercise was perhaps doing more harm than good as he inhaled the fumes.</p><p>He also remembers realizing that his decision to fly to Vietnam was perhaps partially why he was running through smog in the first place, since planes release harmful pollutants into the air, Mongabay reports, and Kian no longer wanted to play a contributing role.</p><p>"It was the first time we really, really saw environmental impacts firsthand," he said.</p><p>The decision to quit flying was a gradual transition, Kian said. There wasn't one aha moment when they made the choice. Instead, they got home and embarked on a journey on bikes instead of planes. Bikes were a natural transportation option since both Kian and Morgan grew up in cycling-friendly cities and didn't have driver's licenses.</p><p>"We just thought we will see how we can do on bikes, and we've never really looked back," he said. "It's massively changed our lives, but all for the positive."</p><h2>Giving up flying has encouraged the couple's sense of adventure</h2><div type="image" title="Joshua Kian and Sarah Morgan sitting on a wall near two bikes with their hands in the air." height="1000" width="1333" msid="99694982" hostid="261" sizebytes="161876"></div><p>Today, the couple predominantly cycle, but they also take trains, buses, and ferries. They typically pack all their gear — a tent, clothes, food — on their bikes and set off on adventures either close to their home in North West England or in places like Scotland, Wales, France, and Switzerland.</p><p>To get to those farther destinations, the couple first bike to the nearest train station, which is about an 8-mile, uphill route from their home.</p><p>But beyond the literal uphill battle, one of the biggest changes the couple have faced since they stopped flying is the pace of the trips.</p><p>Weekend getaways involving planes were easier to plan — on bikes, their trips typically take longer to map out and even longer to execute.</p><p>"Maybe someone could fly to India and travel there for a month, whereas we will spend a year cycling there and have that trip as a bigger lifestyle choice rather than just a holiday or trip," he said.</p><p>One of their first trips after Portugal was accomplishing the UK's National Three Peaks Challenge. To complete the challenge, a person climbs the highest mountains in England, Scotland, and Wales within 24 hours.</p><p>Participants are typically driven from mountain to mountain, but Kian and Morgan decided to do it on bikes.</p><p>Completing the challenge by bike in 24 hours would've been impossible, Kian said, so instead, the pair did it over five days.</p><p>"It was absolutely incredible, but also we were physically pretty destroyed," Kian said.</p><div type="image" title="Joshua Kian sitting on the ground and pointing at a map with one hand while holding food in the other." height="1000" width="1333" msid="99694984" hostid="261" sizebytes="176388"></div><p>Kian said he had a newfound appreciation for overland travel since giving up flying. Getting to see landscapes change from the seat of a train or bike is a different experience from watching white clouds through a plane window, he said.</p><p>New transportation methods have also provided the couple with experiences they never would've had if they were flying.</p><p>For example, the couple planned a yearlong bike journey from England to India. But when they reached the Alps, they got "massively sidetracked," Kian said. The region's culture, mountaineering opportunities, and friendly folks enticed them to stay, and they abandoned their plans for India. It's a decision they don't regret.</p><p>"That never would've happened if we just jumped on the plane," Kian said. "There are so many things you're just flying over, and we enjoy stumbling across them rather than going right over them."</p><p>Kian said switching from planes to more sustainable transportation options hadn't limited their opportunities to explore. If anything, it's widened them.</p><p>Since 2017, the couple have traveled thousands of miles by bike. They've predominantly explored the UK and discovered nature that's been at their doorstep all along.</p><h2><strong>The couple haven't promised to never fly again, but they encourage others to limit plane travel</strong></h2><p><strong></strong></p><div type="image" title="Sarah Morgan near a tent and two bikes with the sun shining behind her." height="1000" width="1333" msid="99694985" hostid="261" sizebytes="152832"></div><p>Kian says he realizes not everyone can do what he and Morgan are doing. Some people need to travel long distances quickly for work, and not everyone has a job that allows for the flexibility of longer trips.</p><p>And even with a lifestyle that caters to avoiding planes, the couple haven't promised they won't ever fly again.</p><p>"If we said we'll never fly again, then inevitably, there probably will come a time when we need to and then we'll feel pretty rubbish," Kian said. "I think having really rigid and strict rules is probably not the best approach."</p><p>That's Kian's advice for others, too.</p><p>He suggests thinking about how you can limit flying and make a gradual shift to a no-flying lifestyle. That might mean taking only one long-haul flight a year or turning a trip that might have six flights into one that has two.</p><p>And consider exploring your own region more, he said.</p><p>"Anywhere you live, you're going to have things at your doorstep, and there's a real beauty to that," Kian said.</p><p>Kian said he and Morgan were still determined to get to India on bikes, and in the meantime they'll be traveling around the UK.</p><p>"I'm happier to adapt and still travel just as far," Kian said. "But now I fit that into a lifestyle that has a lower impact."</p><p><em>In case you missed it, </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/xlSZrPlRGbA?feature=share" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>watch a replay</em></a><em> of Insider's One Planet virtual event with activist and artist Elijah McKenzie-Jackson.</em></p>

A couple committed to non-airplane travel since 2017. They've covered thousands of miles by bike and train and don't plan to go back in the air.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists used lasers to show what really happens when you flush the toilet.</li><li>Images showed a tall plume of tiny drops of toilet water being blasted into the air.</li></ul><p>Scientists showed how water spews from the toilet bowl after a flush, using powerful lasers to illustrate what we normally can't see.</p><p>Scientists have known for some time that tiny, invisible drops of water escape the toilet bowl after each flush. But this is the first time scientists have shown this happening in real-time with lasers.</p><p>The video below shows droplets shining green as the laser bounces off of them. A cloud of smaller drops, called aerosols, floats further through the air, carrying the toilet water across the lab.