China Aims To Launch The World’s First Official Digital Currency
Dozens of central banks have started looking at whether to issue digital currencies. But only a few have run trials and none has gone as far as China, which appears set to become the first country to put a central-bank digital currency (cbdc) into limited use.
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.
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.
Can We Terraform The Sahara To Stop Climate Change?
We are going to examine the feasibility and effect of afforestation in the two largest subtropical deserts in the world, the Sahara and the Australian outback. These are the perfect candidates for afforestation, neither have large competing human populations, agricultural activity, or large natural animal and plant populations.
The Secret Behind Coca-Cola’s Marketing Strategy
Coca-Cola is the biggest non-technology company in the world. Originally only selling 7 servings a day, the company has grown slightly, at an estimated rate of more than 1.9 billion servings a day. What’s the secret behind their success?
The High-Tech Vertical Farmer
In the kale-filled facility at vertical farm startup Bowery Farming, it’s a piece of proprietary software that makes most of the critical decisions — like when to harvest and how much to water each plant. But it still takes humans to carry out many tasks around the farm.
Sweden’s Cashless Society Dream Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
Just one per cent of Sweden’s GDP circulates as cash. As debates over the need for cash rage along lines of age, wealth and location, the country is looking to create a digital currency.
Why China’s First Military Base Abroad Is In Africa
For many countries, the Republic of Djibouti has become the central anchor point in the region. It hosts military bases from France, the United States, Japan, Italy and, since 2017, China. The fact that so many countries want to be present here has to do with the location, which is important for a lot of reasons.
It’s Not You. Phones Are Designed To Be Addicting.
Today’s phones are hard to put down. Push notifications buzz in your pocket, red bubbles demand attention, and endless distractions sit at your fingertips. It can feel impossible to pull away from. The 3 design elements that make smartphones so hard to put down, explained by Google’s former design ethicist.
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.
“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.
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.
Cash For Kim: North Korean Forced Laborers In Poland
On its website, the CRIST shipyard advertises that they build ships for various clients throughout Europe. And we know that North Koreans are still working here today. VICE gained exclusive access to documents that reveal the wages of North Korean laborers in Poland before the Kim regime’s deductions.
Meet The Bag Man: 10 Rules For Paying College Football Players
How to buy college football players, in the words of men who deliver the money. These men are fans who believe they’re leveraging football success $500 or $50,000 at a time.
Raising The Minimum Wage By $1 May Prevent Thousands Of Suicides, Study Shows
Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to a report published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. An increase of $2 in each state’s minimum wage could have prevented more than 57,000 suicides.
Sperm, Skulls And Scandal… The Hidden History Of Coffee
Sperm, skulls and scandal… who knew coffee had such a dark history! Food historian Annie Gray reveals the hidden history of coffee.
Why Socialism Failed in Africa
Considering capitalism to be equal to colonialism, Africa’s founding fathers rejected it and adopted marxist-socialism in the 1960s. Foreign companies were nationalised, state-owned enterprises were created and all sorts of controls on rents, prices, imports and foreign exchange.
Why Wagyu Beef Is So Expensive
Wagyu beef is the most prized beef in the world. A single cow can be sold for up to $30,000. Part of the reason why it’s so expensive is due to its exclusivity and increasing demand.
How Ads Follow You Around The Internet
You’ve seen the pop-ups: “This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Please accept cookies.” Without cookies, the online world we know today couldn’t exist. But that world relies on advertising, which gives three kinds of companies a strong incentive to track your online behavior.
How To Trick People Into Saving Money
Walmart has an incentive to become the place people think about when they think of their financial future. Inside Walmart’s curious, possibly ingenious effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts.