New Atlas

ARCHITECTURE "Modern day Machu Picchu" hailed world's best new building Peru's Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC), by Irish firm Grafton Architects, has been declared the winner of the inaugural RIBA International Prize. The project beat five other top-tier buildings, including works by Zaha Hadid Architects and David Chipperfield Architects.   Read more AIRCRAFT Airbus A350-1000 makes maiden flight The Airbus A350-1000 made its maiden flight yesterday. The A350-1000, the longest and largest of the three A350 XWB base models, took off from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, France, and flew for four-hours and 18-minutes, above southwestern France before touching back down at 3:00 pm.  Read more AROUND THE HOME Green guide 2016: Gifts and gear for gardeners ​Everybody loves a nice garden, and the holidays are the perfect time to get onto that outdoor project you’ve been putting off. We’ve rounded up some of the best gardening gear for seasoned green thumbs, or those just starting to dabble in the dirt.  Read more AUTOMOTIVE Interview: Anh-Dung Le on the ingenious ONUSblue alcohol and drug detection patch The ONUSblue alcohol detection patch tells you when you've reached the legal threshold and has the potential to save millions of lives. The company's product roadmap is even more interesting with the detection of marijuana, methamphetime and a range of illegal recreational substances to follow.  Read more MUSIC Modern Relics: The rise and fall (and rise again) of the Sony Walkman In 1980 the Sony Walkman arrived in the United States and completely altered how people consumed music. Our latest episode of Modern Relics looks at the rise, fall and ultimate rebirth of this influential device.  Read more ENVIRONMENT 100-year-old expedition logbooks reveal Antarctic sea ice patterns ​In the early years of the 20th century, several teams of explorers were racing to reach a new frontier: the South Pole. Now 100 years later, their logbooks have helped piece together a new discovery concerning Antarctic sea ice coverage.   Read more MEDICAL Smart balaclava would help athletes avoid chest infections in the depths of winter  If they don't mind looking a bit like a Mortal Kombat character, a new electric balaclava featuring a built-in heating area around the nose and mouth would let athletes keep training like a champ in the cold while lowering the risk of contracting chest infections.   Read more GOOD THINKING How slippy are thy boots? The MAA will tell you ​​When you're shopping for winter boots, it would be good to know how well they do on ice – and there hasn't been a standard rating system in place for that until now, in the form of the Maximum Achievable Angle (MAA) testing method.   Read more SCIENCE Souped-up iPhone camera sees what others can't ​Hyperspectral cameras allow people to "see the invisible." Unfortunately they also tend to be big and expensive, although researchers are working on making them smaller and cheaper. To that end, Finnish scientists recently succeeded in converting an iPhone camera into one.   Read more BIOLOGY Coconut crabs have a killer clamp Scientists have quantified the force behind the mighty pincers of the coconut crab, finding that not only does the animal have the strongest pinching force of any crustacean, its claws might match it with the jaws of most land animals, too.   Read more MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Google Pixel XL vs. LG V20 If you're shopping for an Android smartphone this holiday season, two of your best options are Google's Pixel XL​ and the LG V20​. While the Pixel is probably the better all-around choice, the V20 will better serve some customers. Let's compare their features and specs.   Read more HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS Tiny sled-pod puts you under the Northern Lights in the Arctic Tundra If you want to see the Northern Lights, there are hotels or even igloo villages you can stay at. For something different, though, how about jumping in a tiny sled-pod and being towed by snowmobile to the middle of nowhere, where you can marvel at the spectacle with virtually no-one else around?  Read more DRONES Wonderfully pointless video demonstrates how to cook Thanksgiving dinner using a drone It slices, dices, peels and chops. It fries and mixes, and it can even butter your buns, so to speak. Drone manufacturer Autel Robotics has released a video showing how you can use a quadcopter to make your Thanksgiving dinner - if you don't mind a huge cleanup job afterwards.   Read more DEALS Best Black Friday deals: Laptops, TVs, Cameras, Drones and more With a ridiculous volume of impressive deals online there is no need to step outside and go to war with the crowds – you can snag some significant tech bargains from the comfort of home with our guide to the best Black Friday discounts.   Read more BICYCLES Together at last? Bike lights and a cable lock ​Unless you use lights that are semi-permanently attached to your bike, you generally have to bring them inside with you when leaving your bike parked. Don't want to bother? Well, that's where Lemurlock comes in. It combines a headlight and tail light with a steel cable lock.   Read more ENVIRONMENT Smog scrubbing tower cleans up in Beijing After debuting in the Dutch cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam last year, Studio Roosegaarde's Smog Free Tower has taken on its biggest challenge yet. It opened in Beijing, China, at the end of September and, in 41 days, cleaned 30,000,000 cu m (1,060,000,000 cu ft) of air.   Read more SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR NEW ATLAS READERS Black Friday’s Best Deal Is 76% Off the Revolutionary Lytro Illum Camera Bundle The Lytro Illum dares to be different, boasting even more robust features than its 1st Gen predecessor and a sleek design reminiscent of professional DSLRs. How? Most cameras capture the position of light rays, producing your average static 2D image. But the Illum's cutting-edge technology records the direction of these rays, generating images you can later refocus, change perspective within, or view in 3D. You can essentially revisit the scene of the photo--meaning you’ll never miss snapping the perfect shot again.   Read more