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rCZ5hBh6kPU" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>A side-by-side view of the effect shows that these water drops are invisible to the naked eye. </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-EDBku696Vo" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>The results of their observations were <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?postID=6396f72eaa849925401d0a32&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41598-022-24686-5">published</a> in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports on Thursday. </p><p>"The very first time we did it, our jaws just dropped," John Crimaldi, a study author and professor of engineering at the University of Colorado, told Insider. </p><p>He said his team "had no idea and no reason to expect" the plumes would go as high and as far as they did.</p><h2>There may be more than just bad smells in the spray</h2><p>For now, there's no reason to be unduly concerned. People go to the bathroom without getting sick all the time.</p><p>It's possible the spray is ferrying microbes around, Joshua Santarpia, a microbiologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told Insider in an email.</p><p>The problem is that we just don't know. </p><p> "It is actually incredibly difficult to demonstrate the mode of transmission, much less the source, in most cases," said Santarpia, who studies the transmission of disease by aerosols. </p><p>Scientists think there is good reason to assume toilet plumes could be involved in some outbreaks. But the evidence doesn't show definitively that toilet water spritzing into the air has caused anyone to get sick. </p><div type="image" title="A picture shows green-colored aerosols escaping from the toilet, shining in front of a laser" height="525" width="700" msid="96198393" hostid="261" sizebytes="13742"></div><p>Until that question is answered, there are simple steps that not only protect you from any potential bad stuff but could improve your bathroom manners.</p><p>If there is a lid on the toilet, close it. This limits the height and spread of the larger droplets, Santarpia and Crimaldi said. A fringe benefit is that it should limit the spread of any odors. </p><p>Wearing a mask in a public bathroom is also "advisable for a variety of reasons," said Santarpia. </p><p>"Public bathrooms can be confined spaces with highly variable air change rates, so masking protects against human-to-human aerosol transmission, which is more likely in a small, poorly ventilated room, as well as contact with any potentially infectious aerosols from toilet flushing," he said. </p><h2>Designing a spray-free toilet</h2><p>Crimaldi hopes his study will help people rethink toilet <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/is-this-the-toilet-that-will-change-the-world-2014-4">design</a>, ventilation, and disinfection. </p><p>Unless they have to be adapted for a specific use, like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-toilet-on-apollo-moon-missions-2019-7">in space</a>, on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-when-you-flush-airplane-toilet-2017-1">planes</a>, or in areas where there's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/evaporative-toilet-removes-water-from-poop-2019-10">no running water,</a> toilet designs have not changed much over the past decades.</p><p>"If it ain't broke, why fix it?" Crimaldi said.</p><p>"You go to the bathroom, you flush the handle, the stuff disappears, you're like: 'boom, works great!' Then you look at the videos that we took and you're like: 'oh, maybe not so great!'," he said. </p><p>The video could also help raise public awareness about this issue so it can be taken more seriously.</p><p>For instance, a lot of public buildings in the US don't have lids on their toilets.</p><p>"I can tell you this is fundamentally changed my relationship with toilets. I look at them suspiciously now," said Crimaldi.</p><p>"I can sort of see in my mind's eye these aerosol clouds that are filling that whole room."</p>

Gross photos show how many droplets and aerosols blast out of a toilet each time you flush

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The National <keyword id="11894924" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation" source="Orion">Transportation</keyword> Safety Board is urging Elon Musk to make <keyword id="11900743" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="autopilot" source="Orion">Autopilot</keyword> safer. </li><li>The letter from the agency's chairwoman comes amid increasing scrutiny of <keyword id="11900744" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tesla" source="Orion">Tesla</keyword>'s technology. </li></ul><p>The head of the National Transportation Safety Board sent a fiery letter to Elon Musk urging him to implement safety measures it recommended in the wake of a fatal Autopilot crash more than four years ago. </p><p>NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy pressed Tesla's CEO to respond to two recommendations. The agency wants Tesla to restrict Autopilot use to certain types of highways where it's safest, and to figure out a way to better monitor driver attention. </p><p>"Our crash investigations involving your company's vehicles have clearly shown that the potential for misuse requires a system design change to ensure safety," Homendy said. She said she was "deeply concerned" at what she called Tesla's inaction on these issues. </p><p>Autopilot, which uses cameras to keep a Tesla in its lane and maintain a steady distance to the vehicle ahead, has come under increased scrutiny after a series of crashes have highlighted design flaws and its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-autopilot-autonomous-vehicle-driving-look-road-less-mit-study-2021-9">potential for abuse</a>.</p><p>The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-autopilot-crash-investigation-nhtsa-emergency-vehicles-2021-9">opened an investigation</a> into incidents where Teslas on Autopilot collided with stopped emergency vehicles like ambulances and police cars. Numerous viral videos have appeared to show Tesla drivers asleep or otherwise distracted with Autopilot engaged. </p><p>In its investigation of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-autopilot-fatal-crash-ntsb-2017-9">2016 crash</a> that killed Joshua Brown when his Model S collided with a turning semi-truck, the NTSB found that Brown had his hands off the wheel for extended periods of time and that he was using Autopilot on roads it wasn't designed for. Autopilot requires full driver attention and does not make cars autonomous. </p><p>Following that investigation, the agency sent safety recommendations to Tesla and five other automakers regarding their driver-assistance technologies. Tesla alone did not respond, Homendy said. During a later investigation, Tesla told the agency that it is up to drivers to pay attention and to decide where they want to turn on Autopilot. </p><p>Homendy also criticized Tesla for expanding its prototype Full Self-Driving software to more drivers before addressing issues with Autopilot. That more advanced system aims to ferry drivers around city streets while recognizing pedestrians, stop lights, and the like, but it is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fsd-full-self-driving-videos-flaws-glitches-2021-7">far from ready</a>. </p><p>"If you are serious about putting safety front and center in Tesla vehicle design, I invite you to complete action on the safety recommendations we issued to you four years ago," Homendy said. </p>

The NTSB wants Elon Musk to limit where Tesla's Autopilot can be used

