Anrica Deb

The last days of Ramadan in Oakland

Muslims in Oakland are in the last third of the month of Ramadan–its most intense part, as observers continue to fast during daylight hours, declining both food and water until the sun sets. Daylight, and with it the Islamic obligation to fast, lingers long in August.

Disabled parking placards in downtown Oakland; are they legit?

Placard fraud costs the city income in meters and parking tickets. Furthermore, because cars bearing placards have unlimited time and don’t need to be moved every hour or two, fraud prevents parking turnover; that can severely limit parking options for everyone, disabled or not.

A night hike through the cosmos

A simulated walk through the solar system takes hikers through a roughly four-mile loop in the East Bay Regional Parks, starting at the Chabot Space and Science Center and ending in the dark.

In Oakland, optimism and hope about overturn of Prop. 8

On Wednesday, joyous crowds took to the streets of San Francisco after U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8, the ban against same-sex marriage, writing that the ban violated both the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

Exposing the sensuous red velvet cupcake

What’s behind the popularity of red velvet cake? Is it the texture, enhanced by the chemistry of buttermilk? The cream cheese frosting? Or perhaps, it’s the color red. Anrica Deb explores the food science behind the cupcake craze.