Scientists have long known that roads contribute to deforestation in the Amazon. Now, Brazilian ecologist Cecilia Gontijo Leal has discovered that the thousands of dirt roads crisscrossing the Amazon are ravaging its waterways, too. Leal has spent eight years knee deep in Amazonian streams, documenting how poorly built “bridges” — really just packed dirt atop a metal pipe — isolate fish species and heat up waters, threatening the stunning biodiversity of the largest tropical rainforest on Earth.

And, two French women who once wore full Islamic veils explain why they decided to stop.