Samah H. Asmar

Volkswagen Will Update its Logo

Brand aims to be “more colorful”<p>Right now, change is the strategy at Volkswagen Group. As it moves past dieselgate, the automaker plans to offer an electrified version of all 300 or so of its models by 2030. Leading the charge will be Herbert Diess, the company’s newly elected CEO. Now, we learn …

Apple says it’s now powered by 100 percent renewable energy worldwide

But there’s a big catch<p>Apple announced today that its business is now powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources. The news is a major victory that the iPhone maker has been working toward for years through the purchase of green energy bonds and other renewable investments in its supply chain …

10 endlessly fascinating websites to waste your time on

The internet is a vast, wonderful trove of information. There's so much to learn from a seemingly endless supply of resources. From video lectures …

Pictures of the Week 4.5.18

Scientists Have Discovered a New Organ in the Human Body

It’s not a second stomach or a mini-brain. But scientists have discovered an important new organ that may play a critical role in how many tissues …

7 Ancient Ruins Around The World "Reconstructed" with GIFs

Ancient ruins, like the Parthenon and Luxor Temple, can teach us about the past in a unique way. Through architectural remains, we can gather what …

Enhance the Eyes of Your Subject in Seconds Using This Photoshop Technique

The character of your portraits is conveyed by many different elements, but a crucial one is the eyes of your subject. In this short tutorial, I’ll …

Why this luxury cruise ship has been sliced in half

6 Weird Warning Signs That Could Indicate Your Heart Is in Trouble

See your doctor if you have any concerns about these.<p>The heart, so integral to life, sits in its protective cage in the chest, going about its work …

The father of the world wide web is one disappointed dad

Today is the World Wide Web's 29th birthday, and to celebrate the occasion, its creator has told us how bad it's become. In an open letter appearing in <i>The Guardian</i>, Tim Berners-Lee painted a bleak picture of the current internet -- one dominated by a handful of colossal platforms that have …

Elon Musk drops epic Falcon Heavy launch trailers made by 'Westworld' co-creator

Attendees of the the <i>Westworld</i> panel at SXSW got a surprise visit from Elon Musk.<p>The Tesla and SpaceX CEO used the panel to not only inspire a new …

A ‘flying brain’ is going to help out on the space station this summer

Surely no space adventure — of the fictional type, at least — is complete without assistance from an A.I. character. Think HAL in <i>2001: A Space …

Marc Goodwin photographs 14 architecture studios in Barcelona

Photographer Marc Goodwin visited Barcelona for the the next instalment of his series on architects' offices around the world, shooting among others …

'We are the people who are desperate beyond emotion': Lou Reed's lost poetry to be published

Poetry reflecting on nationhood, sex and whiskey, written in 1970 after Lou Reed left the Velvet Underground, is to be published for the first time<p>“We are the crystal gaze returned through the density and immensity of a berserk nation.” It’s a line that could have been written by an angry young …

Robert Bollinger Discusses the Design Process Behind the Bollinger B1 Electric Sport Utility Truck

"We built it as though we had just landed on the planet and didn't know what trucks were."<p>Last year, we were excited to write in detail about the …

Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon': 10 Things You Didn't Know

Paul McCartney's scrapped cameo, a Silver Surfer cover concept and other factors that played into the band's 1973 psychedelic masterpiece<p>There are …

Tesla Revolution Is The Factory, Not The Car

Critics say the Tesla Model 3 looks like a budget Mazda. That is fair. But they are missing the point. The project represents a revolution.<p>Recently Electrek, a popular green energy publisher, reported that suppliers have begun ramping up deliveries to the factory where the Model 3 is produced. This …

Japanese Illustrator Creates Beautiful Handbook of the Birds You’ll Find in Tokyo

Commissioned by Tokyo Midtown—an art and design-focused urban district in the heart of Japan’s capital city—illustrator Ryo Takemasa created an illustrated “handbook” of Tokyo’s most common Japanese birds. Made in collaboration with graphic design studio Tawarasha, the pamphlet features 25 …

Amazing new biodegradable insulation only burns after one-hour of fire exposure

100 percent natural insulation from Chilean company Rootman is also resistant to flames, according to ArchDaily. Rootman’s product, Thermoroot, …

Self-sufficient Yin & Yang house incorporates gardens on its interlocking roof

Architecture studio Penda has released visualisations of a house designed for a tiny plot near the German city of Kassel that show how its owners …

5 Worst Fattening Foods That You Should Never Eat

Unfortunately, some of the best-tasting foods are worst for your health. This is no secret.<p>But do you really know how bad these foods really are?<p>When …

Pictures of the Week 2.23.18

A.I. Is Getting Cheaper. That’s Also Bad News.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Silicon Valley start-up recently unveiled a drone that can set a course entirely on its own. A handy smartphone app allows the user to tell the airborne drone to follow someone. Once the drone starts tracking, its subject will find it remarkably hard to shake.<p>The drone is meant to …

Throat sensor helps you recover from a stroke

Your abilities to speak and swallow are frequently signs of how well you're coping after a stroke, but measuring that is difficult. Microphones frequently can't distinguish between the patient and ambient sounds, and there's the not-so-small problem of making sensors that can hold up to the rigors …

3D-printed smartphone microscope is good enough for scientists

Your smartphone could soon be a fully functional microscope capable of examining samples as small as 1/200th of a millimeter. Australian researchers have developed a clip-on device that requires no external light or power sources to produce a clear picture of microscopic organisms and cells from …

World’s tiniest life-jacket

The Ploota is remarkable for a lot of reasons. The Sensor Controlled Swimming Safety Device sits around your neck, and will trigger when it comes in …

Google’s new AI algorithm predicts heart disease by looking at your eyes

Experts say it could provide a simpler way to predict cardiovascular risk<p>Scientists from Google and its health-tech subsidiary Verily have discovered a new way to assess a person’s risk of heart disease using machine learning. By analyzing scans of the back of a patient’s eye, the company’s …

New desalination technology turns the world’s oceans into unlimited lithium mine (+drinking water)

You know that argument that comes up when someone sees your electric car and says something like, “it is way worse to mine lithium needed for batteries than oil and what happens when the lithium runs out? I saw a Meme on the internet so I know it is true.” Well…<p>Fun fact: The earth’s ocean water is …

Graphene film makes dirty water drinkable in a single step

Every year, millions of people around the world die from drinking unclean water. Now, researchers have developed a process that can purify water, no matter how dirty it is, in a single step. Scientists from Australian research organization CSIRO have created a filtration technique using a graphene …

AI is helping seismologists detect earthquakes they’d otherwise miss

Using the same tools we use for voice detection, scientists are uncovering tiny earthquakes hidden in the data<p>Oklahoma never used to be known for its earthquakes. Before 2009, the state had roughly two quakes of magnitude three and above each year. (Magnitude three is when things shake on the …