Germany Mandates Measles Vaccine

BERLIN — Parents in Germany must vaccinate their children against measles or face fines of several thousand euros under a law passed on Thursday that aims to stop the spread of a disease that has returned in recent years after decades of decline. The law, which is to take effect from March next year, will…

The Allure of the White Dress

Few visuals are as symbolic or instantly recognizable as the white wedding dress. “The white dress lets you be a celebrity for the day where all the attention is on you,” said Beth Montemurro, a sociology professor at Penn State University. “People spend $10,000 on a dress, so there’s the idea of indulging in yourself…

Social Climbing Has a Whole New Meaning

On a Friday evening last spring, Zack Woodruff picked up two college friends and drove seven hours down Interstate 65: through Indianapolis, bourbon country and the rolling hills of Appalachia. In the middle of the night, they arrived at Miguel’s Pizza in Slade, Ky., and pitched tents in the backyard, near a gear shop that…

36 Hours in Indianapolis

Naptown. India-No-Place. My hometown had a lot of nicknames when I was growing up there in the ’80s and ’90s, few of them charitable. Even more generous ones, like “Crossroads of America,” seemed to say that Indianapolis was a place one merely passed through. But things have changed since then. These days, I’m playing catch-up…

To Make This Tofu, Start by Burning Toxic Plastic

ImageA commercial tofu kitchen in Tropodo, Indonesia. The tofu is processed in boilers fueled by burning plastic.Credit…Ulet Ifansasti for The New York Times TROPODO, Indonesia — Black smoke billows from smokestacks towering above the village. The smell of burning plastic fills the air. Patches of black ash cover the ground. It’s another day of making…