Tech’s Most Controversial Startup Makes Drone-Killing Robots
Founded by Palmer Luckey and backed by Peter Thiel, Anduril is rekindling the connection between the American military and Silicon Valley. The company’s surveillance technology consists of large towers, packed with sensors, and small surveillance drones that can be set up to guard the perimeter.
Inside Belarus, Europe’s Last Dictatorship
In October 2016, Alexander Lukashenko swept to his fifth term as the Belarusian president, marking 22 years in power. The autocratic regime still employs the use of internet surveillance, censorship, and intimidation to exert control over its people and press.
3D Printed Housing For Those Who Need It Most
New Story, ICON, and Échale have completed the first two printed homes in the world’s first 3D printed community in Mexico. The 3D printed homes feature two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bath. Co-designed with feedback from the families who will live in them, the homes have been created to meet the specific needs of the community.
Adobe Fresco Drawing And Painting App
Adobe Fresco is a free drawing and painting app built especially for Apple Pencil and designed for artists who draw professionally or paint for passion. It brings together the world’s largest collection of vector and raster brushes, plus revolutionary new Live Brushes, to deliver a completely natural painting and drawing experience.
Banksy Crashes The Venice Art Biennale With Unlicensed Street Stall
A minute-long video documents a concealed man setting up a tableau of framed oil paintings on the streets of the Italian city. When assembled, the group of images depicts the ever-controversial cruise ships that dwarf Venice’s spectacular cityscape as they make their way past the grand canal.
Apps Have Changed The Way We Date
The online dating industry is projected to be worth $9 billion by 2025 and according to eHarmony, most people will find a partner via an app or website by 2035. Tinder is one of the most popular swiping apps with more than 5 million subscribers and it’s launched a whole new language of love.
Is The Hidden Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Ready To Open To The World?
The ‘hidden kingdom’ of Saudi Arabia has been mostly closed to journalists and travelers…until now. In a glitzy PR push, the country wants to promote itself as a tourist destination. Foreign Correspondent rides the magic carpet to extraordinary sites, thousands of years old, holding mysteries archaeologists are just beginning to uncover.
How To Sketch Like An Architect
Follow along as Eric Reinholdt from 30X40 Design Workshop works through a few rough sketches for a new project. He discusses the key style points and techniques you can use to develop your own architectural sketching style. Each sketching vignette includes many tips.
Hard Truths: Will Museums’ Digital Plans Make Curators Obsolete?
As art institutions continue to raise ticket prices and roll out blockbusters, we may come to see shows that will be curated entirely by optimized algorithms. What happens when a museum becomes curator-less? Will this be the end of art history as we’ve known it, or the dawn of a techno renaissance?
“Quadrangle”, How A Group Marriage Went Terribly Wrong
In 1969, two “conventional” married couples met, swapped partners, and lived in a group marriage, hoping to pioneer an alternative to divorce. It didn’t work. “Quadrangle” was directed by Amy Grappell.
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?
3D Printing Homes For The Homeless In Austin
ICON, the 3D-printing construction company, has partnered with Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) to build 3D-printed homes in Austin. The only neighborhood of its kind in the nation, Community First! Village provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.
The Dollhouses Of Death That Changed Forensic Science
Frances Glessner Lee created dollhouses with dead dolls. Her miniatures significantly advanced forensics and forensic science, but they aren’t just CSI curios – they’re complex, confounding works of art that manage to be morbid and beautiful at the same time.
How Technology Is Shaping The World Of Footwear
Over the past decade, one of the best examples of where tech has flourished is the footwear industry. From self-lacing tech to cushioning systems made from tiny foam particles, brands like Nike, Adidas and others have gone all out trying to change what footwear design means.
New Earth Surveillance Tech Is About to Change Everything, Including Us
New high-resolution satellites, AIs, and data tools are going to let us study Earth, and ourselves, in greater detail than ever before. That’s going to come with “unthinkable” problems.
“I Met The Walrus”, An Animated Interview With John Lennon
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrators James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina have collaborated to create an animated short film.
The Remote ‘Democratic’ Oasis Of Soviet Russia
The academic town of Akademgorodok in Siberia was created by Russian mathematician Mikhaïl Alekseïevitch Lavrentiev, who wanted to install a safe haven for scientists in the middle of Siberia. Such isolation from Moscow created a fertile scientific and cultural nest away from the influence of the State and its politics.
The Cab Ride That Nearly Killed Me Changed How I Think About Ride-Hailing Apps
Were ride-hailing companies doing enough to protect passengers from negligent drivers? Maybe Grab’s growth and its perceived triumph over Uber the day before my accident had come at a cost. Was it possible that, for all the convenience ride-hailing services offered, they were making cities less safe?
The Radioactive ‘Capital’ Of The World
Jachymov, a small uranium mining town in the northwest of the Czech Republic, has been key in the field of radioactivity research. More than a century ago, Marie and Pierre Curie based their revolutionary work on radioactivity on material brought from there.
How Hong Kong Is Home To The Crazy Rich And The Mega Poor
Hong Kong has more ultra-rich people than any other country, yet 1 in 5 people still live in poverty. SBS Dateline’s Marc Fennell asks why the gap between rich and poor is so extreme.
What Google Learned From Its Quest To Build The Perfect Team
Our data-saturated age enables us to examine our work habits and office quirks with a scrutiny that our cubicle-bound forebears could only dream of. New research reveals surprising truths about why some work groups thrive and others falter.