<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/the-inside-story"></a></p><p><strong><div type="image" title="jeffrey epstein stands with his arm around a smiling ghislaine maxwell" height="683" width="910" msid="84348006" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Insider is taking you behind the scenes of our best stories with our series The <keyword id="98650" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Inside-story">Inside Story</keyword>.</strong></li><li><strong>Keenan Trotter, Angela Wang, and Meghan Morris reported on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-other-little-black-book-2021-6">a second address book of Epstein's</a></strong><strong>.</strong></li><li><strong>They explain how they verified the book (it took six months!) and the challenge of getting sources.</strong></li></ul><p><strong>Grace O'Connell-Joshua: How did you <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-other-little-black-book-2021-6">come across Jeffrey Epstein's second little black book?</a></strong></p><p>Angela Wang: The book was found by a woman named Denise Ondayko on a Manhattan sidewalk in the mid-1990s. She was a musician living in the East Village at the time. In her telling, she was walking down Fifth Avenue and happened to be looking down. Eventually she put it in storage and rediscovered it last year while cleaning out her storage unit with a relative. The relative recognized it as Epstein's, who by then was infamous.</p><p>Ondayko reached out to several media outlets but didn't hear back. She assumed the book was a copy of Epstein's previously published address book and listed it on eBay after some friends told her it might be worth some money. It was purchased by a graduate student in Vermont named Christopher Helali for $425. Helali collects historical artifacts, and according to him, was Googling for Epstein's little black book when he stumbled upon the listing. He was skeptical when he reached out to the seller, but Ondayko's account struck him as genuine - and made him realize that it might be a different address book altogether.</p><p>Helali reached out to several journalists, including Nick Bryant, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/search-jeffrey-epsteins-little-black-book-for-the-first-time-2020-7">who had published Epstein's little black book</a> under Insider investigations editor John Cook's tenure at Gawker. Bryant reached out to John, who brought us together to start investigating the book and its backstory.</p><p><strong>O'Connell-Joshua: What's new in the book that you found? </strong></p><p>Wang: There are 221 entries for people that don't appear in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/search-jeffrey-epsteins-little-black-book-for-the-first-time-2020-7">Epstein's previously known address book</a>, which dates to the early 2000s - nearly a decade later. Many of those people are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/famous-people-jeffery-epstein-money-manager-sexual-trafficking-connected-2019-7">prominent figures in the political, financial, and cultural elite,</a> who had never previously been connected to Epstein before. The book also contains entries for more than 100 people who appear in both books, which helps us trace known Epstein <keyword id="6358061" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="relationships">relationships</keyword> back to the 1990s.</p><p>Overall, the book contains much fewer entries than its successor, and the people listed are primarily located in the United States. By contrast, Epstein's later address book contains entries for more than 1,500 people, many of whom are located internationally, with particularly large networks in London and Paris. That suggests that the decade between about 1995 and about 2005 was significant in the widening of Epstein's orbit.</p><p><strong>O'Connell-Joshua: </strong><strong>How did you determine that this book actually belonged to Epstein?</strong></p><p>Keenan Trotter: The tricky thing about this story is that, in the absence of time travel or omniscience, there is no consistent or reliable method for determining whether a particular object belonged to a particular person. But as we explain in the story, the book has a number of properties that strongly suggest this book did in fact belong to Epstein or one of his assistants in the 1990s.</p><p>Wang: To rule out the possibility that the book was forged or altered, we hired a forensic document examiner to study the book. The document examiner determined that the book dates between 1995 and 2000. </p><p>We also scrutinized the book's entries. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-net-worth-a-multimillion-real-estate-portfolio-2019-7">It contains comprehensive entries for all of Epstein's estates</a>, consistent with properties he owned in the mid-1990s, with details down to alarm codes and internet modem lines. His Paris apartment, which he purchased in the early 2000s, isn't there. Neither is his private island, Little Saint James, which he acquired in 1998 - although the book does contain the contact information for the wife of the man from whom Epstein purchased the island. The book also contains detailed entries for Epstein's relatives, whose addresses matched residences we found in public-records searches.</p><p>We also divided up calls to prominent people listed in the book, who had never previously been connected with Epstein before. More than a dozen told us on the record that they had met Epstein in the 1990s.</p><p>Meghan Morris: I called people I knew who appeared in the book. Without referencing the book's October 1997 annotation, I asked them about the valid time period for their addresses and numbers. Multiple sources told me their information was correct only between 1995 and 2000, which served as one - but certainly not the only - validation point. Two explained that Epstein's assistants would contact them irregularly to update their contact information throughout the years. My sources verified some of the entries that refer to information that doesn't appear in any public records, including numbers for retired technology like car phones and pagers.</p><p><strong>O'Connell-Joshua: How did you go about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-other-little-black-book-2021-6">contacting people in the book</a>? </strong></p><p>Wang: We attempted to reach four dozen people who struck us as notable and who had never publicly been connected to Epstein before. We wanted to better understand what their relationships with Epstein were like, if any, and to verify the information in the book.</p><p>Although I was met with suspicion and reluctance more often than not, I was surprised that several people I called were very open about crossing paths with Epstein - though they all emphasized that they barely knew him. </p><p>Morris: My phone calls ranged from immediate hang-ups to long conversations. Many people, often through their legal or public-relations representatives, declined to comment. I was surprised that some big finance names did not seek to explain their relationship with Epstein, particularly in light of the fallout for Epstein-linked Apollo cofounder<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leon-black-jeffrey-epstein-steps-down-ceo-apollo-chairman-2021-3"> Leon Black</a> and, to a lesser extent, hedge-fund billionaire <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-considered-marrying-24-year-old-daughter-of-glenn-dubin">Glenn Dubin</a>. A representative for TPG cofounder David Bonderman, for example, declined to comment on the entry for the private-equity titan, who has six phone and fax numbers listed, including for his second home. </p><p>I was also surprised by people who denied ever knowing Epstein, perhaps a more believable claim for those who just had an office address or phone listed than for those whose entries included contact information for multiple vacation homes, car phones, and family members. </p><p>People who did speak to me said they had largely weak connections with Epstein and recounted anecdotes that showed how Epstein's ties proliferated casually, like New York billionaire John Catsimatidis, who said he happened to meet Epstein while in a friend's office. </p><p><strong>O'Connell-Joshua: How long did it take to finish your reporting on this story?