2,000 Drones Replace Fireworks On New Year’s Eve In Shanghai
Nearly 2,000 drones took to the night sky and illuminated the Huangpu River in Shanghai to welcome in the new year. At around midnight, the drones gathered to form a running man. It moved forward, showing the changes and achievements Shanghai has made in the past 40 years.
How Cities Became Childless
American cities are getting more expensive, and families are being pushed out. Welcome to the future of urban living, where young people have to make a choice: money or babies?
How And Why The Great Wall Of China Was Really Built
The Great Wall of China was built 2,200 years ago out of military necessity: to combat the Mongolian ancestors of Genghis Khan. Its construction was a marvel of military engineering.
“Full Moon”, Night Skiing Without Artificial Light
Night skiing without artificial light: Closing lift stations and the setting sun mark the end of the action for most skiers. Not for Max Kroneck and Jochen Mesle. While ski towns fall asleep they head into the mountains and see them awaking in a new light. The snow starts glistening again.
“The Neighbors’ Window”, Oscar-Winning Live Action Short Film
This short film tells the story of Alli, a mother of young children who has grown frustrated with her daily routine and husband. But her life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings move in across the street and she discovers that she can see into their apartment.
China’s Vanishing Mosques
The BBC has found new evidence of the increasing control and suppression of Islam in China’s far western region of Xinjiang – including the widespread destruction of mosques. Authorities provided rare access to religious sites and senior Islamic officials to support their claim that their policies only target violent religious extremism, not faith itself.
The Case For Making Low-Tech ‘Dumb’ Cities Instead Of ‘Smart’ Ones
There’s no concrete definition of a smart city, but high-tech versions promise to use cameras and sensors to monitor everyone and everything, from bins to bridges, and use the resulting data to help the city run smoothly. But what if we ditched the data and embraced ancient technology instead?
Researchers Are Sitting On Tech That Could Transform Trees Into Power Generators
This surrealist idyll isn’t too far-fetched, say a team of researchers. They’ve been working to harvest usable electricity from plants by experimenting with the “triboelectric” effect in tree foliage. The phenomenon occurs when certain materials that rub against each are pried apart.
The Small Virginia Town Where Drone Deliveries Have Begun For Real
Wing, a subsidiary of Google, chose Christiansburg (population 22,500) as its first launching site for American commercial drone delivery operations — it’s also testing in Australia and Finland — not only because of the relatively flat terrain and low population density, but because of nearby Virginia Tech University.
The Beautiful Hidden Logic Of Cities
Driving around your city, you’re probably somewhat aware of Avenues and Boulevards and Streets and Roads and so on. However, it’s hard to get an overall view of how all these road designations knit together. By coloring them, we can suddenly see a new, stunning view of what we normally take for granted.
Korvaa Is The World’s First Headphones “Grown” From Bio-based Materials
Helsinki-based multidisciplinary design studio Aivan recently unveiled Korvaa, the world’s first headphones made exclusively from microbially grown materials. Created using synbio, Korvaa is the first physical implementation of the technology and marks a potential shift away from a fossil fuel-based economy.
What Comes After TV?
A mobile-storytelling platform called Quibi has loomed on the content horizon, promising that, when its app launches this spring, it will be a home to a huge library of short-form shows made specifically for your phone. But Snapchat has been operating in that space for years. It’s harder than you’d think.
A Trek Through The Mysterious Accursed Mountains
Springtime in northern Albania sparks the herding of goats from the lowlands up to the towering mountainsides. Follow Prek Gjoni and his 160 goats on a grueling four-day journey across the spectacular Valbona Valley, a land that seems to exist out of time.
How Global Trade Runs On U.S. Dollars
Nearly 90% of international transactions in 2019 were in U.S. dollars, giving the U.S. extraordinary power over nearly every entity that imports or exports anything anywhere. Here’s how the global economy runs on the U.S. dollar — and why some countries are trying to chip away at its dominance.
Britain’s Collapsing Coastline
Coastal erosion is occurring along 17 per cent of the UK coastline. The worst affected is the town of Happisburgh in Norfolk, predicted to lose the most land over the next 20 years.
Stronger Than Steel, Able To Stop A Speeding Bullet—It’s Super Wood
Some varieties of wood, such as oak and maple, are renowned for their strength. But scientists say a simple and inexpensive new process can transform any type of wood into a material stronger than steel, and even some high-tech titanium alloys.
The Start-Ups Building ‘Dark Kitchens’ For Uber Eats And Deliveroo
Venture capitalists have all aligned on the best solution: kitchens that only serve delivery customers, known as “cloud”, “ghost” or “dark” kitchens, that use a combination of advanced food preparation, underused real estate and algorithm-driven optimisation to lower overheads and increase output.
The Fall Of New York And The Urban Crisis Of Affluence
I have never seen what is going on now: the systematic, wholesale transformation of New York into a reserve of the obscenely wealthy and the barely here—a place increasingly devoid of the idiosyncrasy, the complexity, the opportunity, and the roiling excitement that make a city great.
Panasonic Develops World’s first UHD HDR Virtual Reality Glasses
Panasonic launched a new type of virtual reality headgear with the world’s first HDR-compatible VR eyeglasses. The company’s VR eyeglasses are the first to feature High Dynamic Range (HDR) and are much more compact compared to what is currently on the market from the likes of Oculus and HTC.
How The Wealthy Hide Billions Using Tax Havens
Every year, about 70 billion dollars that the US could be using for infrastructure, law enforcement, healthcare or education is missing. It’s hidden deep within shell companies and anonymous entities in places like the British Virgin Islands. What exactly is a shell company and how does it work?
Chechnya: Republic Of Contrasts. High Fashion, Celebrity Parties & Sharia Law
Russia’s Republic of Chechnya has undergone a revival after two military operations in its recent post-Soviet history. Today, the region is home one of the largest mosques in Europe, hosts international celebrities and even is trying its hand at high fashion.