E-Bike Tour: ‘Santa Fe – New Mexico’ (Travel+Leisure)

Join us in an educational e-bike tour of the historic Santa Fe area! If you’re a history buff, dive into the details of the San Miguel Mission and the Oldest House in the USA. If you’re an art enthusiast, you’re sure to love the beauty and excitement of the Santa Fe Railyard art district, as well as the uniqueness of the Prescott Gallery & Sculpture Garden. This e-bike tour offers something for everyone to enjoy.

Video timeline: 0:00​ Introduction 0:23​ San Miguel Mission 1:28​ Santa Jose Bell 2:07​ San Miguel Mission Artifacts 2:53​ Oldest House in the USA 3:43​ Canyon Road 4:23​ Santa Fe Railyard 5:04​ Prescott Gallery and Sculpture Garden 6:18​ Conclusion

Santa Fe, New Mexico’s capital, sits in the Sangre de Cristo foothills. It’s renowned for its Pueblo-style architecture and as a creative arts hotbed. Founded as a Spanish colony in 1610, it has at its heart the traditional Plaza. The surrounding historic district’s crooked streets wind past adobe landmarks including the Palace of the Governors, now home to the New Mexico History Museum.

Technology Podcast: Covid “Growth”, Magnetic Tape & Herbal Remedies

Covid-19 has catalysed scientific advancement and boosted technological optimism. Could innovation be the answer to decades of slowing growth in Western countries? Also, why magnetic tape still reigns supreme in “cold” data storage. And how effective are traditional herbal remedies at treating tropical diseases?

Travel: ‘Ticino – Southern Switzerland’ (4K Video)

Filmed and Edited by: Alessandro Walpen

Ticino is an Italian-speaking region in southern Switzerland with palm-lined lakes and sharp Alpine peaks. Its architecture, cuisine and culture is closely related to that of neighboring Italy. Bellinzona, the capital of Ticino, is home to medieval castles. Lugano, a town on glacial Lake Lugano, is known for its waterfront promenade and Piazza della Riforma, a square lined with neoclassical buildings.

Science Podcast: Dire Wolf Extinction, Pluto’s Blue Haze & Mice Empathy

DNA clues point to how dire wolves went extinct, and a round-up of the main impacts of Brexit on science.

In this episode:

00:45 Dire wolf DNA

Dire wolves were huge predators that commonly roamed across North America before disappearing around 13,000 years ago. Despite the existence of a large number of dire wolf fossils, questions remain about why this species went extinct and how they relate to other wolf species. Now, using DNA and protein analysis, researchers are getting a better understanding of what happened to these extinct predators.

Research Article: Perri et al.

11:43 Research Highlights

The secret to Pluto’s blue haze, and the neural circuitry underlying mice empathy.

Research Highlight: Ice bathes Pluto in a blue haze

Research Highlight: Brain maps show how empathetic mice feel each other’s pain

13:31 Post-Brexit science

In December, a last minute trade-deal between the UK and EU clarified what the future relationship between the two regions would look like, after Brexit. We discuss the implications of this trade-deal for science funding, the movement of researchers, and data sharing.

News Explainer: What the landmark Brexit deal means for science

23:18 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, concerns about contaminating water on the moon, and the spy satellites that spied out environmental change.

Nature News: Will increasing traffic to the Moon contaminate its precious ice?

The New York Times: Inside the C.I.A., She Became a Spy for Planet Earth

Covid-19: ‘How mRNA Vaccines Work’ (Video)

Messenger RNA—or mRNA—vaccines have been in development for decades, and are now approved for use against COVID-19. Here’s how they work and what you should know about them. Visit https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19​ for even more resources.

Home Technology: ‘Top TV’s Of CES 2021’ (Video)

CNET’s David Katzmaier gives us his top TV picks from CES 2021: LG, Samsung, TCL and more! These are the craziest concept TVs, the fanciest TVs money can buy, and the overall best TVs that just might even come to you soon.

Architecture Books: ‘Vertical Living’ (2021)

Vertical Living is an introduction to the architecture and interior masterminds using skillful, clever design to conquer compact living wherever there is space. As we continue to expect more of our flats and houses, unexpected approaches are necessary for the future of our urban spaces.

The era of moving to the suburbs is coming to an end. Instead, a growing movement of city dwellers are looking for grand architectural solutions in the smallest of spaces. Slender, slim, and tall structures are soaring in the limited land available, offering innovative solutions to a world with ever-growing urbanization.

The book looks at ingenious architectural solutions: impossibly skinny houses wedged into narrow plots, spacious homes built into neglected infill sites and comfortable homes created in tiny spaces. By combining inspirational projects, in-depth features and engaging profiles of architects around the world, Vertical Living will offer a new way of looking at how we live in the built environment.