</strong></p><p>Wang: The reporting process took about six months from start to finish. I started by pulling all of the text out of the scanned copy of the book and organizing the book's entries into a spreadsheet. Because we had tabulated Epstein's prior known little black book, I was able to programmatically compare all the names between the two Rolodexes, isolating those that were unique as well as those that appeared in both books. That allowed my colleagues to start the process of identifying notable figures and determining who to reach out to.</p><p>In March, I drove to Vermont alongside a cinematographer from our video team, to interview Chris Helali and to retrieve the address book in person. We then ferried it to the forensic document examiner, whose investigation took about a month.</p><p><strong>O'Connell-Joshua: What were the challenges of reporting out a story like this? </strong></p><p>Trotter: One challenge revolved around the planning process. Like, how exactly are we going to report this story? What sorts of things would provide some degree of confidence about the book's provenance? How much can we learn about this book in the first place? Certain rabbit holes were another challenge. For example, it took several weeks, and a lot of phone calls, to figure out when Ricoh stopped selling the specific type of book-binding equipment that was used to create the book. Ricoh actually had to perform their own internal research, involving employees in the United States, Europe, and Japan.</p><p>Morris: Just the mention of "<keyword id="907634" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Jeffrey-Epstein">Jeffrey Epstein</keyword>'' draws out lawyers and other representatives keen to protect their wealthy clients' reputations. Some of those emissaries placed significant pressure on us to avoid mentioning their clients, while also declining to explain on the record how those people knew Epstein. Despite the opposition, we prioritized the public's interest in knowing with whom Epstein associated. Meanwhile, for less-famous individuals, we weighed the risks of public scrutiny with the need for a fuller accounting of Epstein's network. </p><p><strong>O'Connell-Joshua: How important is this <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-other-little-black-book-2021-6">additional black book</a> in helping us understand Epstein and his world?</strong></p><p>Morris: The book offers a snapshot of Epstein's network in the 1990s, helping us trace many more of his associations with the rich and influential. The anecdotes we collected also confirm what we've previously learned about Epstein, like his strength in devising creative tax structures and his seemingly fleeting relationships with some of the global elite as he built his network. </p><p>Epstein's address book frustratingly raises more questions than it answers about the specifics of many of his associations. But it gives us another tool as we chip away at Epstein's web of social, philanthropic, and business ties that propelled his ascent.</p><p>Trotter: It might be too early to say. The book is one piece (or maybe several related pieces) of a still-unfinished puzzle. And so much reporting on Epstein, including this effort, builds on the work of others. We analyzed the book and its contents to the best of our ability, but we can't necessarily anticipate what others will notice, what names they might recognize. If publishing this book accomplishes anything, I hope it advances the broader effort, across both <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> media and civil society, to solve the remaining mysteries around Epstein.</p>

A behind-the-scenes look at how Insider reporters stumbled upon Jeffrey Epstein's 2nd little black book

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/42708108.cms" /><br />
<br /> One look at <keyword id="2521490" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Man-Booker-2014">Man Booker 2014</keyword> finalists, and you would see it has fairly accommodated <keyword id="2521491" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="British-Writers">British writers</keyword>, with a dash of American <keyword id="6404409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="writers">writers</keyword>, with a hint of an Australian writer, and a Scottish one – just to keep the flavours from bursting out too loud. This year, <keyword id="651566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Man-Booker">Man Booker</keyword> organisers had said once that the list was getting as ‘diverse’ as it can.<br />
<br />
While English as a language has been traversing through unknown terrains, appropriating expressions from native hinterlands as its own, gaining newer dimensions, the competition between genuine vs borrowed is getting even hotter.<br />
<br /> Indian-origin <keyword id="628756" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neel-Mukherjee">Neel Mukherjee</keyword>, who is more aptly called a British citizen, has made a cut. And so has Tasmania’s Richard Flanagan. Ali Smith’s <em>How to be both</em> and Joshua Ferris’ <em>To Rise Again at a Decent Hour</em> make it to the list too. American authors Joshua Ferris and Karen Joy Fowler have been sending joy-waves through their country’s literary clubs. Diversity, did we hear?<br />
<br />
Two major publishing houses who are allies now, are responsible for five of the six publications in the shortlist. Now, now, now…that’s called an eye for talent and a surefire shot at picking writers who are certain to grab the headlines. Because, once a Booker finalist, is always a celebrated writer!<br />
<br />
In any case, this year’s finalists pack some genuine expressions in their works. English has been a language that has been some sort of a laboratory for experiment of expressions. A writer is often in search of newer expressions to transfer the sum of his experiences.<br />
<br />
Whether it is Neel Mukherjee’s family saga set in Kolkata in the 1960s, or Flangan focusing on Australian PoWs being used as forced labour on the Burma Death Railway, or Jacobson’s for his ‘J’ where flitting images of past and the progressive imagination of those phases create a dangerous concoction of schemas – English as a language has surely been reaching its potential since long.<br />
<br />
With three British writers, two Americans and an Australian to keep the scale from tipping against the intent of the Booker Committee which had said it would open doors to writers of any nationality in its over four and half decades of history. There is another perspective to the works that are being selected for the shortlist of Man Booker prize 2014. When you look at the works, they are varied and not really set in the ‘English’ identity. Some jar as works, some simply mesmerise.<br />
