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Samantha Kerr prepares coffee at Artifact Coffee in Baltimore, MD.

Samantha Kerr prepares coffee at Artifact Coffee in Baltimore, MD. Maggie Starbard/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Maggie Starbard/NPR

The Salt

Coffee Is The New Wine. Here's How You Taste It

Specialty roasters increasingly are working directly with coffee growers around the world to produce coffees as varied in taste as wines. They're teaching their clientele to appreciate the subtle characteristics of brews by bringing cupping, an age-old ritual once limited to coffee insiders, to the coffee-sipping masses.

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Watch as global population explodes from 300 million to 7 billion.

Watch as global population explodes from 300 million to 7 billion.

Adam Cole, Maggie Starbard/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Adam Cole, Maggie Starbard/NPR

7 Billion And Counting

Visualizing How A Population Hits 7 Billion

The U.N. says today symbolically marks the moment when the world's population reaches 7 billion. A little more than two centuries ago, the global population was 1 billion. How did it grow so big so fast? With the help of a sound montage and video, it gets a bit easier to see how the Earth can produce that kind of a crowd.

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Spooked by a noise, giraffes in northwest Namibia interrupt lunch to look around.

Spooked by a noise, giraffes in northwest Namibia interrupt lunch to look around. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption John W. Poole/NPR

Environment

To Save Wildlife, Namibia's Farmers Take Control

Imagine the U.S. government saying to the people living around Yellowstone, "You know what? All those wild animals in the park — the grizzlies, the bison, the wolves — they belong to you." This is exactly what the government of Namibia has done in a radical experiment to save wildlife — and the people who share their land.

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A painter touches up one of the bridge's cables. When it came time to decide the paint color for the bridge, consulting architect Irving Morrow wanted a warm hue to contrast with the cool grays, blues and greens of San Francisco Bay.

A painter touches up one of the bridge's cables. When it came time to decide the paint color for the bridge, consulting architect Irving Morrow wanted a warm hue to contrast with the cool grays, blues and greens of San Francisco Bay. Courtesy of goldengatebridge.org hide caption

itoggle caption Courtesy of goldengatebridge.org

The Golden Gate Bridge's Accidental Color

In the 1930s, the now-iconic hue "international orange" was a radical choice, originally meant to serve only as the primer.

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At a party outside Brisbane, Australia, nursing students sing i-Kiribati songs.

At a party outside Brisbane, Australia, nursing students sing i-Kiribati songs. Brian Reed for NPR hide caption

itoggle caption Brian Reed for NPR

Preparing For Sea Level Rise, Islanders Leave Home

The government of Kiribati, a set of islands in the Pacific Ocean, is worried that climate change and population pressure could make significant parts of the country uninhabitable within the century. With help from abroad, it has begun the slow process of familiarizing residents with nearby Australia.

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Credit: Produced and Edited by Coburn Dukehart; Videography by John W. Poole/NPR

Flawed Autopsies Send Two Innocent Men To Jail

In Mississippi, Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, spent a combined 30 years in jail for crimes they didn't commit.

There are no proper roads in Cabaret, just tracks worn in the dirt and paths that wind amid haphazardly fenced plots

There are no proper roads in Cabaret, just tracks worn in the dirt and paths that wind amid haphazardly fenced plots. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption

itoggle caption David Gilkey/NPR

Tired Of Waiting, Haitians Build Their Own Homes

Housing remains one of the biggest challenges facing Haiti after an earthquake destroyed much of the capital last year. But recently, thousands of people who've grown tired of living in temporary camps have started building houses in scrubby, vacant hills north of the capital.

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