New York City’s Department of Finance is sending a second wave of pied-à-terre tax letters to roughly 10,800 property owners, even as it mails a very different kind of letter to other owners from the first round, telling them, in effect, never mind. Roughly 17,000 owners received a notice this summer warning they might owe
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The art and science of Ernst Haeckel Julia Voss and Rainer Willmann Taschen (2026) To immerse yourself in the world of naturalist Ernst Haeckel is to fall into a kaleidoscope of vibrant sea slugs, coiled octopuses, looping larvae and bulbous bodies. These tantalizing creatures float and writhe before your eyes, mesmerizing with their curious contortion.
We trudged up a hill, our environmental suits glowing orange and green in the slanting light of evening, the colors contrasting starkly with the serene tans of the surface of the moon Varga. Jalaya’s boots kicked up small clouds of regolith that swelled up to calf height before settling, only to be thrown up again
Original sin Kathryn Paige Harden Weidenfeld and Nicolson (2026) A 2021 analysis of genetic data from 1.5 million people, co-edited by psychologist Kathryn Paige Harden, concluded that some DNA sequences were more common in people with addiction than in those without. “This combination of genetics with incorrigibility is another legacy of the doctrine of original
Is a river alive? Robert Macfarlane Penguin (2026) Turn off your headlamp in the Los Cedros cloud forest in Ecuador and the darkness begins to shine. Fallen branches and tree stumps glow a soft silvery yellow, illuminated by webs of fungi beneath the forest floor. It is a fascinating opening to the work of writer