America’s largest public library ditches late fees

With the realization that overdue charges disproportionately affect access for low-income readers, libraries are reconsidering the value of fees.

Image source: Kunal Mehta/Shutterstock
  • The Chicago Public Library found that a third of their economically disadvantaged members had been denied borrowing privileges due to overdue books.
  • Overdue fines account for a tiny fraction of library funding, so the ramifications of ending them are more social than financial.
  • Though 92% of U.S. libraries still charge late fees, the number is shrinking.
Keep reading
inequality learning education literature public spaces society reading library

A world map of private islands (some are a steal!)

There's something special about islands - in some cases, it's the price tag

Image: TD Architects
  • In fiction or reality, islands exert a special attraction on the imagination
  • For the ultra-rich, owning an island is the ultimate luxury
  • However, some islands are affordable even with a modest budget
Keep reading
public spaces society map

Why Germany is a blank spot on Google's Street View

There are good historical reasons why Germans are suspicious of surveillance — but is Google as bad as Gestapo or Stasi?

Image: Google Maps
  • Since its launch in 2007, Google Street View has mapped millions of miles of roads across the world — and even gone to space and into the ocean.
  • Germany and Austria are a conspicuous gap in the mess of blue lines that covers the rest of Europe.
  • It's to do with Germans' curious sense of privacy: they'd rather flaunt their private parts than their personal data.
Keep reading
cars cities data europe google internet privacy public spaces surveillance map

Terraform Mars? How about Earth?

Fauna and flora refuse to go quietly into the Anthropocene.

Image source: Lightspring/Shutterstock
  • Pioneers of the Greater Holocene plan to strike back against concrete.
  • Seed packets and plant nutrients are the weapons of choice for standing up to humanity's destructive impact.
  • Hopeless? Maybe. Poignant? Absolutely.
Keep reading
climate change geology protests public spaces activism terraform rewild art anthropocene

In a world of autonomous vehicles, this is why we'll need more public transport than ever

Combined with high-capacity public transport, AVs could remove 9 out of every 10 cars in a mid-sized European city.

The media is fascinated by autonomous vehicles (AVs), in particular their safety and when or if they will arrive en masse.

Keep reading
cars cities transportation public spaces driverless cars