Five Things That Caught our Eye
Every three weeks, we round up a list of five articles that caught our eye. Here’s our team's top 5 of the week.
The time machine of the future
The Venice Time Machine is a project that was launched by computer scientist Frederic Kaplan as a way of digitally captruing over 1 000 years of historical data. Scanning everything from literature, offical documents, maps and even sheet music, this will enable researchers to cross reference and accurately rebuild what the Most Serene Republic of Venice might have looked like a few centuries ago. If successful, Kaplan would like to expand his project to other cities in Europe and would be a hugely innovative way of looking at history.
Source: nature.com
Wind turbines get a makeover
Wind turbines have had to put up with detractors, from being voted not aesthetically pleasing and very noisy by its neighbours, this safe and cheaper form of renewable energy needs all the help it can get. These six designs prove that the future of wind energy looks sleek, elegant and non intrusive to the environment. It finally feels like this form of energy has the wind in its sails....
Source: Architectural Digest
Historical subway map
The Romans paved the way (pun intended) when building such an extensive road system to be able to move their army across the four corners of its ever growing empire. To make a bit of sense to the maps and literature that researchers have on the topic, student Sasha Trubetskoy decided to make a subway style map of all the roads, giving a colourful view of the scope of this great empire.
Sasha Trubetskoy
How do you draw a circle?
Circles are a universal shape and you'd think that drawing one would be pretty straightforward, wherever you are in the world. Yet this study is here to show you that the way you draw the 2D shape can infer where you come from, what language you speak and shows trends in your education. So the next thing left for you to do is to pick up your pencil and get drawing!
Source: Quartz
A tiny travelling library
Tiny houses are all the rage at the moment and now they've been taken to the next level. The French couple behind tiny house company La Maison qui chemine have combined their design with 3 000 books, turning this house into a tiny travelling library! The sleek tiny house becomes an intimate bookworm haven and will travel around France, bringing books to villages where there are little or no libraries.
Source: La Maison qui Chemine