The New Passport-Poor
Is a passport a tool of individual freedom or state restriction and regulation? This piece looks to answer that question and examines the history of identity documentation.
The Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
A piece looking at the thieves illegally salvaging sunken battleships.
Lizard Games
The author describes his “sordid double life” in Hackmud, a new online multiplayer game set in a dystopian future. The game itself is inaccessible in that you play the role of an AI, it is text based and you can only play by coding scripts, and yet the piece draws you in, painting a vivid picture of a lawless digital outpost, where no one is to be trusted, and everyone is on the make.
The Future of Online Dating Is Unsexy and Brutally Effective
An engineer and data scientist (formerly at OK Cupid) goes deep in this engaging piece covering how AI, machine learning and ever greater troves of data from social platforms will impact dating.
The race against heat
The challenge of keeping people cool in an age of increasing temperatures risks making us ever more reliant on resource intensive air conditioning that may also be perversely making places hotter for anyone that doesn’t have them.
In a Devastated Country, One City Is Thriving
Marib, a regional city in war-ravaged Yemen, lies “poised between horror and hope.”
How to spot a perfect fake: the world’s top art forgery detective
As the prices commanded by landmark works and artists rise ever higher, so too does the sophistication of forgeries being produced to dupe collectors and institutions. A tip: it’s apparently far easier to copy a Modigliani than a Leonardo – at a recent exhibition of his work, 20 out of the 21 works on display were found to be counterfeits. This piece profiles the man said to be the very best in the field of science-led authentication.