Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Worker-owned restaurants, the first 3D-printed hotel, a zero-carbon DIY design movement and more

The First 3D-Printed Hotel in the US On 62 acres in Marfa, Texas, design firm BIG, 3D-printing startup Icon and veteran hotelier Liz Lambert are building the first 3D-printed hotel in the US. Situated alongside Lambert’s “nomadic hotel” and campground (called El Cosmico), the new extension will further transform the site—an innovative desert oasis featuring a sprawling infinity pool, cabanas and mesmerizing views. To build …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

An orchid discovery in plain sight, upcycling 4,000 plastic bottles into a home, a collision of art and electronics and more

New But Ancient Orchid Species Discovered in Japan Japan’s most recognizable orchid, the Spiranthes australis, has been cherished for centuries (it even features in The Man’yōshū, the oldest collection of Japanese waka poetry, dating back to 759AD) and it’s just been discovered to have an almost identical twin: the Spiranthes hachijoensis. The flower was actually hiding in plain sight—in private gardens, balconies, parks and more—and …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Volcanoes on Venus, the history of reggaeton, gravity-free drinking in space and more from around the web

The First Complete Map of an Insect Brain A team led by John Hopkins University and the University of Cambridge have completed the most expansive map of a brain to date. The diagram, which traces every neuron and connection of a larval fruit fly (whose biology is comparable with humans), took 12 years to map and is expected to inform future brain research. To survey the …