David Hertz and Laura Doss-Hertz are big winners. The couple won a $1.5 million XPrize for their water collection invention. David had learned that under the right conditions, it was possible to collect water directly from the air.

Researchers in Australia designed a new typeface. The lettering could help people remember what they read. It’s an example of using an everyday tool to fix a common problem.

Wearing colorful, disposable boots, tourists last fall slogged to outdoor cafés in Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) in Venice—even as waters were receding from one of the city’s worst floods since 1872. The saltwater damaged St. Mark’s Basilica’s marble columns and mosaic floors.

When a hammer-wielding thief tried to steal a piece of English history, an impromptu squad of law-abiding citizens—including two American tourists—worked to stop him. The clash inside Salisbury Cathedral shows that respect for the rule of law—and the ancient laws themselves—isn’t dead.

Glass, aluminum, cardboard—where does it all go? The answer isn’t clear. The global market for recyclables is crashing. Now communities must choose whether they’ll continue recycling—or send bottles, cans, and plastics to the landfill instead.

Embers falling on their heads, Venesa Rhodes and her husband, Stephen Cobb, rushed their two beloved cats toward their SUV before a wildfire last summer could overtake them all. One cat, named Bella, bolted. She disappeared as the blaze bore down. The couple had no choice but to flee.

Spin, spin, spin. Some toys made by Michiaki Hiroi are simple disks painted bright colors. Some are complex machines with many moving parts. The fourth-generation Japanese craftsman hopes children of today won’t stop playing with traditional toys like his Edo-style spinning tops.

Deep in the mountains of the Arabah Valley lies Petra. The vast city is carved into the pinkish sandstone near the Dead Sea and the Israel-Jordan border. In ancient times, Arab tribesmen dug tunnels to protect the area from flash floods. Today, flooding is still a life-threatening concern.