China is testing a digital yuan, aiming to accelerate the replacement of cash and increase state control in a society where digital payments via Wechat Pay and Alipay are already the norm. Here’s what Beijing’s new system looks like—and how it would work. Photo credit: Florence Lo/Reuters
Monthly Archives: January 2021
Walks: ‘Newcastle upon Tyne’, England (4K Video)
Newcastle upon Tyne is a university city on the River Tyne in northeast England. With its twin city, Gateshead, it was a major shipbuilding and manufacturing hub during the Industrial Revolution and is now a centre of business, arts and sciences. Spanning the Tyne, modern Gateshead Millennium Bridge, noted for its unique tilting aperture, is a symbol of the 2 cities.
Travel: ‘Ten Best Places To Visit In The Netherlands’
The Netherlands is a densely populated country in part reclaimed from the sea with about half of its land lying below sea level. Many tourist only come to the Netherlands to visit Amsterdam. But Holland has plenty to offer outside its capital. Crisscrossed with canals, the flat landscape is perfect for cycling with historic town centers and classic windmills sprinkled across the country. During springtime the flower gardens become great tourist attractions providing a bold spectacle of vivid colors. Here’s a look at the best places to visit in the Netherlands.
ANALYSIS: ‘THE EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF TELEMEDICAL HEALTHCARE IN 2020’ (VIDEO)
Join CNET during CES 2021 for talks with three medical luminaries to discuss what we’ve gained — and need to fix — with telehealth over a turbulent pandemic year.
The Arts: ‘Louvre Museum’ In Paris Revives As Visitors Drop 72% In 2020 (Video)
After six months of cumulative closure since the beginning of the health crisis and only a reopening for a few short months between two confinements this summer, the #Louvre lost 72% of attendance by 2020. But despite the absence of visitors, the heart of the museum has not completely stopped beating. The Louvre is even taking advantage of this period to carry out #renovations.
Aerial Travel: ‘Ibiza – Spain’
Ibiza is one of the Balearic islands, an archipelago of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. It’s well known for the lively nightlife in Ibiza Town and Sant Antoni, where major European nightclubs have summer outposts. It’s also home to quiet villages, yoga retreats and beaches, from Platja d’en Bossa, lined with hotels, bars and shops, to quieter sandy coves backed by pine-clad hills found all around the coast.
Future Transportation: GM Reveals ‘Electric Flying Vehicle’ (Video)
At CES 2021, GM reveals a flying car dubbed eVTOL. The electric flying vehicle is GM’s vision for personal transportation.
January 12, 2021 – General Motors today revealed a futuristic new Cadillac Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicle (VTOL) that is designed to ferry city-dwelling business people from rooftop to rooftop.
The Cadillac VTOL is described as an “all-electric, single-seat, well-appointed aircraft,” that can travel between skyscrapers at speeds of up to 55 mph, or 90 km/h. A vehicle such as this could be useful for businessmen and women that need to quickly get from one side of a major metropolitan area to the other for a meeting or another important engagement, bypassing any ground-level traffic that may be bogging the city’s streets down.
Architectural Tour: ‘The One’ – World’s Largest Home In Bel Air, California

Surrounded on three sides by a moat and a 400-foot-long jogging track, the estate appears to float above the city. Completed over eight years—and requiring 600 works to build—the home was designed by architect Paul McClean, who was enlisted by owner and developer Nile Niami to help it live up to its reported $340 million price tag.

After nearly a decade of design and development work, what is being billed as “the world’s most expensive home” is finally ready for its close-up. Set on a five-acre parcel in the posh Los Angeles enclave of Bel Air—and aptly named The One—the 105,000-square-foot property’s interiors have remained a closely guarded secret. Until now. AD has been an exclusive look at what’s inside this record-setting property—and the design and aesthetic minds that made it happen.
Art: French Impressionist Berthe Morisot’s ‘Young Girl With A Basket’ (Video)

Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot was a French painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the highly esteemed Salon de Paris.
Wildlife: ‘Owls – Master Aerial Predators’ (Video)
With the ability to fly silently and detect prey with stunning accuracy, owls are master aerial predators. Enjoy this selection of owl moments taken from the BBC Earth library.



