Sunk
The story of a Chinese billionaire’s troubled attempt to make a blockbuster movie set in an underwater fantasy world.
Why haven’t we found aliens yet?
This piece unpicks a recent scientific paper that offers a new slant on the Fermi paradox. The paradox addresses the apparent inconsistency in the vast scale of the universe and the lack of signs of life outside planet Earth. The new slant is in essence that we need to significantly adjust upwards the possibility that we are in fact alone and there is no paradox at all. The author quotes Carl Sagan in considering the implications of humanity’s solitude – “In all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life..the Earth is where we make our stand.”
This Is What It Was Like Learning To Report Before Fake News Was The Biggest Problem In The World
A thoughtful story about writing stories, describing lessons learned as a foreign correspondent in Belarus twenty years ago.
The Trees That Sail to Sea
A look at the trees that escape the loggers’ attentions, the epic journeys they sometimes undertake, and their importance to numerous natural ecosystems.
Google Maps’ Moat
A cartographer produces a deep dive into the extraordinary level of detail being built into Google Maps and the methodology behind it. The piece provides a valuable insight into cartography in the digital age and its impact on technology.
The rise and fall of South Africa’s far right
A piece assessing the waning fortunes of South Africa’s far right organisations.
The Sordid Double Life of WashingtonÕs Most Powerful Ambassador
An investigative piece focusing on the UAE’s ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba.
The complete history of the IBM PC, part one: The deal of the century
A detailed look at the birth and early childhood of the personal computer. http://www.bit.ly/arstechnica-ibm
Scaling the World’s Most Lethal Mountain, in the Dead of Winter
A profile of a group of Polish climbers planning to summit the deadly giant K2 in winter, following in the footsteps of a celebrated older generation.