<br />
Opening Booker doors to English writers from other nationalities like India was to introduce more character into the works dealing with fractured consciousness till late. Will this prompt writers from other languages to turn towards English?<br />
<br />
After all, no matter how recluse a writer is; who does not want his/her works to cross the borders of his country and be accessed by millions and millions who are looking for some fresh expressions? Why not? Literature is, after all, a medium to change minds, to wipe out biases, to incite feelings that may help empathy. In the war torn borders, and the ever tense world that’s chasing some elusive happiness, a writer is an artist who can create newer spaces in the minds of the reader.<br />
<br />
Mukherjee’s <em>The Lives of Others </em>sounds like he has borrowed the title from a film. The experience that’s transferred from his work is close to the experience that all countries in transition from old to new are facing. It’s relevant across the geographical borders.<br />
<br />
If Mukherjee manages to win the title and take home the purse of £ 72,000, Kolkata will yet again be the final word on literature from India that could be represented in the west. It would further encourage more and more writers who could have found expressions in their mother-tongue which happens to be Bengali, to think, speak and write in English.<br />
<br />
Will Man Booker do any good to authors and winners? It’s always a double edged sword that is bound to cut both ways. An author who nurses the ambition of reaching far and beyond, high and higher, prizes like Man Booker  do hold a lot of promise.<br />
<br />
It is difficult to say whether the Man Booker Foundation opened gates first to authors of different nationalities writing in English, or the authors claimed the space first and Man Booker Committee merely acknowledged the fact that literary works in English were coming mostly from people who were from different identities than the ones who were conventionally considered eligible.<br />
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In an egg first or chicken, kind of situation the loss may be more than evident in the coming years. By opening gates, Man Booker may stand to gain a lot with works from different nationalities pouring into its quarters, but what would be ruined is the writers writing in their mother tongue. That would be a death blow to some native languages.<br />
 <br />


Man Booker: Embracing A New Language, Casting Expressions In A Different Mold

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Millennial New Yorkers are piling into luxury <keyword id="47359" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="apartments">apartments</keyword> amid plunging rents and concessions.</li><li>They're upgrading their living situation in pursuit of more amenities, space, and the solo life.</li><li>As of January, rents were down 15.5% in Manhattan and 8.6% in both Brooklyn and Queens, <a href="https://streeteasy.com/blog/nyc-real-estate-prices-continue-to-drop/">per StreetEasy</a>. </li></ul><p>$3,200. $3,000. $2,900.</p><p>Over the past several months, Brett Vergara had been watching rent fall like dominoes for apartments at The Brooklyner, a residential skyscraper that briefly had the title of <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/sky-high-named-home-turf-brooklyner-tallest-building-borough-article-1.204528">Brooklyn's tallest building</a> around a decade ago.</p><p>Replete with a rooftop deck, floor-to-ceiling views of The Empire State Building, and an in-building fitness center, The Brooklyner was a far cry from the Park Slope basement he lived in when he first moved to New York, where bars blocked the view out of his lone window. </p><p>"I was playing chicken with the fallen rent prices," Vergara told Insider. </p><p>Vergara, a 28-year-old who works as a UX program manager, said he shared his last Brooklyn apartment with three roommates, with his share of rent coming to $825 a month. He had been flirting with the idea of solo living for the past two years. </p><p>"Part of me was torn between riding out really low rent for as long as I could and trying to figure out when was the right time to make the jump," Vergara said.</p><p>The pandemic just so happened to be that time.</p><p>When a corner one-bedroom, which he said was priced around $4,000 when last listed in October 2019, hit $2,650 in February, Vergara said he decided to "strike while the iron was hot" and signed a lease for 66% off its pre-pandemic price.</p><p>In a city notorious for its unaffordability, the pandemic era has sent once sky-high rents plummeting, making luxury living by <keyword id="72226" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-York-City">New York City</keyword> standards attainable for those once priced out of such a lifestyle. Millennial New Yorkers like Vergara are jumping on deals they know won't last indefinitely, upgrading to luxury apartments that suddenly fit with their budgets. </p><h2><div type="image" title="Breet Vergara.JPG" height="768" width="1025" msid="81378899" hostid="261"></div><strong>Rents have plunged amid a surplus of supply</strong></h2><p>When the city that never sleeps finally got some shut-eye, many wrote off the slumber as a city dying and traded in fast-racing taxis and towering apartments for sedans and picket fences. But for some of the young urban professionals who stayed, it was the beginning of a whole new life.</p><p>"The pressures COVID placed on the marketplace created a unique opportunity to secure leases in prime locations and great buildings for significant discounts," agent Ryan Kaplan, of Douglas Elliman, told Insider. New Yorkers fleeing for the suburbs sent rental vacancies climbing, prompting landlords to lower rents in an attempt to attract new residents and propel revenue.</p><p>Rents in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens all had the largest year-over-year declines on record, dropping a whopping 15.5% in Manhattan and 8.6% in both Brooklyn and Queens, per StreetEasy's <a href="https://streeteasy.com/blog/nyc-real-estate-prices-continue-to-drop/">January Rental Report</a>. The median asking rent in Manhattan was $2,750 - the lowest it's been since March 2010, when rents dropped during The Great Recession. Insider's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-cheap-rents-have-prices-hit-bottom-pandemic-2021-3">Libertina Brandt reported</a> that rents are likely to continue falling throughout 2021.</p><p>While "luxury" can mean many things to different people, StreetEasy defines it as the top 20% of the market. Luxury rental prices dropped the most in Manhattan, falling by 11.9% to $5,642 from the second quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020, according to data StreetEasy provided Insider. Prices fell by 9.7% to $2,935 in Queens during the same period and 7.5% to $3,937 in Brooklyn.