Frequently seen being hauled by semi-trucks on the highway or stacked on the decks of cargo ships, these shipping containers are now being used in a different way, as a portal to connect people across the globe and facilitate conversation. Step inside and you can be instantly connected to someone on a different continent, with whom one can talk and share music, thoughts, and ideas. The creator of Portals hopes this technology will help individuals get out of their comfort zones and meet diverse sets of people in order to help embrace differences and break down feelings and narratives of isolation, fear, and hatred.
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Animals
Battling a Locust Swarm From Space
Animals
Battling a Locust Swarm From Space
Using data from NASA satellites, researchers are scouring East Africa for areas where a desert locust swarm might be born — so they can destroy the eggs.
Using data from NASA satellites, researchers are scouring East Africa for areas where a desert locust swarm might be born — so they can destroy the eggs.
Biohacking
Biohacker’s Prosthetic Arm Lets Him Play a Synthesizer With His Mind
Biohacking
Biohacker’s Prosthetic Arm Lets Him Play a Synthesizer With His Mind
Biohacker Bertolt Meyer has built the SynLimb, a controller that attaches to his prosthetic arm, allowing him to control his modular synthesizer with his mind.
Biohacker Bertolt Meyer has built the SynLimb, a controller that attaches to his prosthetic arm, allowing him to control his modular synthesizer with his mind.
Dope Science
Medical Cannabis Explained
Dope Science
Medical Cannabis Explained
Medical cannabis is everywhere. We're answering your basic questions and unpacking the promises and pitfalls, based on the latest research.
Medical cannabis is everywhere. We're answering your basic questions and unpacking the promises and pitfalls, based on the latest research.
Uprising
Tree-Planting Drones Restore Charred Forests
Uprising
Tree-Planting Drones Restore Charred Forests
This Seattle startup is bringing new life to charred forests by releasing swarms of smart, tree-planting drones equipped with seeds, mini seedbeds, and cameras.
This Seattle startup is bringing new life to charred forests by releasing swarms of smart, tree-planting drones equipped with seeds, mini seedbeds, and cameras.
Biology of Addiction
We May Have Found a Drug to Curb Meth Addiction
Biology of Addiction
We May Have Found a Drug to Curb Meth Addiction
Meth addiction is on the rise, so this team of researchers is working to develop the first FDA-approved medication to treat the use disorder.
Meth addiction is on the rise, so this team of researchers is working to develop the first FDA-approved medication to treat the use disorder.
Global Impact
Uganda Begins Massive New Ebola Vaccine Study
Global Impact
Uganda Begins Massive New Ebola Vaccine Study
The Ebola outbreak in the Congo is now the second deadliest on record. How can we stop the devastation? A study in Uganda could hold the key for a new vaccine.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the second deadliest on record. The epicenter is in North Kivu, a conflict-torn province which shares borders with Rwanda and Uganda. Ugandan Ebola cases were the first to cross borders from the current Congo outbreak. Now, a new trial study in Uganda could hold the key to stopping the spread of this devastating disease.
Dispatches
Neuroscientists Want to Beam Experiences Directly into Your Brain
Dispatches
Neuroscientists Want to Beam Experiences Directly into Your Brain
It's a breakthrough for the blind and paralyzed, not the first step toward the Matrix. (Promise.)
It's a breakthrough for the blind and paralyzed, not the first step toward the Matrix. (Promise.)
Superhuman
The Experimental Procedure That Can Reverse Blindness
Superhuman
The Experimental Procedure That Can Reverse Blindness
Doctors told Vanna she was permanently blind. But thanks to an experimental procedure, she can see.
Doctors told Vanna she was permanently blind. But thanks to an experimental procedure, she can see.
Superhuman
A Life Changed by Robotic Legs
Watch Now
Superhuman
A Life Changed by Robotic Legs
Robert is paralyzed. But thanks to a robotic exoskeleton, he can walk again.
Watch Now
After an accident, Robert Woo was paralyzed from the chest down. Woo spent the next four years in a wheelchair and in therapy. But even as he learned how to live his new life, he couldn’t stop asking one very simple question: How could humans build skyscrapers, but not something better than a wheelchair? Then Woo heard about bionic exoskeletons. And it changed his life.