Macau: The Story Of China’s Golden Child
On December 20th, 1999 the 25 square kilometer Portuguese colony on China’s southern coast was returned to China becoming the Macau Special Administrative Region. In the 20 years since the handover, Macau has transformed into the gambling capital of the world while some call it the Las Vegas of the East.
Can A Desert Be Reclaimed For Human Habitation?
Despite horrific sandstorms and arid soil, Han Meifei is among those seeking to rejuvenate the land. His innovative procedures have developed ways of growing plants without water, preventing the dry desert from spreading, and preserving the seeds of plants close to extinction for a greener future.
“Nursery Rhymes”, Award-Winning Single-Take Short Film
Why is a Metalhead singing Old MacDonald on the side of a rural highway? A surreal scene turns into an engaging mystery in this celebrated single-take short. Created by celebrated Australian commercial director Tom Noakes, in partnership with Will Goodfellow and Lucy Gaffy of Studio Goon.
How Norway Designed A More Humane Prison
Halden Prison in Norway looks sort of like a fancy dorm room or a hotel — much different than the barbed wire and cramped cells we often associate with prison design. Its look is all part of a plan to create a more humane prison, one where the architecture isn’t part of the punishment.
Cults: The Holy Business of Being A God
As a god, your disciples don’t view you as ruling over them even though you are, but as their benevolent leader showing them the light to salvation. A leader that though figuratively and literally followed to the ends of the earth. Now, that is real power.
The Story Of World’s First Floating Hotel Abandoned In North Korea
In October 2019 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the demolition of the world’s first floating hotel. Docked in North Korea, the hotel is currently owned by a South Korean company that bought it from a Japanese one. It was a major hit in Vietnam but it was originally made for Australia, designed in Sweden and built in Singapore.
In Japan’s Vanishing Rural Towns, Newcomers Are Wanted
Kanna-machi is living on borrowed time. It’s set to be among the first municipal victims of Japan’s demographic trajectory. The phenomenon is called shoushikoureika—the combined effects of an aging population, anemic birthrate, and surging demand for social services.
The Brazilian Town Where The American Confederacy Lives On
Confederates who had rejected Reconstruction fled the United States in the wake of the Civil War—a voluntary exile that American history has more or less erased. The Confederados in Americana, Brazil, are one of the last remaining enclaves of the children of the unreconstructed South.
Inside The Daring Mission To Reach The Bottom Of All Earth’s Oceans
Science fiction obsessed Victor Vescovo wanted to be the first person to reach the deepest points of all five oceans – but first he had to build a submarine that was up to it.
“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 Secret Soviet Radar Hidden In Chernobyl’s Shadow
In a remote forest, a few kilometres from the Chernobyl power plant, the huge Duga-2 radar tower stands as relic of Soviet mismanagement.
What Happened To MoviePass?
MoviePass tried to change the moviegoing experience altogether, with a simple idea. For a monthly fee, subscribers could go to the cinema once a day, every day. Ironically, too many subscribers would eventually be a bad thing. MoviePass went from being a hit to entirely collapsing, in just 3 days. How?
When Secret Mystery Planes Landed At The Air Bases Where I Was Stationed
Diego Garcia is a part of the British Indian Ocean Territories comprising the greater Chagos Archipelago. Its extreme isolation has made it a hotbed for unsubstantiated accusations of classified and even nefarious activity. The tent I lived in was supposedly part of a CIA “black site” for terrorist detainees.
Why You Spend So Much Money At IKEA
IKEA’s “aesthetic per dollar” ratio is very high, says neuromarketer and author of “The Buying Brain” Dr. A. K. Pradeep. Ikea’s affordable style is its “category-busting-metric,” or what makes it stand out from all the other brands in that space, he says.
How To Make An Attractive City
Cities are a big deal. We pretty much all have to live in them. We should try hard to get them right. So few cities are nice, very few out of many thousands are really beautiful; embarrassingly the more appealing ones tend to be old, which is weird because we’re mostly much better at making things now.
“A Failure Of The Imagination”, The Story Of A Zero-Waste Restaurant
Five years ago, Douglas McMaster opened the restaurant Silo, hoping to change the unsustainable practices of modern food systems. His aim was simple, yet frighteningly ambitious: create an award-winning menu using a zero-waste food system designed from scratch. This is the story of that restaurant’s first five years.
“Le Mer”, An Eco Fashion Short Film
We live in a society where we are not aware of the amount of plastic around us. Four children, from 6 to 11 years old, in recognizable two-color environments, where the plastic that coexists naturally with us stand out. Nobody cares. The kids will tell us what we are doing with our oceans and our planet.
War Propaganda: How To Get A Country To Go To War
The war propaganda function in the United States is finely tuned. It’s sophisticated and most of all it blends into the media terrain. While the names of the countries changed, and of course each circumstance was different, there were some parallels that cried out for examination.
Money Laundering: The Art Of Cleaning Dirty Money
Money laundering is the lifeblood of our profession of organized crime. Without it, there’s no point in committing crimes in the first place if the money we get isn’t usable. Here’s how money laundering works.
How Drug Companies Make You Buy More Medicine Than You Need
Drug companies make eyedrops too big — and you pay for the waste. The makers of cancer drugs also make vials with too much medication for many patients. The excess drugs are tossed in the trash — another reason health care costs are so high.
How Volkswagen Plans To Outsell Tesla
Although Tesla reigns as king of the EV market thanks to its Model 3, Volkswagen has a plan in place to outsell them in the next few years. The automaker has set its sights on becoming a major name in the EV game, investing $37 billion in its electric car program.