“Dear Mr. Bin Man,” a little boy scrawled on a piece of paper, “I am very worried about lots of rubbish. Will there be enough room in the world for me when I’m a grandad?” Mart Drake-Knight was 5 years old when he sent this heartfelt letter to his local sanitation department in Britain’s Isle […]
Traveling to a doctor’s office can be arduous for people with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition that causes spontaneous, uncontrollable movements and cognitive challenges. But clinical monitoring is essential to track the disease’s progression and evaluate treatment efficacy. A new at-home monitoring system might provide a solution that’s not only more convenient but also more […]
Archeologists are making headway in the study of ancient toys, a long overlooked focus in the field — one that has them asking deeper questions about children’s play in early civilizations. Archaeologists have long studied ancient artifacts, religious motifs, and burial grounds to better understand history, and have made immense progress in the last century […]
The world’s longest book is enthralling but impossible to read — and that’s the point. At 21,450 pages and 37 1/2 pounds, artist Ilan Manouach’s conceptual work “ONEPIECE” is a single volume containing every edition of the world’s most highly circulated comic in the Japanese style known as manga, One Piece. Manouach says his sculpture […]
Sustainable jet fuel alternatives will soon be taking flight in the commercial airlines industry. New York-based startup Air Company recently announced the launch of its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), made from captured carbon dioxide. Major airlines like JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, and even the United States Air Force, among others, have collectively committed to purchasing over […]
One young innovator is working to make scoliosis easier to treat — and notably more stylish — for adolescent patients. University of Cincinnati graduate Sangyu Xi earned the 2022 U.S. James Dyson Award for Airy, a customizable and repositionable brace that grows with its wearers. The international award aims to honor and inspire the next […]
For nearly two decades, Yasmeen Lari — Pakistan’s first female architect — has directed her considerable talents toward building sustainable shelters and infrastructure for people experiencing homelessness due to natural disasters. A co-founder of the nonprofit Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, 81-year-old Lari had initially retired from her storied career in architecture in 2000. However, she was […]
About 5,400 years ago, a Patagonian cypress seedling sprouted in a valley in present-day Chile. Over the millennia, the colossus grew to 100 feet tall, with a trunk 13 feet in diameter, making it one of the largest in Alerce Costero National Park. Now, research reported by Science indicates the tree may also be the […]
It’s difficult to determine the world’s most expensive microscope — one powerful electron microscope cost $27 million to get up and running back in 2009 — but it may be easier to call out the cheapest. The Foldscope is made of paper and costs $1.75 to produce. Don’t let the low price point fool you, […]
If you had a hammer, you could hammer in the morning, as the old song goes. But what would you do if you had 10,000 hammers? You’d open a hammer museum, of course. At least, that’s what collector Dave Pahl did in his tiny town of Haines, Alaska. Small and unassuming — aside from the […]
Willem de Kooning’s famed painting “Woman-Ochre,” estimated to be worth around $160 million, has had quite the journey over the years. On the morning after Thanksgiving Day in 1985, the artwork was ripped from its frame at the University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA). It remained missing for three decades — finally resurfacing in […]
When graphic designer Rob Janoff first met with Steve Jobs in 1977, Apple Computer was still a seedling startup. Having been incorporated less than a year earlier, the company needed a logo to accompany the launch of its flagship product — the Apple II — at the West Coast Computer Fair. Janoff and fellow artist […]