Coffee Culture: Italy’s ‘Magical’ Espresso Ritual

A shot of dark, velvety coffee is more than just a quick caffeine hit: #Italy‘s #espresso is a prized social and cultural ritual the country considers a national heritage worthy of #UNESCO status.

Espresso is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water is forced under 9–10 bars of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso coffee can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans and roast degrees.

Previews: The Guardian Weekly – February 18

The spectre of war loomed over Europe this week as western allies began evacuating diplomats and citizens from Ukraine in the face of the massed Russian troops on its borders. Andrew RothSimon Tisdall and Julian Borger report for our big story this week, as the world waited anxiously to find out how far Vladimir Putin is prepared to go to achieve his goals.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year, many feared the worst for the educational prospects of girls and women under an ultra-hardline Islamist regime. Yet remarkably, as Emma Graham-Harrison and Jordan Bryon report, some brave women have fought successfully for their right to continue to study.

In Opinion, the Observer’s Will Hutton argues against the decision to lift all Covid restrictions in England (and find out what scientists around the world think in Spotlight). Guardian Australia columnist Van Badham exposes the fakery of the global “freedom movement”, while Arthur Turrell celebrates what could be a breakthrough moment for nuclear fusion and energy production.

360° Island Views: Oahu And Kauai, Hawaii (12K)

Oahu is a U.S. island in the Central Pacific, part of the Hawaiian island chain and home to the state capital, Honolulu. Highlights of the city include historic Chinatown and the Punchbowl, a crater-turned-cemetery. Waikiki is an iconic beach, dining and nightlife area. West of Honolulu is Pearl Harbor, site of the WWII’s 1941 bombing attack and home to the USS Arizona Memorial. 

Kauai is an island in the Central Pacific, part of the Hawaiian archipelago. It’s nicknamed “the Garden Isle” thanks to the tropical rainforest covering much of its surface. The dramatic cliffs and pinnacles of its Na Pali Coast have served as a backdrop for major Hollywood films, while 10-mile-long Waimea Canyon and the Nounou Trails traversing the Sleeping Giant mountain ridge are hiking destinations. 

Morning News: Tunisia Politics, Brazil Art Scene, Bangkok Street Food

Last summer President Kais Saied nobbled the legislature; now he has abolished the judiciary. We ask where the country is headed, and why there is so little protest.

 Brazil’s modern-art scene, born a century ago this week,  flourished  despite rocky politics—but the current president has a chokehold on it. And the Thai army’s quixotic mission to evict Bangkok’s legendary street-food hawkers. 

Tours: Los Cristianos In Tenerife, Canary Islands

Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of 2,034 square kilometres and a population of 966,354 inhabitants at the end of 2020, it is also the most populous island of Spain and of Macaronesia.

Approximately five million tourists visit Tenerife each year; it is the most visited island in the archipelago. It is one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain and the world. Teide National Park, located in the center of the island, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It includes Mount Teide, which has the highest elevation in Spain (3715 metres), and the highest among all the islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

It is also the third-largest volcano in the world, when measured from its base. Another geographical feature of the island, the Macizo de Anaga (massif), has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2015. Tenerife also has the largest number of endemic species in Europe.

Automobiles: Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Road Test

Tesla’s FSD Beta, which stands for ‘full-self driving’ beta, can best be summarized as a host of new driver assistant features that are not yet debugged. Chief among them is “autosteer on city streets,” which enables drivers to automatically navigate around complex urban environments without moving the steering wheel with their own hands.

Elon Musk has promised driverless cars since 2016, but FSD is not even close to a fully autonomous vehicle yet. The beta program is heavily scrutinized by regulators and has earned Tesla side-eye from competitors, who usually have professionally trained drivers, not customers, test driver assist features in their vehicles.

But for now, FSD Beta still available for thousands of Tesla owners to access, without the knowledge of drivers and pedestrians around them. CNBC went for a ride with three FSD Beta testers in different parts of the country to see how the system performs in the real world and explore what this program could mean for the future of vehicle automation.

Technology: How AI Can Improve Health Care

AI has the power to transform health care. From more efficient diagnoses to safer treatments, it could remedy some of the ills suffered by patients. Film supported by @Maersk

Timeline: 00:00 – Can AI help heal the world? 00:45 – How can AI spot blindness? 04:01 – Protecting patients’ privacy 05:10 – How to share medical data safely 06:11 – Medical AI is rapidly expanding 08:02 – What do the sceptics say? 08.36 – Using AI for new medical devices 11:08 – What does the future hold for medical AI?

New Books: ‘Otherlands’ By Thomas Halliday (2022)

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious