Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Emissions-free cement, a women-only spacewalk, Soviet-era train stations, a very rare diamond and more from around the web

Google Maps Adds Vocal Guidance for Visually Impaired Users Now available on Google Maps iOS and Android apps (one day after World Sight Day), a more detailed voice feature will update and guide visually impaired people more effectively. To turn on the feature, access the settings page within the app and toggle through the navigation features and turn on detailed voice guidance under the walking …

Archaeology, Camels and Cars: From The Dead Sea to Petra

We ride with archaeologist Sarah Parcak and Infiniti to the ancient city in Jordan

It’s early morning in Jordan’s Wadi Rum and we’re loading our gear into the fleet of Infiniti QX80s, backed by only the sounds coming from doors opening and closing shut, and feet shuffling silently in the red sand. Despite the bright LED lights of our fleet SUVs, an observatory’s worth of glowing stars remain visible above, shining down in the pre-dawn desert. As I sit …

First-Ever Diamond Within a Diamond Found in Russia

Fittingly dubbed the “Russian Nesting Doll Diamond,” this tabular-shaped diamond within a diamond was found in the Nyurba mine in Yakutia, Russia. Perhaps the world’s first-ever instance of such a gem, an outer diamond (.62 carats) holds a smaller one (.02) carats within, but the two differ enough so that the smaller rock rattles around inside. Because this is such a rare occurrence, researchers have yet …