CNBC (June 8, 2023) – Samsung may be known for android phones, TVs and appliances, but it’s also been the undisputed leader in memory for more than three decades. Now, as memory prices continue to fall, it’s doubling down on manufacturing chips for outside customers, with a $17 billion new chip fab in Texas and new $228 billion cluster in South Korea.
Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 02:31 — From fish to microchips 06:10 — Making more chips in the U.S. 11:17 — Concerns and controversy 14:40 — Ambitious road map ahead
CNBC got a rare look inside Samsung’s chip business to bring you the untold story of how it became the world’s second biggest advanced chipmaker, just as it makes plans to catch the industry leader TSMC.
The counter-offensive is getting under way. The next few weeks will be critical
Trailed ten days early with a blood-stirring video in which Ukrainian troops asked God to bless their “sacred revenge”, Ukraine’s counter-offensive is under way. For weeks its armed forces have conducted probing and shaping operations along the 1,000km front line, looking for weaknesses and confusing the Russians. Now Ukraine is testing enemy defences with an intensity not seen for months, with attacks against the occupiers in a series of positions in the east and south. The apparent demolition of the Kakhovka dam on June 6th, if it was indeed Russian sabotage as Western military sources believe, would be clear evidence that they are already feeling the pressure.
No one shows off a new gadget quite like Apple. But the device that Tim Cook unveiled on June 5th was billed as something more significant. The Vision Pro, a pair of sleek glass goggles, represents “an entirely new spatial-computing platform”, said Apple’s boss, comparing its launch to that of the Macintosh and the iPhone. Apple’s message is clear: after desktop and mobile computing, the next big tech era will be spatial computing—also known as augmented reality—in which computer graphics are overlaid on the world around the user.
The Guardian Weekly (June 9, 2023)– A year ago, the Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and Guardian contributor Dom Phillips were murdered in a remote area of the Brazilian Amazon. They had travelled there to meet with Indigenous activists who patrol the Javari valley to protect it from illegal fishing and mining gangs.
Their deaths laid bare the environmental devastation inflicted under Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, as well as the extreme threat to those who dare to disrupt the activities of exploitative industries in the region. That’s why, in collaboration with an international journalists’ consortium, the Guardian has published the Bruno and Dom project: a series that seeks to honour their work and continue it. You’ll find a selection of pieces in this week’s Guardian Weekly and the rest are available online.
For centuries Sintra was the favoured summer retreat and hunting ground of Portuguese nobles, and their legacy is a veritable jewel box of palaces, castles and candy-coloured mansions.
The traditional retreat of Portuguese nobility provides the perfect mix of palaces and pastries
The Unesco-listed cultural landscape of domes and turrets seems to be straight out of a fairytale — no wonder it has fired the imaginations of literary luminaries from Hans Christian Andersen to Byron. Deserving of far more than a day trip from Lisbon, 20 miles away, Sintra is even more magical at the day’s end. Once the coach parties have departed, the few who linger have the run of all those lofty viewpoints and quaint pestico bars.
Casa Piriquita There’s more to Portuguese pastry craft than pasteis de nata, as this traditional bakery that dates from 1862 proves. Treat yourself to a signature queijada, a type of cheesecake, or the sugar-dusted puff pastry “cushions” called travesseiros, which are filled with almond cream.
Incomum by Luis Santos Incomum is one of Sintra’s smartest dinner spots, with a Mediterranean menu that ranges from carpaccio and truffle-laced risotto to Iberian pork filet mignon and lobster bisque — and a signature olive oil pudding to finish. Handily, there’s a wine bar next door for an aperitif or post-dinner glass of port.
designboom Films (June 8, 2023) – Pierre Bonnard is one of the most beloved painters of the twentieth century, celebrated for his use of colour to convey an exquisite sense of emotion. His close friend Henri Matisse declared that Bonnard was ‘a great painter, for today and definitely also for the future’.
Opening in June 2023, the blockbuster Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® exhibition Pierre Bonnard presents the iridescent paintings of Bonnard within immersive scenography by Paris-based designer India Mahdavi
Pierre Bonnard (3 October 1867 – 23 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist group of avant-garde painters Les Nabis, his early work was strongly influenced by the work of Paul Gauguin, as well as the prints of Hokusai and other Japanese artists. Bonnard was a leading figure in the transition from Impressionism to Modernism.
Plus: the fallout continues from the Kakhovka dam blast, the Japanese military reconsiders its tattoo ban and the toad species that is wreaking havoc in Australia.
The notice from the office of the special counsel Jack Smith suggested that an indictment was on the horizon in the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents.
Massive plumes of smoke from hundreds of Canadian fires, enveloped millions in smoke, triggering dangerous air quality warnings in both countries and turning skies an ashen orange.
The flights to California illustrate the broader bet Gov. Ron DeSantis has made that the animating energy in the G.O.P. has shifted from conservatism to confrontationalism.
nature Magazine – June 8, 2023 issue: Coral reef fishes, such as the blenny Ecsenius stictus pictured on the cover, are diverse, abundant and grow quickly. In this week’s issue, Alexandre Siqueira and his colleagues investigate the evolutionary history of these fishes to find out how growth has shaped life on coral reefs.
Ants living on the sprawling salt pans of Tunisia use DIY markers to find their way home.
The desert ant Cataglyphis fortis lives in Tunisia’s arid salt flats, and can travel more than a kilometre from its underground nest in search of food. Now scientists have found that these ants build tall hills on top of their nests that help the insects to find their way home across the vast, featureless landscape1.
DW Travel (June 7, 2023) – Did you know that Copenhagen is one of the greenest cities in the world? Transport, urban planning, food – the Danish capital is committed to sustainability in all areas. DW’s Aisha Sharipzan shows how your next trip to Copenhagen can be sustainable AND tons of fun.
Video timeline:00:00 Intro 00:40 Rent a bike 01:42 Public Transport 02:13 Free kajak tour at the harbour, collecting trash 04:19 Vesterbro and Nørrebro 04:48 BaneGaarden 05:40 Kødbyen 06:19 Harbour in Nordhavn 07:07 Danish Architecture Center 10:25 CopenHill 10:37 Park’N’Play 11:36 Reffen Street Food Market
Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, sits on the coastal islands of Zealand and Amager. It’s linked to Malmo in southern Sweden by the Öresund Bridge. Indre By, the city’s historic center, contains Frederiksstaden, an 18th-century rococo district, home to the royal family’s Amalienborg Palace. Nearby is Christiansborg Palace and the Renaissance-era Rosenborg Castle, surrounded by gardens and home to the crown jewels