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Tech NewsSocial MediaFacebook’s New Gehry Building Includes the World’s Least Functional Bike Bridge
In 2012, Frank Gehry and Mark Zuckerberg posed for a series of photos that sealed their intertwined fates: Gehry, arguably the world’s most famous architect, would design a new campus for Zuckerberg, arguably the world’s most powerful not-lizard person. Surely with all this money and talent coalescing like a hunk of molten aluminum, Facebook’s new … Continued
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Tech NewsThese Transit Safety Videos Are So Gruesome They Just Might Work
What would convince transit riders to pay attention to an oncoming train instead of Instagram? Apparently, a graphic depiction of certain dismemberment. Some very disturbing safety videos have been created by LA’s Metro that might make you think twice about leaving your house. The five videos in the series feature people being dismembered, decapitated, impaled, … Continued
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Tech News
Cities Band Together to Deal With Uber, Airbnb
Such is the power of Uber and Airbnb they have inspired international cooperation in this uncertain world. Mayors from 10 cities worldwide are working together to write a unified “rulebook” for how to deal with these companies. Until now, regulators have dealt with Uber and Airbnb on a city-by-city basis, which has led to a … Continued
By Angela Chen -
EartherClimate Change
This Floating Walkway Is Christo’s First Truly Important Work of Art
Over the weekend, my social media feeds were draped in neon orange as the world exuberantly shared the first photos of Christo’s latest work, The Floating Piers, a 1.8-mile walkway across an Italian lake. It is easily the artist’s most ambitious piece from an engineering perspective—and one that actually adds value to its location. For … Continued
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Tech News
America’s Most Walkable Cities Are Yet to Come
Cities are constantly evolving, and as many urban areas have begun to put more money into updating infrastructure and creating more real estate after a disastrous recession, the most pedestrian places will begin to change. That’s the conclusion of a new report, Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros, advocacy group Smart … Continued
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Tech News
Waze Is Fixing One of its Most Annoying Features to Make Streets Safer
Anyone who’s used Waze is familiar with the navigation app’s insistence on making left turns on busy streets where there’s no signal to stop traffic. Waze actually has a name for these types of situations: “difficult intersections.” And a new feature will become the default setting on the app to help drivers avoid them—something Waze … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidLas Vegas Looks Even Weirder in Infrared
Las Vegas doesn’t exactly need any help when it comes to looking ridiculous, but this footage, which was shot in infrared by Philip Bloom, makes bits of Vegas look like a cotton candy wonderland (as opposed to its typical styrofoam opulence). Seeing the world in infrared isn’t exactly new, but the odd colors of the … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech NewsSee the Exact Moment the World’s Biggest Cities Were Born
The world is urbanizing faster than ever, with over half of the planet’s population currently living in cities—more than any time in history. But when did this trend of “urbanization” start? It turns out its roots go back much farther than we thought. An interesting study by Yale University researchers published in Scientific Data last … Continued
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Tech News
A Floating Balloon Bridge Could Help Replace New York City’s Failing Subways
One of New York City’s major subway lines connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan will be out of commission for months, maybe years, and some residents are preparing for an end-of-days scenario. A few enterprising New Yorkers have proposed a gondola, but building it will be nearly as pricey and time-consuming as the subway repairs. The city … Continued
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Tech News
Only Three US Cities Have Good Jobs, Affordable Housing, and High Quality of Life
When looking for a place to live, people are generally looking for three things: affordability, a strong economy, and good quality of life. Most US cities can only claim excellence in one of these areas. A dozen cities specialize in two. But if you truly want it all, you only have three choices. And they’re … Continued
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Tech NewsOne of These US Cities Will Get $40 Million to Make Commutes Suck Less
Earlier this year, seven cities were named as finalists for the Smart City Challenge, a chance to win $40 million from the US Department of Transportation to become a connected, automated city of the future. Today, the mayors of Austin, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Portland, and San Francisco made their final arguments for why … Continued
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Tech News
How to Protect Your Drinking Water From Lead
After the full impact of the Flint water crisis was revealed, it was almost inevitable that more cities would start to see the same problems when it came to lead in their water supplies. Now it’s been proven that dozens of utilities are underreporting the amounts of lead in their water: 33 cities in the … Continued
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Tech NewsLos Angeles Is Hiring a Sound Artist to Help Make its Streets Safer
After years of decline, the number of deaths on American streets are starting to rise again, a troubling statistic for many cities that are working hard to get more people walking and biking. Now Los Angeles’s Department of Transportation (LADOT) is trying something new: Enlisting a sound artist to bring attention to the city’s traffic … Continued
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Tech News
A Big LA Fire Isn’t Worse Because People Are Finally Preparing for the Worst
It had all the elements of a catastrophe: a truck hit an electrical pole in the bone-dry canyons outside LA, exploding a transformer. Winds were brisk with temperatures above 90 degrees. Despite that, the 500-acre blaze that looked particularly scary has only damaged three structures, reportedly because local residents had take the right precautions to … Continued
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Tech News
You Might Not Able to Buy a Gas-Powered Car in Norway After 2025
The oil-rich nation of Norway could be the first country to ban gas-powered cars for good. According to CNBC, that’s basically the headline on today’s Dagens Næringsliv, a Norwegian business publication. “Stop sales of diesel and gasoline vehicles in 2025” it says, noting that the four political parties have come to an agreement about making … Continued
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Tech News
Apparently It’s Possible to Live in an Apartment With Too Good of a View
A building boom of supertalls in New York City is resulting in some of the highest residential units in the world—we’re talking apartments that are at a dizzying 90 stories and higher. So where does that leave the people who live in the former-tallest residential buildings? Don’t worry, they’re just fine in their 80th floor … Continued
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Tech NewsA Simple Change Transformed One of LA’s Busiest Intersections Into One of its Safest
The intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue is among the world’s most famous—you’ve seen it broadcast every year on the Oscars as the start of the red carpet. But like most celebrities, the tourist-thronged Los Angeles landmark had a very dark secret: It was known as one of the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians … Continued
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EartherClimate Change
Paris Is Now Banning All Pre-1997 Cars
Paris has tried just about everything to combat its terrible smog problem. The city has launched attempts to take half the cars off its road, introduce regular car-free days, and close famous streets to vehicular traffic—but Paris still has some of the worst pollution in Europe. Now a much bigger idea is going into effect: … Continued
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Tech News
A 67-Mile Hiking Trail Just Opened Through LA’s Urban Mountains
Los Angeles is a special place, geologically speaking: It’s one of a handful of large metropolitan areas that’s bifurcated by mountains. Not just a few big hills—an actual mountain range named the Santa Monica Mountains runs east to west across much of the city—and this week, a 67-mile trail connecting the peaks of many of … Continued
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Tech NewsThe World’s Most Expensive Hallway Is Under New York City
The exorbitant costs of the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub have been well-reported: the station cost FOUR BILLION DOLLARS. As of today, New Yorkers can now walk through the station in its entirety, but they’ll want to take note of one particularly pricey element: If calculations are correct, a single 600-foot corridor is the … Continued