Last year we covered how early blockchain startup Propy planned to use the technology to smooth real-world real estate sales by introducing the concept of smart contracts. It went on to actually sell an apartment as an NFT, using the NFT to effectively rubber stamp the legal process. However, that apartment was in Ukraine. Today it launches the whole concept in the U.S., an entirely different k...

600+ deals and ~1,400 climate-curious investors in climate tech’s breakout year.In the last two years, we’ve written about the rise and fall of SPACmania, the climate capital stack, recent tempered public markets, and broken news on hot deals & funds. What’s stayed steady? The flow of venture capital dollars going towards climate tech. Our mid-year update measured $16b of investment acro...

Google has been working on a "new interaction language" for years, and today it's sharing a peek at what it's developed so far. The company is showcasing a set of movements it's defined in its new interaction language in the first episode of a new series called In the lab with Google ATAP. That acronym stands for Advanced Technology and Projects, and it's Google's more-experimental division tha...

Oil supply. The oil price is spiking as Russia's invasion of Ukraine intensifies.The price of Brent crude oil, the widely-used global benchmark, spiked to more than $113 per barrel this week — its highest level in almost 7 years and a far cry from the (briefly) negative oil prices that we saw in April 2020.The big oil playersAlthough the west has yet to target Russia's enormous energy sector s...

Belgrade has an innovative tool in the fight against dirty air - this so-called "liquid tree".The first urban photo-bioreactor in Serbia, "LIQUID 3", has been placed in front of the Municipality of Stari Grad in Makedonska Street in Belgrade.It's Serbia's first urban photo-bioreactor, a solution for tackling greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.It contains six hundred litres of wa...

Bang & Olufsen Steering Wheel Concept paints a wild picture of the future of infotainment and smart cars.In a future where cars are less about driving and more about riding, the Bang & Olufsen Steering Wheel Speaker lets you have your cake and eat it too. Designed by Alexandre Picard, the steering wheel/speaker concept is a wild idea that dabbles with an entertainment-driven future for...

According to climate scientists worldwide, global warming and the inevitable climate change can lead to severe catastrophic disasters. The only way to avoid this is to reduce greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global temperature rise must be limited to 1.5oC. To achieve this, current CO2 emissions must drop by...

Meta wants to enable 3D calls for everything from VR headsets to smartphones.Ever since Star Wars first showed space wizards talking to holograms, calling someone and chatting with their 3D simulacrum has become a staple of science fiction. But based on a patent application published in January, it sure looks like FacebookMeta is trying to make 3D conversations a reality right now — even if no...

1. Markets : Very few people expected Putin to invade — investors included.2. Energy : Why EU dependence on Russian energy is important. 3. Ukrainian opinion : How have Ukrainians felt towards Russia historically? It's hard to overstate the political, economic and — most importantly — the human impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After just over 24 hours of fighting hundreds of casualtie...