Prince fans: calibrate your purples. The late pop star’s estate has designated a murky shade of purple called “Love Symbol #2” as his official color.…
APE GLAMP
Rwanda’s newest luxury ecotourism property has a plan for saving endangered mountain gorillas
The most glamorous mountain gorilla “education center” has opened in Rwanda. Built in a remnant of an old volcano crater, the Bisate Lodge offers guests…
DESIGN CHALLENGE
Poorly designed public toilets aren’t just annoying, they’re dehumanizing
Most people will never see the world like Sinéad Burke does. Standing at just 3’ 5″ (105.5 cm), the 26-year old PhD student encounters obstacles…
SOUND OF SMÅSTARR
IKEA’s 25-minute soothing, tingly ASMR commercial is an eerily natural fit
“Listen as we explore the thread count of a fitted sheet…You can hear each thread.” A narrator’s warm, hypnotic voice wafts through a new IKEA…
BESPOKE AIR
The first smog-filtering bicycles will roll out in China by the end of the year
Millions of Chinese cyclists may soon be able to ditch their air-pollution masks. Dutch innovation firm Studio Roosegaarde has partnered with bike-share startup ofo to…
UNFURLED
Mauritania has a new flag
Mauritanians will soon be saluting a new flag. A proposal to add two red stripes to the West African country’s national emblem was approved by…
ZAHA FOR KIDS
A new book about architect Zaha Hadid teaches kids to be independent thinkers
The late “starchitect” Zaha Hadid should be a role model to many beyond the world of architecture—but her genius is often hidden in the dry…
TOURIST TRAPS
To catch its most notorious fugitives, Europe is making “Wanted” fliers friendlier and funnier
Europe’s transnational crime-fighting agency has a new strategy for catching criminals. Instead of grim “Wanted” posters, in-house designers at Europol have created 21 digital postcards…
STAND AND DELIVER
A TED speaker coach’s trick for more commanding presentations involves your toes
There’s nothing more distracting than a fidgety presenter. Mindless shifting, swaying and shuffling—it’s a common tick that can undermine hours of preparation. The traditional advice…
If EDM and stencil fonts don’t make border walls seem cool, then Paul Ryan doesn’t know what does
Paul Ryan is trying to give the US-Mexico border wall debate a fresh new look—but he’s going about it all wrong. Today, the US house…
GLOBAL SWEDISH
How the IKEA catalogue cracked what “domestic bliss” means in different cultures
For IKEA fans, the last week of July is like Christmas. Beginning July 31, IKEA’s highly-anticipated catalogue will appear in millions of mailboxes around the…
CLONE WARS
There’s a huge global black market for fake “designer” chairs
Last year, US customs officers seized over $4 million worth of fake chairs. It was the first year that the agency had ever seized containers-full…