</p><div type="image" title="brooklyn waterfront" height="1380" width="1842" msid="81378900" hostid="261"></div><p>In NYC, a golden standard of climbing up the apartment ladder is snagging an apartment in a doorman building. In January 2020, the average rent for Manhattan one-bedrooms in doorman buildings were $4,514, data from <a href="http://www.mns.com/manhattan_rental_market_report">real estate agency MNS</a> revealed. By January 2021, they had dropped to $3,718. </p><p>Iliana Acevedo, senior vice president of new development at MNS, told Insider that they've been seeing millennials "not only upgrading to more amenitized buildings but also upgrading in unit size and neighborhoods that they were priced out of pre-COVID."</p><p>Compass has done about 900 rental deals, the majority of which have been with millennials, since last March, Compass agent Ori Goldman told Insider. But he said he wouldn't classify it as "millennials going luxury for the first time as much as just an extreme market drop, which means anyone who used to afford Manhattan can now afford the luxury." </p><h2><strong>A building with amenities provides a much-needed community</strong></h2><p>On top, or sometimes instead of, lower rents, many luxury buildings are offering concessions of two or three months free. </p><p>Consider Vergara, who negotiated an 18-month lease with two-and-a-half months free, putting his net rent at $2,250 a month.</p><p>"Increased concessions and suppressed pricing allows somebody to rent out a nicer, more luxurious building, with more amenities and a better location," said Joshua Young, vice president of market-rate operations at the Douglaston Companies. His firm owns luxury buildings The Ohm In Chelsea as well as Level BK and 1N4th on the Williamsburg waterfront, where rents range from <a href="https://streeteasy.com/building/1n4th-1-north-4-place-brooklyn#tab_building_detail=3">$2,500 for a studio to $8,300 for a one-bedroom</a> and amenities include an outdoor pool with skyline views of Manhattan.</p><div type="image" title="Brett Vergara2.JPG" height="843" width="1125" msid="81378902" hostid="261"></div><p>Many of the experts Insider spoke with said the millennials who are upgrading covet amenities like an in-unit laundry, 24-hour doormen, pools, and gyms.  Air quality is also high on the list.</p><p>"The younger demographic is looking for service," Young told Insider. "It's really about the whole amenity package."</p><p>That's something millennials may have traded previously for location in a walk-up building, said Chris Schmidt, senior vice president of Related Companies, which owns luxurious rentals at buildings including The Strathmore on the Upper East Side, which has its own squash court, and One Hudson Yards, which features a penthouse longe and bowling alley. At the latter, one bedrooms can go for as much as <a href="https://www.relatedrentals.com/search?city=46&amp;property=46864686">$7,453 a month</a>. In February, he said, Related's rents were trending down about 15% to 25% depending on the unit type. </p><p>Now, he said, a building filled with amenities provides a sense of community millennials feel has been missing in New York's partially shut-down neighborhoods.</p><p>It's what lured Vergara to The Brooklyner, but he said he hasn't yet taken full advantage of the amenities because he's staying cautious indoors, even with masked strangers, until he's vaccinated. "It's funny because those things aren't even really revealing their hands yet," he said.</p><h2><strong>Space: the most important amenity in a WFH <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword></strong></h2><p>Both Kaplan and Schmidt said the search for an upgrade has seduced some millennial Brooklynites back to Manhattan, where they're now finding the space and affordability they once left the island in pursuit of. Schmidt noted that Related's buildings in Chelsea and Hudson Yards have been the most popular.</p><p>But Brooklyn isn't losing its luster. Young said he's seeing the trend the most in Douglaston's two Williamsburg buildings, where there's a feeling of more space by the water and nearby parks.</p><div type="image" title="Juliana Goldman_Olivia Kenney" height="2010" width="2680" msid="81378904" hostid="261"></div><p>Last June, Juliana Goldman decided to prioritize her living space. She was living in a large railroad-style studio in lower Manhattan "with zero light and super thin walls," she told Insider. It was time to hightail it to Brooklyn, where she always envisioned herself for its community feel.</p><p>Her non-negotiables: an in-unit washer dryer and floor-to-ceiling windows with lots of natural light. "I'm a plant parent," the 34-year-old founder of lifestyle and beauty public relations agency <a href="http://www.thegoldmannetwork.com/">TGN</a> explained.</p><div type="image" title="Juliana Goldman.JPG" height="3992" width="2994" msid="81378906" hostid="261"></div><p>She found it all at Level BK, Douglaston's 41-story glass tower that shimmers over Williamsburg and the East River, complete with an outdoor space, steam room, and direct ferry service to Manhattan. At the time, apartment deals were just starting to come in, she said. While she declined to share monthly rent, she said she signed a two-year-lease with two months free. </p><p>Trading up to a larger one-bedroom and brighter space was a game-changer, Goldman said: "It's really helped having extra space and being able to create that <keyword id="889044" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="working-from-home">working from home</keyword> environment where it doesn't feel like I'm literally working out of my bedroom."</p><p>Space has always been a rare commodity in NYC, but the work-from-home economy has cast it in a whole new light. </p><p>Many millennials like Goldman have been seeking an office space or a large living room that can accommodate a work zone, broker Isaiah Dunn of Compass told Insider. Common outdoor space, like a sun deck, also tops the list.</p><p>"People want to be able to have friends over when they want and not feel confined when at home all hours of the day, compared to pre-COVID, when you could just meet friends at a local spot," he added.</p><p>Goldman said her space has become an oasis, as she spends her downtime vintage furniture shopping and decorating. "The energy here is better," she said. "I just wake up exponentially happier every day because of my living environment."</p><h2><strong>Entry into adulthood</strong></h2><p>Some millennials are opting for two-bedrooms with a roommate to further cut the cost of luxury, and some millennial couples are upgrading from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom for an office space.</p><p>But three experts noted a big push toward entry-level studios and one-bedrooms. Schmidt of Related said most millennials upgrading, like Vergara, are doing so to have their own apartment for the first time.</p><p>Take Lauren Mennen, a 31-year-old news writer, who was living on the Upper West Side with three roommates before the pandemic. "I've never actually lived alone," she told Insider. "I took the dropping rent prices as an opportunity to start looking."</p><p>In October, she found the studio of her "dreams" in a luxury doorman building in the Financial District with an "amazing view" of 1 World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and the Hudson River. The building itself has a gym and a sun deck.