Science
Why wet streets look better at night
Every cinematographer knows the trick. The physics behind it was worked out by a lighthouse engineer two hundred years ago.
By Ruth Adeyemi · 2 min read
In this issue
Craft
The night shift at the last letterpress on Little Lonsdale Street
A tonne and a half of Leipzig iron, a case of 14-point Caslon and a printer who was told she'd go broke but be happy.
By Tom Kavanagh · 2 min read
Cities
What the reading room remembers
A hundred and twelve desks under a dome, and a waiting list. Why a library built in 1913 is the hardest seat in the city to get.
By Leila Moradi · 2 min read
Cities
I sold the car. A year on two wheels in a hilly, humid city
4,180 kilometres, one cargo bike, a spreadsheet and a five-year-old with opinions about route choice.
By Sam Ferreira · 2 min read
Science
The towns turning their lights off for the stars
Coonabarabran replaced 1,100 streetlights and found that darkness was good for business.
By Daniel Okoro · 2 min read
Nature
Listening to a forest that drinks the clouds
On the Lamington plateau, forty microphones are recording what happens as the cloud base creeps higher.
By Ruth Adeyemi · 2 min read
One long read, every other Thursday
No news, no hot takes. Just the next issue, the day it's published, and a letter from the editor.