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
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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
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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.
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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.

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Tiny homes and floating apartments: California mayors' reply to the growing homeless problem

Ideas are plentiful; execution is another story.

Photo credit: George Rose / Getty Images
  • As the homeless population soars in California, city mayors are contemplating a variety of initiatives to combat the problem.
  • San Francisco mayor London Breed has published the most extensive list of solutions, including supportive housing, eviction prevention, and rental subsidies.
  • Other mayors are creating tiny home villages and even considering a floating apartment complex in the San Francisco Bay.
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