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Greenlands coastline is huge: a sprawling 27,394-mile labyrinth of fjords, glaciers, and ice-choked waters, longer than Earths circumference. Its length and topography makes it one of the planets longest and most logistically hostile to patrol in peacetime. Now, with countries like Russia and the United Statess neo-imperialist plans to grab as many Arctic natural resources as possible, it is one of Europes frontlines. Which is why people like Jens Martin Skibstedglobal partner and VP of foresight and mobility at design studio Manyoneare thinking about how to better protect a wonderland that is key for the future Denmark and the European Union.For decades, Denmark has relied on the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol (yes, soldiers using sleds and good boys), satellites, and sporadic aerial surveys to monitor this vast expanse. These methods are slow, costly, and imprecise. For example, in 2023, a tsunami in Dickson Fjord went unnoticed for a year, clearly exposing the systemic gaps in this mixed surveillance system. [Image: Manyone]Skibsted and his design team originally thought drones could be a solution. Drones are efficient, they can act in swarms, and they can be fitted with cameras and sensors that can feed an artificial intelligence system to keep track of that vast ice landscape at all times. But traditional drones have problems. The big ones are long range but expensive to operate and require human crews. The small ones dont have enough range: Their batteries run out after a short time and they need to return to a base to reload. Skibsted and his team thought that they needed a new solutionone that could fly, so they could quickly cover large patches of territory, but also one that could operate entirely on its own, landing, recharging, and taking off again. The AquaGlider, as they called their drone, is a solar-powered autonomous drone. It reimagines the USSRs ekranoplan, a large airplane-like vehicle once feared by NATO, which the Red Army wanted to use for coastal invasions. Its origins trace back to the 1960s, when Soviet engineer Rostislav Alexeyev designed a hybrid aircraft-boat that exploited ground effect, an aerodynamic phenomenon where wings gain increased lift and reduced drag when flying within one wingspan of a flat surface. By skimming 1030 feet above water, these mammoth craft, like the 550-ton Caspian Sea Monster, achieved fuel efficiency double that of airplanes, hauling military assets at 300-plus mph. Soviet GEVs were plagued by instability in rough seas, navigational hazards, and political abandonment after the USSRs collapse. [Image: Manyone]Its ironic that a machine inspired by Soviet ingenuity could become Europes first line of defense in a region where Russia is rapidly militarizing (and which Trump also wants to control). But Skibsted saw potential in this forgotten tech to create a new kind of vehicle. The proposed AquaGlider would fly on its own for weeks at a time, taking off and landing on water; its designed to recharge while floating thanks to solar panels, and avoids storms by simply sitting on the water rather than flying. The drones make the most efficient use of energy, dozens of them zipping along the huge coastline a few feet above the water to absorb information and transmit it to base, surveilling everything from illegal fishing to Russian submarine activity.[Image: Manyone]Engineering perpetual motionThe AquaGlider is basically a wing that uses two propellers to speed forward, trapping air against the ocean or ice. This creates an air cushion that allows it to glide with minimal energy. This ground effect lets it travel twice as far as a conventional aircraft on the same power. During takeoff, retractable hydrofoils lift the hull above waves, reducing drag until the craft transitions to flight. If storms surge, electric thrusters enable vertical takeoff, though Skibsted told me in an email interview that this zaps the battery and is a last resort.[Image: Manyone]Solar panels cloak its wings and underbelly, harvesting energy even in twilighta critical feature near the Arctic Circle, where summer brings 24-hour sunlight and sometimes the sun rays go almost parallel to the ground for most of the day. Still, Greenlands winters, with months of darkness, pose a problem. Here, the AquaGlider docks with buoys that store energy from waves and offshore wind farms. These buoys double as communication relays, transmitting data to satellites or coastal stations.[Image: Manyone]Durability is baked into its graphene-coated composite hull, which resists corrosion and iceberg collisions. It avoids obstacles like any driverless car, Skibsted tells me, relying on Lidar and thermal sensors to navigate. For icinga fatal flaw in Soviet designsthe drone borrows deicing systems from modern aircraft designed to work under extreme conditions, like those of Air Greenlands he says, using heated surfaces or pneumatic boots to shed frost.