</p><div type="image" title="Lauren Mennen roof deck" height="931" width="1241" msid="81378908" hostid="261"></div><p>She was previously paying $1,500 a month for a four-bedroom flex unit (meaning the unit was originally two bedrooms with walls added later on to create four). Now she's paying $1,700 - a big drop from the typical $2,800 monthly rent the place normally goes for. </p><p>Even millennials already living by themselves are getting upgrades. For some, it's the first time they've had a wall between their bed and their couch.</p><p>Both Goldman and Ai Nguyen, a 30-year-old behavioral specialist, fall into that category. In February, Nguyen moved from a 300-square-foot studio on the north side of the Upper West Side to a 500-square-foot one-bedroom farther south in the neighborhood in a newly renovated 14-story doorman building called the Parc Coliseum.</p><p>It was the new hardwood floors, in-unit laundry, and price that sealed the deal for her.</p><p>She told Insider her rent increased from $1,730 to $2,043 for the bigger place, but she scored a deal with two months free. That puts her net rent at $1,700 - less than her studio. <a href="https://streeteasy.com/building/parc-coliseum/12k">A StreetEasy listing</a> of a one-bedroom of similar size in the same building came to $3,704 in September 2019.</p><h2><strong>A rebounding market</strong></h2><p>Developers and <keyword id="6354553" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="real-estate">real estate</keyword> agents alike agreed that winter, typically slow in NYC real estate, has been millennial primetime.</p><p>"We've seen a particular spike in absorption since Thanksgiving, and millennials are a large percentage of renters rushing back to the city looking to snag a good deal before the spring rush," MNS' Acevedo said.</p><p>But just how long millennials will be able to cash in on an upgraded NYC lifestyle remains to be seen. </p><p>Schmidt said it'll be contingent upon when the city fully reopens, and he anticipates more real-estate momentum as vaccinations continue. "That's going to force a lot of people seeing these steeper discounts to make a quicker decision," he said, adding that as soon as there's a better indication of when the workforce will return to offices, rents will start to go back up to pre-pandemic levels.</p><div type="image" title="Ai Ngyuen" height="1512" width="2016" msid="81378910" hostid="261"></div><p>NYC is the only major US city that still saw price drops in the last month, <a href="https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/national-rent-data">according to Apartment List</a>. But it's slowing down - rent only declined 0.1% compared to the average 2.4% over the last nine months.</p><p>Young said he's already seeing strength in the market, and has begun pulling back on offering "month-free" discounts last week. There's also the cyclical nature of leases, he explained: Since many jumped on deals in the middle of winter, fewer people will be vacating at the end of March. Less supply gives buildings an opportunity to pull back on prices and incentives.</p><p>Some of those who nabbed a deal at what appears to be the bottom of the market said they're also concerned about what their rent will look like after their lease is up. Nguyen, the Upper West Sider, said she'd likely stay if it only goes up by $200 a month. Any more than that, she said, and she'd be okay with leaving the city. </p><p>Regardless, they all said they feel extremely lucky to have been able to move during the pandemic. "There's a sense of guilty gratitude," Vergara said. "I feel like I got away with something." </p>

Millennial New Yorkers are ditching basements and roommates for luxury apartments at $1,000-plus discounts

<p>At approximately 6:45 a.m. on April 18, 2014, a block of ice tumbled from the <a href="http://www.markhorrell.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/location-of-serac.jpg">edge of a hanging glacier</a> onto a popular climbing route on the south face of <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/8000MeterPeaks/page15.php">Mount Everest.</a> The ice, which weighed as much as <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141015-everest-sherpa-avalanche-icefall-tragedy-graphic-mountaineering/">657 passenger buses,</a> tumbled about 400 meters (1,300 feet) and triggered an avalanche.</p><p>The falling ice and rock overwhelmed a group of Nepalese guides who were ferrying equipment from Base Camp (elevation 5,270 meters) to Camp 1 (elevation 6,035 meters) for foreign clients. Sixteen guides died in the avalanche, making it Everest's deadliest day.</p><p>This three-dimensional rendering-made with data collected by the <a href="http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/?p=5447">Operational Land Imager</a> on Landsat 8 and the <a href="https://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/">Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer</a> (ASTER) on <a href="http://terra.nasa.gov/">Terra</a>-offers a broad view of the topography that climbers face.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/553151ffeab8ea7e428b4567-720-480/everest3d_oli_2013123.jpg" border="0" alt="Everest avalanche"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=85710&amp;src=eorss-iotd">Joshua Stevens, data from U.S. Geological Survey, NASA/MITI, ASTER Science Team</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>The avalanche began on Everest's western shoulder and slid onto the Khumbu icefall, a fast-moving mash of snow and ice that is like a massive frozen waterfall. Notorious among climbers for its shifting surfaces, fast-opening crevasses, and towering columns of ice (seracs), the Khumbu icefall is one of the most dangerous parts of an ascent of Everest.</p><p>On the day of the 2014 disaster, the Nepalese guides were following a route along the far northern edge of the icefall. Staying on the edge reduces the amount of time on the icefall, but being so close to the steep slopes of Everest's western shoulder increases the risk of being hit by an avalanche.</p><p>While a more central route would be less prone to avalanches, collapsing seracs are so common in the center that the <a href="http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/himalaya-spring-2015-who-are-ice-doctors.html">"icefall doctors"</a>-a select group of highly skilled Nepalese climbers who establish the route for most climbers each season-have often decided in recent years that the avalanche risk along the northern edge was the lesser danger.</p><p>With climbers lining up in record numbers for the chance to ascend Everest in 2015, the icefall route appears poised to change slightly. In the rendering (below), based on data from <a href="https://www.digitalglobe.com/">DigitalGlobe's</a> <a href="http://www.satimagingcorp.com/satellite-sensors/quickbird/">QuickBird satellite</a> and from ASTER, the proposed 2015 route tracks closer to the center of the icefall. (Note: the DigitalGlobe image was acquired after the ice avalanche, on April 26, 2014. The Landsat data in the image above was acquired on May 3, 2013.)</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5531514b6da81112298b4568-720-480/everest3d_qbd_2014116.jpg" border="0" alt="Everest avalanche"><p class="source"><span>Joshua Stevens, data from US Geological Survey, NASA/MITI, ASTER Science Team</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>While the modified route should reduce the avalanche risk, it will also expose climbers to more chaotic terrain. The subtle shadows that give the center of the icefall texture in the QuickBird image may seem innocuous from a satellite perspective, but at ground level these represent <a href="http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2013/04/12/everest-2013-crossing-the-ladders-of-everest/">gaping crevasses</a> and towering seracs that pose deadly challenges.