Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Arthouse films, glitter, CES, space, food and more in our internet round-up

12 January 2019

Communicating From the Far Side of the Moon

The far side of the moon (often mistakenly referred to as the “dark side” of the moon) never faces Earth due to the sphere’s elliptical orbit and synchronous rotation. For the first time, information—including a photograph—has been transmitted from the hemisphere by way of China’s National Space Administration’s Yutu-2 rover. While this might not seem like that big of a deal, it marks significant achievements and technological commitment, including that of a dedicated moon-orbiting satellite. Read more about the importance at Digital Trends.

Hyundai’s Walking Concept Car, Elevate

Designed as a first responder for natural disasters, automaker Hyundai’s Elevate concept car sets wheels on robotic legs that can stretch to walk or climb across challenging terrain. Unveiled at CES (as a small toy-like model), the vehicle’s “active suspension” employs an electric actuator technology, allowing the leg architecture freedom of movement in six directions. Further, the modular passenger unit opens in all four directions. Read more—and watch the animation where the vehicles walks—at Dezeen.

Everything You Wanted To Know About Glitter

From unfolding glitter’s definition as a mass noun to outlining the process behind the development of aluminum metalized polyethylene terephthalate, the New York Times’ Caity Weaver explores every intricacy behind the beloved, dazzling (sometimes) plastic product. Weaver describes her visit to Glitterex, one of two production facilities in the US (both of which are in New Jersey) and shares learnings about layers, color and so much more. Head over to the Times to read more about iridescence and its creation.

Upcoming Arthouse Films

Thanks to Dazed, there’s a list of the 11 most exciting arthouse films coming out this year. All of them are “criminally overlooked arthouse oddities” that deserve as many viewers as blockbusters. From Jia Zhangke’s Ash is The Purest White, to Simon Amstell’s semi-autobiographical Benjamin, to coming of age stories, horror-comedies, tales about sex workers, neo-fables and more, the list is delightfully diverse—in terms of storytelling and representation. Take a look at the full list at Dazed.

Denmark to Build Nine Islands for Tech Industry

Hoping to create the “European Silicon Valley,” the Danish government has unveiled a plan for creating nine human-made islands which will be home to up to 380 businesses and 33 million square feet of green space. Called Holmene, the project (which will be located just outside Copenhagen) still needs approval from the Danish Parliament, but will hopefully create “12,000 new jobs directly and up to 30,000 new jobs indirectly.” See more images of the proposed set of islands at The Architect’s Newspaper.

BMW Designworks Partners With The North Face on a Super-Light Camper

To highlight The North Face’s new Futurelight material, produced by a “nanospinning technology” that allows for air-permeability, the brand debuted a super-light camper co-designed with BMW Designworks. More than futuristic looking, the waterproof, light and breathable Futurelight fabric stretches across a geodesic-dome frame on a function, mobile platform. It’s just the start for Futurelight, which is bound to shake things up in many industries—including apparel and accessories. Head over to CNET to learn more about this CES 2019 announcement.

Extra-Healthy, Gene-Edited Spicy Tomatoes Are Coming

Scientists in Brazil are working to reconnect tomatoes with their chili pepper relatives (they separated some 19 million years ago, but maintain much of the same DNA) in order to create a super-healthy, spicy fruit. Rather than a food fad, this research and experimentation is occurring in order to have people eat more capsaicinoids, “the molecules that give red peppers their spicy pizzazz, for their health benefits.” Many capsaicinoids can reduce insulin spikes and inflammation, increase metabolism and even suppress certain cancerous tumors. Not just a tasty food, these spicy tomatoes could be genuinely beneficial. Read more at Quartz.

LG’s 65-Inch Rollable 4K OLED TV Will Hit the Market Soon

Referred to as the OLED TV R, LG’s groundbreaking 65-inch rollable 4K television will be released to consumers this spring. The TV offers many different functional modes, each with a different screen size—one of which, known as zero view, sees the entire screen descend into the base but audio functions still active through the 100W front-firing Dolby Atmos audio system. LG, who presented the TV at CES this year (after years of iterations and prototypes), insists that no quality will be lost and all the benefits of OLED will be represented. Head to the Verge to watch it roll up.