[Image: Manyone]The geopolitical iceberg aheadFor now, however, after all the technical work done with an unnamed drone manufacturer that was Manyones client, the AquaGlider remains a design on paper. The client aborted the project because they were too busy making drones for the Ukraine war, Skibsted says. So, basically we own it ourselves. We dont know what will happen, but Denmark is investing heavily in the arctic.Indeed. Denmark knows that things may get really bad. Russias Arctic ambitions loom large. Its shadow fleet patrols the GIUK Gap (Greenland-Iceland-U.K.), mapping underwater cables and wind farms for potential sabotage. Danish intelligence warned that Russia could mobilize for regional war within five years, which now have been updated to just two if NATO appears divided, according to Troels Lund Poulsen, the Danish defense minister: Russia is likely to be more willing to use military force in a regional war against one or more European NATO countries if it perceives NATO as militarily weakened or politically divided. In response, Denmarks 20242033 defense agreement has committed $570 million to maritime upgrades, including autonomous drones, underwater sensors, and 21 new Home Guard vessels.[Image: Manyone]The AquaGlider fits neatly into this strategya low-cost, persistent patrol akin to Ukraines low cost maritime drones, which have destroyed or damaged at least 26 Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea since the war began including the Red Navys Moskva flagship. But Denmarks immediate investments are pragmatic: four minelaying ships and underwater drones will deploy by 2030. But theres also a section of the budget that will be dedicated to autonomous surveillance crafts that can monitor the coastlines, Skibsted tells me. Thats where AquaGlider can fit. It makes sense from a design perspective. It will be up to the engineers to make it a reality, if it picks up the interest of the Danish government.
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An upcoming exhibition at Londons Design Museum will let guests take a journey through Wes Andersons never-before-seen personal archivesfrom the coat worn by Gwenyth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums to the original Grand Budapest Hotel model and the actual puppets used in the stop-motion film Fantastic Mr. Fox. The exhibition, titled Wes Anderson: The Archives, includes more than 600 objects collected by the iconic filmmaker over the past 30 years. It opens on November 21 and runs through the following July, and advance tickets are already on sale. Aside from a smaller initial showing at la Cinémathque française, a collaborator on the exhibition, this will be the first time that Andersons archives have been displayed. In fact, most of the items have rested in storage ever since the shooting of their respective films. Max Fischer’s Rushmore Swiss Army knife. [Photo: Roger Do Minh/ the Design Museum] An extensive archive Andersons personal object curation began after the making of his first feature-length film, Bottle Rocket, which was released in 1996. Andersons meticulous collecting of these items began when he realized that everything that had been made for Bottle Rocket was owned and then sold off by the films production company, the release explains. So, from his second feature filmRushmorehe personally took care of every item after shooting concluded, ensuring he was the guardian of all items crafted for each movie. Model of The Grand Budapest Hotel [Photo: Thierry Stefanopoulos/La Cinémathque française] Because of this concerted effort, the Design Museum now has access to items from 1998s Rushmore all the way up to Andersons most recent project, the 2023 short film anthology collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More. Richie Tenenbaum poster, The Royal Tenenbaums. [Photo: Richard Round-Turner/ the Design Museum] Some of the most recognizable pieces in the collection include props, costumes, and puppets from Andersons films. From The Grand Budapest Hotel, theres the original candy-pink model of the titular hotel, standing several feet tall; the films Boy with Apple painting, which becomes a central character in itself; and the jaunty concierge costume worn by Ralph Fienness Gustave H. From The Royal Tenenbaums, theres the much-emultated tan fur coat worn by Gwyneth Paltrows Margot Tenenbaum, as well as a poster of Richie Tenenbaum thats shown in the film. And from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, costumes from the full ensemble cast will be on display together. Miniature washing machines, Isle Of Dogs. [Photo: Richard Round-Turner/ the Design Museum] Fans of Andersons animated stop-motion films, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, will get an opportunity that might be the most exciting of all: coming face-to-face with the characters themselves. Rat puppet, Arch Model Studio, Fantastic Mr. Fox. [Photo: Richard Round-Turner/ the Design Museum] A glimpse of Wes Anderson’s creative mind In addition to props from the films, Wes Anderson: The Archives plans to offer a peek into Andersons work process and lesser-known details from his career. Starting with the earliest point in his artistic evolution, the museum will show a screening of Andersons Bottle Rocket short film, the original 13-minute version of the eventual feature-length movie starring Owen and Luke Wilson. The short serves as the very first example of Andersons now-iconic style, and is often cited as the launchpad for his later fame. Wes Anderson’s personal notebooks from The Royal Tenenbaums. [Photo: Roger Do Minh/ Wes Anderson] Also on view will be a series of Andersons annotated notebooks from the set of The Royal Tenenbaums, as well as early sketches, storyboards, and polaroids from set. In short, its a Wes Anderson superfans most far-fetched dream, all contained in one museum showing.
