Features

  Mainz / DPA Gardeners at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany are attempting to bring to life a 15th-century herb garden partly based on Arab medical traditions. In their botanical gardens they’ve planted more than 70 plants featured in a 1485 book — published in the German city of Mainz — called Gart der Gesundheit (Garden of ...

  Accra / AFP Excess and waste are usually considered symptomatic of the affluent West but trained chef Elijah Amoo Addo knows these are problems too in his home country, Ghana.One day he saw a homeless man collecting food scraps to feed others in the capital, Accra. Watching someone pick up food no-one else would eat for people no-one was ...

  Eurajoki / AFP Deep underground on a lush green island, Finland is preparing to bury its highly-radioactive nuclear waste for 100,000 years — sealing it up and maybe even throwing away the key.Tiny Olkiluoto, off Finland’s west coast, will become home to the world’s costliest and longest-lasting burial ground, a network of tunnels called Onkalo — Finnish for “The ...

  Bloomberg Developers first placed solar panels on water years ago to address land-based space constraints. Now, they’re finding floating plants may be more efficient. In a year-long study in Hyogo prefecture north of Osaka, solar panels installed on a reservoir generated 14 percent more power than those set up on the rooftop of an office building, according to the ...

  Bloomberg Growing up in a fishing village along the Yangtze River in Chongqing, PengJianhu used to clamber down to the water from his home perched on wooden stilts and nestled into the riverbank’s steep cliffs. For Peng, the nation’s largest river system is an economic wellspring, linking his home to bustling coastal markets some 1,400 km (870 miles) to ...

  Ottobrunn / DPA The race is on to produce an aviation fuel from algae that could power the passenger jets of the future. By creating a cycle that absorbs as much CO2 as it generates, algae fuel would cut out fossil fuel and help beat global warming. Thomas Brueck heads one of several research groups working on different projects. ...

  Marcel Schwantes / TNS I hear a lot of language about how leaders “drive performance.” It’s a popular business buzz term. Yet over the years, I’ve learned that driving no longer holds a favorable place in democratic,collaborative cultures.If you think about it, we drive cattle, cars and trucks; they have no say because “we’re in charge.” We push them ...

  Dubai / AFP Domes inspired by the royal palaces of India rise from a new Bollywood theme park under construction in Dubai, part of a drive to lure millions more tourists to the emirate. It already boasts opulent shopping malls and numerous luxury resorts, but the Gulf city-state has even grander ambitions and the film industry is centre stage. ...

  Nairobi / AFP Africa’s best barista doesn’t drink coffee, nor even really like it, yet two-time Kenyan champ Martin Shabaya won the Africa round and next month competes at the World Barista Championships. Shabaya, 26, has only been pouring coffee for five years but his success is indicative of a country that — unlike him — is learning to ...

  Taipei / AFP Reducing errors made during surgery, bringing school books to life, enabling us to browse shops from the comfort of home — virtual reality is not just about gaming, it will change our lives, according to some tech leaders. “VR” is the buzz industry at Asia’s largest tech fair, Computex, being held in Taiwan’s capital Taipei this ...