The little known nuclear testing sites used by France in Algeria’s Sahara Desert

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More than sixty years after France’s nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara, radiation still lingers in the sand. At Reggane and In Ekker, plutonium traces remain where underground detonations vented into the open air. The sites were never fully decontaminated after France’s withdrawal in 1966. Algeria now monitors them with help from the International Atomic Energy Agency, but vast areas remain off-limits to herders and researchers.

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Mediterranean Mega Fires Burn Record Land as Climate Change Fuels Extreme Heat and Drought

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At the start of August, wildfires exploded across the Mediterranean basin, fueled by a wicked trio of extreme heat, drought and wind. In southern France, the Aude region around Carcassonne saw the country’s largest blaze since 1949, burning more than 16,000 hectares. In Spain, a 16-day heatwave — described by the national weather service as […]

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Philippe Starck’s Floating Mansion: The Hollow Spectacle of Modern Architecture

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The modern architectural world has become so absurd, so self-referential, that we are now finding whimsy in a grotesque pastiche of a mansion hoisted onto a soulless skyscraper—rather than restoring the very real, crumbling mansions that lie abandoned in the European countryside. This is art eating itself, an ouroboros of design where irony and spectacle matter more than substance or authenticity.

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Bernard Pras: Spot the Upcycled Objects in this Art

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Using only upcycled objects, French artist Bernard Pras reinterprets iconic images through the art of anamorphosis. Relying on old trash gathered near his installation sites, Bernard Pras from France assembles clothes and rags, wood, old record albums, dishes, broken toys (and anything else he can grab) to re-interpret pop-culture images. It’s far from ad hoc: […]

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Look “Fly” in Hubert Duprat’s Jewelry Made by Insects

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Duprat collects larvae from their natural habitat and brings them to his studio lab where he gently removes their own natural cases and places them in special tanks filled with various semi-precious and precious stones including turquoise, coral and lapis lazuli, as well as sapphires, pearls, rubies, and diamonds. They immediately tuck in constructing new protective cases, creating natural art in a scientific setting.

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France Says “Oui” to Masdar Renewables Deal

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Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber signed a joint declaration with the French government, paving the way for new collaboration on advancing clean energy projects in France. The deal facilitates co-development of new technology and allows for easier transnational exchange of expertise and experience. In also underscores existing cooperation on the Global Atlas of Renewable […]

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