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Hawa Hassan was only 4-years-old when fighting forced her and her family from their home in Somalia. Hassan spent the next three years in Kenya, where some of her earliest memories were of running around tents in a refugee camp with her siblings and helping her mother stock the goods store shed opened there. When she was seven, Hassans mother sent her to live with family friends in Seattle. It would be another 15 years before she saw her family again. A lot of my childhood was spent wondering about my own background and my own identity, said Hawa, a chef and entrepreneur who now lives in New York. For many years, I had this deep desire to find people like myself and tell that story. [Photo: courtesy Ten Speed Press] Hassans new cookbook, Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Communities from Eight Countries Impacted by War is the fruit of that longing. To write it, Hassan spent three years travelling and interviewing dozens of chefs and entrepreneurs from Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, El Salvador, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, and Yemencountries perhaps better known to outsiders for civil strife than rich ingredients and complex flavors. The chapters are divided by country, each one offering a brief history; lush photos of daily life; several recipes; and at least one interview with a local grower, restaurateur, or community organizer. My number-one goal is to tell a different story about what it means to be from these places, Hassan said. I hope that when people pick up this book, they come for the recipes, but they stay for the stories. In the DRC she spoke with a baker who found success delivering mikateor doughnutsto customers during the pandemic. A brewer from Baghdad reflects on building a new life in New York and highlights masgoufa grilled fish with tamarind sauceas a must-try Iraqi dish. Though many of the people she spoke with have been displaced, Hassan said she intentionally focussed on food traditions and everyday life rather than conflict. This was much more about the idea of home rather than what the temperature of a country is, or what your politics are, she said. Mikey Muhanna, a social entrepreneur featured in Hassans Lebanon chapter, said that perspective came as a relief. I was apprehensive at the beginning, he said. There’s a million orientalizing books, like, let’s go to war-torn countries and talk about real people on the ground, but the more I got to speak to her, and her collaborator [photographer Riley Dengler], I realized that they were coming from a place of real curiosity. He said Hassans work offers a blueprint for how to report on communities other than ones own. Its really powerful to see somebody who has the life perspective that Hawa has tell these stories with integrity, patience, and curiosity, he said. Hassan traces the roots of Setting a Place for Us more a decade back to a six-month stay in Norway, where her mother and siblings eventually settled. After so many years apart, Hassan said she had to learn to find her place again in her family. That’s when I started thinking about how I know it’s not only my family that has these big stories to tell about being othered or impacted by war or by family separation, she said. Hassan was working as a model in New York at the time, but in Norway she spent hours in the kitchen with her mother making Somali food. When she returned to the U.S. in 2015 she started to lay the groundwork for her company, Basbaas, a condiment company with offerings like tamarind date sauce and coconut cilantro chutney. In 2020, she published her debut cookbook, In Bibi’s Kitchen, which she cowrote with Julia Turshen. A collection of recipes from grandmothers in eight eastern African countries, it won the James Beard Foundation award for Best International Cookbook. The sauce [company] has helped me to inch my way onto the American dining table, and tell a story of not just being a Somalian girl, but being an African girl, she said. She saw In Bibis Kitchen as an expansion of that storyoffering a glimpse of womens daily lives in East Africa. Following the success of In Bibis Kitchen, she was approached by Food Network TV to host her own show. She starred in Hawa at Home, where she cooked dishes like Doro Wat and made piri piri sauce, bringing East African food to new audiences. Her new book is a more intimate exploration of her life storyone that relates to millions of displaced people around the world. Setting a Place for Us is the next layer of who I am that I’m willing to share, which is a person who’s been impacted by civil unrest, displacement, and family separation, Hassan said. But despite the heavy subject matter, the book is largely optimistica celebration of the places people have returned to after years away or that that they continue to long for from afar. My philosophy is we have no sad stories to tell, Hassan said. Setting a Place for Us: Recipes and Stories of Displacement, Resilience, and Communities from Eight Countries Impacted by War will be published on Tuesday, May 13, by Ten Speed Press.
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