Read more

CES 2021 Products: ‘BioLite Smokeless Fire Pit’ (Video)

Jeff Bakalar speaks with BioLite, a company that has invented a smart firepit that actually lets you adjust the intensity of the flame and reduces smoke. The camping-focused device also has a full line of cooking accessories and can burn charcoal or wood. And yeah, it can charge your phone too.

FirePit plus all its accessories in one awesome bundle. The BioLite FirePit is an award-winning smokeless firepit that burns standard firewood or charcoal depending on your needs. Patented airflow system injects oxygen to burn off smoke before it has a chance to escape the fire while the X-Ray Mesh body gives you a full view into your flames. Included grill grate works with charcoal to transform your pit into a hibachi-style grill.

Website

Delivery-Only Dining: ‘How Covid Accelerated Rise Of Ghost Kitchens’

Ghost kitchens are kitchens designed for delivery-only businesses, without dine-in areas or customer facing storefronts. The pandemic has ravaged dine-in eateries, and companies that have focused on delivery could come out on top if the current trends continue. Watch the full video to see why ghost kitchens are taking over the restaurant industry.

Here are some of the top Ghost Kitchens:

Kitchen United

With a $10 million dollar investment from Google Ventures, Kitchen United has been one of the leanest (and fastest-growing) startups in the space. Founder Jim Collins has turned down hundreds of millions of investment dollars to focus on growing more organically. Currently, Kitchen United plans on conquering the global restaurant space — with 5,000 kitchens planned in the next four years.

All in all, Kitchen United offers a turn-key, light-capital model, delivering a complete, code-safe kitchen replete with appliances and cooking implements. All that’s left to do is to…cook.

CloudKitchens

The fastest-growing and most investor-friendly ghost kitchen startup, CloudKitchens, has already taken in over $400 million from investors. $150 million interestingly invested by its founder (former Uber superstar) Travis Kalanick. Like Kitchen United, CloudKitchens offers fully-equipped kitchens (branded as “smart kitchens”) for the delivery-only model. Honestly, you can’t ignore a project that Travis is a part of.

DoorDash Kitchens

Another not-so-surprising entry into the ghost kitchen space is DoorDash, which has already premiered locations in San Francisco and Redwood City. Currently, DoorDash’s model is focused on catering to high-delivery areas for established brands like Chic-Fil-A, but we’re sure they have plans in the works for new locations, as well.

For the time being, DoorDash Kitchens is still in the experimentation phase, with only a few locations. And, like others on this list, it provides everything a restauranteur would need for a single monthly fee.

UberEats

For the moment, we’ll set aside the possible conflicts associated with Uber’s ex co-founder Travis Kalanick — who’s also operating CloudKitchens. We’re sure that bridge will need crossing at some point if Uber expands its operations. For the time being, the ridesharing company has been keeping a low profile in the ghost kitchen space. To date, it has been testing ghost kitchens in a few markets, though it remains curiously reluctant to share the delicious details pertaining to its Paris operations.

Virtual Kitchen Co.

Another new entry is Virtual Kitchen Co. — which already operates several successful ghost kitchens. They plan to open 15 more kitchens over the next few years, driven by $15 million dollar Series A.  Again, Virtual Kitchen Co. offers a similar pricing structure: Restaurants can pay a monthly fee for everything.

The one small difference here is that Virtual Kitchen Co. seems to be targeting existing restaurants that want to enter the delivery space.

Travel: ‘St. John Island – Virgin Islands’ (8K Video)

VIRGIN ISLANDS 8K is a visually stunning journey through one of the most beautiful national parks in the world, Virgin Islands. Journey with More Than Just Parks as we explore this tropical paradise located on the outskirts of the Caribbean Sea. Swim with sea turtles, explore ancient jungle ruins, relax on white sand beaches, and soak in the island beauty. This is Virgin Islands National Park.

To make this film we spent weeks on the island of St John (part of the US Virgin Islands) hiking every trail in Virgin Islands National Park and swimming every bay (for good measure). We visited the park after the 2017 hurricane maria damage and were frankly quite surprised by what we saw. When you look at a lot of the photos and video online it does not represent what exists in the park today.

All of our footage represents the park in it’s current, post-hurricane, status.Filming locations included: Trunk Bay, Maho Bay, Lameshur Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Reef Bay (trail, ruins, & sugar mill), Annaberg Plantation Ruins, Ram Head, Caneel Hill Trail, Margaret Hill, Catherineberg Ruins, Honeymoon Beach, Salomon Beach, Francis Bay, Waterlemon Cay, Little Lameshur Bay, and so much more.

To see our full Virgin Islands National Park guide: morethanjustparks.com/national-parks/virgin-islands/