Floating offshore farms should increase production of seaweed
Sep 29th 2021IN MANY PLACES where seaweed used to thrive, often growing in vast “forests”, it is disappearing. The cause is global warming, which, by heating the ocean’s upper layer, reduces its density through thermal expansion—thus making it more buoyant. That extra buoyancy means it is less likely to mix with cooler, denser and more…
Tyrannosaurs may have nibbled each other when mating
Sep 29th 2021HOW DO PORCUPINES mate? Very carefully! An old joke, but one that applies even more forcefully to creatures with big, sharp teeth than it does to those with big, sharp spines. And few creatures have had teeth bigger and sharper than those of Tyrannosaurus rex.How tyrannosaurs mated will never be known for sure.…
How a housing downturn could wreck China’s growth model
ADD “MALICIOUS price-cutting” to the growing lexicon of Xi Jinping’s China. The phrase has cropped up in the past but is being increasingly used by provincial authorities to decry property developers’ attempts to slash home prices. Some developers, desperate to bring in revenue, are offering discounts of as much as 30%. Officials, fearing that the…
Kishida Fumio will become Japan’s new prime minister
KISHIDA FUMIO, a former foreign minister, won the election today to become president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Given the party’s dominance in parliament, the victory will also make him Japan’s new prime minister. Mr Kishida (pictured, right) defeated Kono Taro, another former foreign minister, in a second round run-off, after none of…
Are investors becoming warier of Chinese assets?
FOR THE average investor, China is the source of all sorts of uncertainty. A regulatory crackdown on social-media and education firms has sent stocks tumbling. Companies with exposure to property are suffering as a result of the government’s clampdown on leverage and a liquidity crisis at Evergrande, a large developer. A ban on cryptocurrency transactions…
Japan readies itself for an unpredictable ballot
THE FOUR candidates for the presidency of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) come from different corners of the party’s big tent. Takaichi Sanae (pictured, left) is a nationalist who wants to become the first female prime minister, but opposes allowing married couples to keep separate surnames. Kono Taro (pictured, bottom) is the American-educated scion…
Beware the backlash as financiers muscle into rental property
Sep 25th 2021BERLINERS, MORE than four-fifths of whom rent their homes, have an unusual opportunity on September 26th to vent their anger over the rising cost of housing. A referendum, on the same day as Germany’s national and municipal elections, will give them a say on whether or not the city should in effect “expropriate”…
How threatening are the high levels of corporate debt?
Sep 23rd 2021ON SEPTEMBER 20TH the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the central banks’ central bank, released data showing that corporate borrowing around the world remains at an all-time high. A notable case is in China, where there is even more business borrowing as a share of GDP than in Japan at the peak of…
South Korea’s plan to fight fake news could hobble real journalism
WHEN LAWMAKERS from South Korea’s ruling Minjoo party discuss their plan to impose tougher penalties on the media for reporting “fake news”, they stress that they merely want to safeguard vulnerable citizens. “It’s the least we can do to protect the people from fake news,” one legislator told reporters earlier this month. “We have to…
Love hotels are blossoming in India
LOCALS CALL it “lover’s paradise”. Upvan, a picturesque lake in Thane, a satellite city of Mumbai, attracts its share of joggers, cyclists and pot-smoking college students. But mostly the lane surrounding the lake is filled with young couples getting cosy under umbrellas. Every Indian city has such spots, where skittish lovebirds find privacy out in…