Original research by Orb Media reveals for the first time how microscopic plastic fibers have contaminated tap water from around the world. We look at plastic’s deep penetration into human life, and we examine the mystery of why plastic fibers have come to contaminate the water that millions depend on and what that might mean for human health.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live; the question isn’t if you’ve faced a financial emergency but when — and when you did, how you managed it. We use this question as a barometer to measure the efficacy of financial inclusion and the success of poverty alleviation around the world.

The World Bank’s 2014 Global Findex survey suggests that formal financial structures give people resiliency when financial emergencies happen, but it turns out that formal financial structures don't increase a person’s ability to weather a financial shock.

Life comes from the ground up. All life, virtually every bite of food you’ve ever eaten, comes from the brown stuff, Soil. And while we don’t think about it, soil is a finite resource—a living ecosystem that’s way more complex, important and fragile than you think.