Have a look at birth rates in Europe, where 2.1 per woman is considered to be population replacement level:

Ireland 1.99
France 1.90
Norway 1.81
Sweden 1.75
UK 1.74
Netherlands 1.73
Germany 1.37
Italy 1.33
Spain 1.32
Greece 1.29

An article in the Guardian discusses the problem in Germany.

An article on what would happen should China reach current U.S. levels of resource consumption. China has recently surpassed the U.S. in absolute resource consumption.

An article analyzing the second big wave of immigration into the U.K.

On a controversial proposal to reclassifly chimps under the genus Homo, based on DNA studies. Curiously enough, that was the accepted classification between 1775 and 1816.

An article about podcasts, from the point of view of an outsider who's just joined in.

Let me explain one strange way of phrasing a theorem known as the Banach-Tarski paradox. It is possible to take a solid ball, cut it into five (infinitely convoluted) pieces, and reassemble the pieces into two balls, each with the same volume as the original.

A mystery: why we (and so many other animals) yawn.

Thirty years ago, the first life-swap by a conceptual artist. As a bonus, I've just learned an interesting word: discombobulate.

An article discussing e-books, electronic ink and the imminent revolution in the book business.

The first Brazilian astronaut is getting ready to visit the international space station.

I've always known that my brain doesn't work well in the morning. Now there's scientific evidence about this.

Just back from a 20-day trip away from the internet.
Check out this picture, it's troubling for the eyes, or rather, for the brain. I suppose a large part of our visual cortex is specialized in deciphering human faces, so it's not so surprising that this one is confusing... (via BoingBoing)