Seattle, a city on Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, is surrounded by water, mountains and evergreen forests, and contains thousands of acres of parkland. Washington State’s largest city, it’s home to a large tech industry, with Microsoft and Amazon headquartered in its metropolitan area. The futuristic Space Needle, a 1962 World’s Fair legacy, is its most iconic landmark.
Monthly Archives: July 2021
Aerial Views: The Amalfi Coast, Campania, Italy (4K)
The Amalfi Coast is a 50-kilometer stretch of coastline along the southern edge of Italy’s Sorrentine Peninsula, in the Campania region. It’s a popular holiday destination, with sheer cliffs and a rugged shoreline dotted with small beaches and pastel-colored fishing villages. The coastal road between the port city of Salerno and clifftop Sorrento winds past grand villas, terraced vineyards and cliffside lemon groves.
Morning News: Violence In South Africa, Booster Shots, Decline Of Baseball
Widespread looting and the worst violence since apartheid continue, exposing ethnic divisions and the persistent influence of Jacob Zuma, a former president. How to quell the tensions?
As some countries administer third covid-19 “booster shots” we ask about the epidemiological and moral cases for and against them. And the bids to reverse the decline of America’s national pastime.
Science: Heat Waves In U.S. Impacting Minorities, Graphene Layers, Twitter
Why heat waves disproportionately impact minorities in US cities, and the researcher that critiqued his whole career on Twitter.
In this episode:
00:45 How heat waves kill unequally
Researchers are beginning to unpick how historic discrimination in city planning is making the recent heat waves in North America more deadly for some than others.
News Feature: Racism is magnifying the deadly impact of rising city heat
11:59 Research Highlights
A graphene layer can protect paintings from age, and a new and endangered species of ‘fairy lantern’.
Research Highlight: A graphene cloak keeps artworks’ colours ageles
Research Highlight: Newfound ‘fairy lantern’ could soon be snuffed out forever
14:25 Self-criticism
When researcher Nick Holmes decided to criticise his past papers, in 57 tweets, he found the reflection enlightening. Now he’s encouraging other researchers to self-criticise, to help speed scientific progress.
World View: I critiqued my past papers on social media — here’s what I learnt
20:53 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, Richard Branson’s commercial space flight, and the Maori perspective on Antarctic conservation.
The Washington Post: Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic crew are safely back from space, ushering in a new era
The New York Times: The Maori Vision of Antarctica’s Future (intermittent paywall)
Preview: ‘The New York Times Book Review – 125 Years Of Literary History’
ABOUT THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
From the longest-running, most influential book review in America, here is its best, funniest, strangest, and most memorable coverage over the past 125 years.
Since its first issue on October 10, 1896, The New York Times Book Review has brought the world of ideas to the reading public. It is the publication where authors have been made, and where readers first encountered the classics that have enriched their lives.
Now the editors have curated the Book Review’s dynamic 125-year history, which is essentially the story of modern American letters. Brimming with remarkable reportage and photography, this beautiful book collects interesting reviews, never-before-heard anecdotes about famous writers, and spicy letter exchanges. Here are the first takes on novels we now consider masterpieces, including a long-forgotten pan of Anne of Green Gables and a rave of Mrs. Dalloway, along with reviews and essays by Langston Hughes, Eudora Welty, James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more.
With scores of stunning vintage photographs, many of them sourced from the Times’s own archive, readers will discover how literary tastes have shifted through the years—and how the Book Review’s coverage has shaped so much of what we read today.
Aviation: Boeing & Airbus Counter China’s Comac
Boeing and Airbus dominate global aviation, but China’s Comac wants to challenge the duopoly with new planes. WSJ’s Jon Sindreu explains how supply chains, technology and geopolitics could help the Western aircraft makers to protect key markets. Photo Composite: George Downs
Travel Views: The Top 25 Natural Wonders (Video)
Massive glaciers, staggering mountains, plains dotted with wild animals: We sure live in a big, beautiful world. And while pinpointing all of Mother Nature’s greatest hits could take a lifetime, we think these out-of-this-world landscapes and awe-inspiring wonders, from Arizona to Antarctica, need to move to the very top of your travel list.
Italian Villas: Camogli, Near Portofino, Liguria
In Camogli, an exclusive Ligurian town located just a few kilometers from the renowned Portofino, there is this majestic property in a fantastic position with a stunning view of the sea for sale. Located in one of the most enchanting areas of the Gulf of Tigullio, with panoramic views of Liguria’s crystal-blue sea and the mountains, this house is surrounded by a large terraced park that measures 4,000 square meters and features centuries-old trees, fruit trees, a romantic rose garden, and a fantastic, perfectly-equipped panoramic swimming pool offering views of the Riviera.
Camogli is a fishing village and tourist resort located on the west side of the peninsula of Portofino, on the Golfo Paradiso in the Riviera di Levante, in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, Liguria, northern Italy. As of 30 April 2017 its population was of 5,332.
English Country Estates: Aberdyfi, Western Wales
Owned by the vendors for 20 years or more, elegant, Edwardian Plas Penhelig, was built in 1908. It stands in just under 12½ acres of gardens, paddocks and woodland and boasts ‘six different views over the picturesque Dyfi estuary’.

Thanks to the waters of the Gulf Stream, rare plants and flowers flourish in Plas Penhelig’s sheltered valley, where the hillside is planted with a mass of shrubs, flowers and trees—from peonies and azaleas to camellias, magnolias, lavender, laburnum, lilac trees and a monkey puzzle.
Reviews: Top Luxury Speed Boats For 2022 (Video)
It’s time we took a break from open highways and enjoyed open seas instead. In this episode we will explore the world of extremely overpowered speed boats and magnificent luxury yachts, that just like supercars defy any limits in performance and opulence. So as always let’s put on our finest home garments and enjoy window shopping of the most anticipated yachts in 2022.



