Before this week, there were three main theories for how the moon formed: The giant-impact hypothesis, most popular within the scientific community, which suggests that…
DETHRONED
China is quickly becoming the dominant force in startups
In 2014, China held only one spot and 28% of the combined valuation among the top 10 most valued startups in the world. The US,…
STREET FIGHT
China is beating back traffic in its most congested cities
In a heartbreaking scene from the 2015 Chinese documentary Under the Dome, Chinese journalist and documentary producer Chai Jing asked her six-year-old daughter about the…
DATA SAVES LIVES
Microsoft is enabling Alaska to reduce car deaths on icy roads
Around eight years ago, when he was still a station foreman at Alaska’s department of transportation, Dan Schacher noticed that winter temperatures began fluctuating between…
COSMIC LOTTERY
An amateur astronomer captured an impossible photo of an exploding star
While taking a series of short-exposure photographs to test his 16-inch telescope, Argentinian amateur astronomer Victor Buso caught the image of an initial burst of…
INNOVATE
Austin wants to use blockchain technology to help the homeless
Stolen and lost identification often keeps the 7,000 homeless in Austin, Texas, from getting critical services such as medical care, housing, and potential employment. To…
GAME OF TRUST
China is poised to lead in self-driving cars—and it’s not because of technology
China may adopt self-driving cars faster than the US, but not because of any technological advantage. A survey released Tuesday (Feb. 20) by TÜV Rheinland,…
PRESERVATION
Now that most artifacts are digital, software experts need to play archeologist
We remember our history through objects. We see the Gutenberg Bible and recall the revolution of the printing press, we see the hand-scrawled lyrics of…
ON IT
Stoneman Douglas survivors are emerging as the sanest voices on gun control
It happens like clockwork now in America. Yesterday (Feb. 15), 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz stormed into his former high school in Parkland, Florida with a semiautomatic…
THE ACT OF DISAPPEARING
The world’s orangutan population has been cut in half in 16 years
Orangutans—the only great ape species in Asia—are one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. They share 97% of our DNA, are born with…
GALACTIC EXPLORERS
Scientists have discovered nearly 100 new planets outside of our solar system
Exoplanet hunting has become a dedicated field of astronomy ever since 1995 when European astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz discovered a planet outside of…
QZ&A
Siemens wants to make your city work as well as your washing machine
Most people probably think about home appliances or power plants when they consider the German powerhouse, Siemens AG. In the last few years, however, the…
