Air Bonsai: ‘Floating’ maglev trees achieves $500,000 on Kickstarter

Hoshinchu, a Japanese start-up in Southern Japan, has gathered over $500,000 (£349,000) in funding for its new project Air Bonsai. The cultivation of the miniature plant is an ancient Japanese botanical art, but the company has added a hint of modern technology to make the plant floats with the power of magnetic levitation. Feb 1, 2016

Doomsday Clock remains at three minutes to midnight

Continued threats from climate change and nuclear arsenals prompted the scientists who maintain the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic countdown to global catastrophe, to keep the clock at three minutes to midnight. Jan 27, 2016