</p><p>In the aftermath of the 2014 accident, some <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/the-year-climate-change-closed-everest/361114/">scientists and climbers</a> have suggested that risks to climbers may be increasing as the climate changes and Everest's glaciers thin.</p><p>Jeffrey Kargel, a University of Arizona glaciologist who studies the hazards associated with Himalayan glaciers, offered some context: "As long as glaciers exist on Everest, crevasses and ice falls are always going to be a feature of the landscape. Snow avalanches, likewise, occur with or without climate change, and in fact they will surely occur after the glaciers disappear completely."</p><p>"However, with climate warming and the glaciers thinning, we can expect that ice avalanches and rock avalanches will occur in spots where previously they did not," Kargel added. "We can certainly expect the lethal or high-risk zones to shift in location, and maybe the magnitude of some dangerous processes will change, but it does not mean that there will be changes everywhere or that all changes will be for the worse. Past behavior will be a poor predictor for future behavior."</p><p><em>Read the <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/8000MeterPeaks/">The Eight-Thousanders</a> to learn more about climbing Mount Everest and other 8,000- meter-tall peaks.</em></p><div class="feed-footer-wrapper"><div class="feed-footer"><h3>More from NASA Earth Observatory:</h3><ul><li><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=85710&amp;src=eorss-iotd">Return to Everest</a></li><li><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=85707&amp;src=eorss-nh">Wildfires in Southern Siberia</a></li><li><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=85689&amp;src=eorss-nh">Tornado Track in Northern Illinois </a></li><li><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/?p=5346&amp;src=eorss-blogs">New posts in the Earth Matters blog - Tournament Earth 2015 Champion</a></li><li><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/?p=6761&amp;src=eorss-blogs">New posts in the Notes from the Field blog - Ready, Set, Go!</a></li></ul></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/free-runners-mountains-switzerland-waterfall-stunts-2015-4">Watch four guys perform street-like running stunts in the mountains of Switzerland</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="13dzBjdDo6nz-vVX7Hfl3owxgWD1VCUw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '13dzBjdDo6nz-vVX7Hfl3owxgWD1VCUw',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Everest is shedding giant chunks of glaciers, and it's putting climbers in danger

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/521362ee69beddc158000011-1200-924/miranda-4.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="miranda" width="480" /><p class="source">REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes </p><p class="caption">U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald (C) looks on as his partner David Miranda (R) talks with the media after arriving at Rio de Janeiro's International Airport August 19, 2013.</p></div></div>The partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald is taking legal action against the UK over his detention at London's Heathrow Airport<span>,</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/369782845314965504">The BBC reports</a>.</p>
<p>Miranda, 28, was detained for nine hours on Sunday after he spent a week in Berlin visiting journalist Laura Poitras, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nyt-article-on-laura-poitras-and-snowden-2013-8">who has been working with Greenwald</a> to publish stories relating to materials leaked to them by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.</p>
<p><span>The detention occurred under </span><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/7">Section 7</a><span> of the </span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/08/19/2487531/greenwald-uk-terror-law/">very broad</a><span> British Terrorism Act, which allows the authorities to detain someone for up to nine hours to conduct questioning and search personal items to determine possible ties to terrorism.</span></p>
<p>Authorities questioned Miranda and seized all of his electronic equipment, including <span>encrypted thumb drives that Greenwald said involved his work with Poitras.</span></p>
<p><span><span>Miranda's lawyers are trying to prevent the police from examining the confiscated data.</span></span></p>
<p><span>It's unclear what Miranda's role is in the situation. The trip, paid for by the Guardian, involved "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/david-miranda-interview-detention-heathrow">ferrying materials</a>" between Greenwald and Poitras.</span></p>
<p>The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/19/world/europe/britain-detains-partner-of-reporter-tied-to-leaks.html">reported</a> that Miranda was carrying classified documents given to the journalists by Snowden, but <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/369591413438033920">Greenwald said</a> he only told the paper that the material was relating to their NSA work.</p>
<p><span>Miranda, a Brazilian, told the Guardian: "<span>I don't have a role. I don't look at documents. I don't even know if it was documents that I was carrying."</span></span></p>
<p><span>But later Rusbridger, the Guardian editor, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/19/david-miranda-schedule7-danger-reporters">wrote</a> that Miranda "<span>is not a journalist, but he still plays a valuable role in helping his partner do his journalistic work."</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Former senior U.S. intelligence analyst Joshua Foust </span><a href="http://joshuafoust.com/the-miranda-detention-troubling-from-all-sides/">wrote</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> that while the nine hours of detainment seemed excessive, "it’s a bit difficult to see why anyone would be surprised that he would be at the very least questioned by British authorities."</span></p>
<p>Greenwald called the detainment a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/18/david-miranda-detained-uk-nsa">failed attempt at intimidation</a> while Michael Mansfield, one of Britain's leading human rights lawyers, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/david-miranda-detention-disgrace-human-rights-lawyer_n_3779529.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&amp;ir=Politics">called it</a> "sheer unadulterated state oppression."</p>
<p>The UK government <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/20/david-miranda-sensitive-stolen-information">defended</a> the detention, saying police must act if they think someone has "stolen information that would help terrorism."</p>
<p>On Monday Greenwald said that <span>everything Miranda was carrying "was heavily encrypted, and I’m not worried at all that they can break that.”</span></p>

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