GauGAN: Changing Sketches Into Photorealistic Masterpieces In Seconds
A deep learning model developed by NVIDIA Research turns rough doodles into highly realistic scenes using generative adversarial networks (GANs). Dubbed GauGAN, the tool is like a smart paintbrush, converting segmentation maps into lifelike images.
Thailand: Turning Straw Into Gold
Huge amounts of rice straw are left over after the harvest in Thailand. Farmers often burn it, which is terrible for the environment. A young entrepreneur has found a new use for the material. Turned into paper, it can replace plastic food packaging.
There’s More Than One Way To Age. How Are You Doing It?
Most of us think we know what aging looks and feels like. It announces itself with wrinkled skin and gray, thinning hair. But scientists are cataloging far subtler signs of biological aging, evident long before hair is lost and skin starts to crinkle.
Watch Picasso Make A Masterpiece
‘Le Mystère Picasso’ is a remarkable documentary film made by French director, Henri-Georges Clouzot, in which stop-action and time-lapse photography are used to capture Picasso at work. Not many of the works he created for the documentary survive but here’s how one of them came to be.
How Airlines Make Meals For Thousands Of People
For many people economy class used to mean soggy pasta, rubbery eggs and dried-out chicken. For a time U.S airlines even stopped serving free meals altogether in economy class. But in 2019 U.S. airlines posted their tenth straight year of profitability and premium and economy cabins are seeing more food options than ever before.
How To Keep The Earth As Inhabitable As Possible
We’ve been behind where we need to be for decades now, and the fact that we’ll be living in a hotter, less hospitable world is an inevitability. The only uncertainty left is how quickly we respond and how much damage we’re going to be able to prevent.
How Would Anyone Benefit From Sending Unsolicited Amazon Packages To Random Addresses?
First came a cell phone case that no one had ordered and that didn’t match a phone in the house. The next week brought unusual kitchen supplies. Then a mass of assorted holiday-themed items. All of these deliveries were from Amazon.
Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual For Cops
Palantir is one of the most significant and secretive companies in big data analysis. The company acts as an information management service for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, corporations like JP Morgan and Airbus, and dozens of other local, state, and federal agencies.
‘The Coolest White Paint’ Can Cool Down An Entire City
UNStudio has developed a paint dubbed The Coolest White Paint. By limiting the amount of light and therefore heat a building absorbs, the paint reduces the need for air-conditioning and the impact of urban heat islands.
The Plant-Based Movement To Transition Farmers Away From Meat And Dairy Production
Two fledgling projects led by animal-welfare groups hope to offer a lifeline to struggling farmers by helping them trade animal agriculture for alternative proteins. The groups say the shift benefits animals and the environment, while boosting farmers’ economic outlook.
Why Is Africa Building A Great Green Wall?
Eleven countries are planting a wall of trees from east to west across Africa, just under the southern edge of the Sahara desert. The goal is to fight the effects of climate change by reversing desertification.
Religion Is About Emotion Regulation, And It’s Very Good At It
Sigmund Freud argued that we humans are naturally awful creatures – aggressive, narcissistic wolves. We have the civilizing influence of religion to steer us toward charity, compassion and cooperation by a system of carrots and sticks, otherwise known as heaven and hell.
How Space Tries To Kill You And Make You Ugly
Outer space is the most noxious of substances: devoid of air and filled with a soup of deadly particles in the form of high-energy photons and energetic bits of atomic nuclei. The lack of gravity there affects every element of your being, as even the proteins in your body can’t figure out which way is up.
How One NASA Image Tells Dozens Of Stories
In 2016, NASA used the Suomi NPP weather satellite to create a high resolution image of the earth at night. It can help us better understand the current developments and conflicts underway. The amount of light pollution is most severe in heavily populated areas, as well as in regions of high prosperity.
L’Oréal’s Clip-on Sensor Tracks Your Exposure To UV Rays
The future of wearable skincare technology is roughly the size of an M&M. L’Oréal’s La Roche-Posay My Skin Track UV sensor clips onto clothing and measures the wearer’s exposure to UV radiation, a form of radiation that is known to damage skin and, in large amounts, cause skin cancer.
Uncanny Valley: Inside The Craziness That Is Silicon Valley Hiring Processes
How many square feet of pizza are eaten in the United States every year? How would you explain the internet to a medieval farmer? If you can answer those questions, you might stand a chance at getting hired at one of Silicon Valley’s most hotly tipped data-gathering startups.
In Arizona, A Case Study In How Architecture Can Adapt To Climate Change
In Phoenix, just above the Sonoran Desert, an architecture firm has built an office space as a model of regenerative architecture, which uses existing natural resources to create more life. Through implementing a regenerative design, the firm has been able to increase biodiversity and sustainably harness the sun’s natural energy.
Out Of Left Fields: Dutch Land Art Installation Cuts Area Airplane Noise in Half
Landscape architects from the firm H+N+S worked with artist Paul De Court and drew on the work of acoustician Ernst Chladni to create over 100 grassy pyramids. Instead of simply disrupting sound waves, though, the Buitenschot Land Art Park also included paths for cyclists and pedestrians.
Portrait Of A Place: Atlantic City
Unmasking the declining seaside resort through a portrait of its inhabitants. With a no-holds-barred approach, directors Ben Carey and Billy Linker deliver a full-frontal profile of the once-booming resort town on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast—often sidelined as the “poor man’s Las Vegas.”
Inside Google’s Civil War
With its “Don’t be evil” mantra, Google was a central player in creating the rosy optimism of the tech boom. Some employees say Google is losing touch with that motto. What happens when an empowered tech workforce rebels?
Global 5G Deal Poses Significant Threat To Weather Forecast Accuracy
A long-awaited international deal governing how the world’s technology companies should roll out 5G technology poses serious risks to weather forecast accuracy, according to data from federal agencies and the World Meteorological Organization.