Project PLATEAU, led by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, aims to develop and expand access to 3D models representing the diversity of cities across the country, enhancing urban resilience and addressing local challenges.
We created Earth in Action to provide a lens into what's happening on our planet, as it happens. Whether it's something typical, like the current air temperature, or an extreme event like a major dust storm, we wanted to provide an opportunity for people to see them.
On February 28, ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz started appearing on tracking screens in places they couldn't possibly be. They appeared to be sitting on airport runways, parked on Iranian land, and clustered at nuclear power plants. More than 1,100 commercial vessels had their navigation systems scrambled in a single day following US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, bringing a waterway that handles a fifth of the world's oil exports to a halt.
The new Immersive Navigation mode introduces a detailed 3D map that includes buildings, overpasses, crosswalks, traffic lanes, traffic lights, and stop signs. Google bills this new mode as being the most significant update in over a decade to the app's driving experience. According to the American IT giant, the changes should help drivers stay focused and informed on the road, with Maps giving fresh, real-world information and natural directions.
Starting today, ChatGPT will generate dynamic visuals when you ask it to explain select scientific and mathematical concepts, including the Pythagorean theorem, Coulomb's law and lens equations. When ChatGPT responds with an interactive visual, you'll be able to tweak any variables and the equation itself, allowing you to see how those changes affect the solution.
Earlier we did episode one of this with Grady Booch where we discussed the principled view of that what's changing and what remains unchanged, what is hyped and what is actually naturally coming with the AI changes. We also spoke about that what is the difference between the design and the architecture and what teams are focusing and what they might be missing.
Wildfire prevention has traditionally relied on blunt tools, such as rigid inspection cycles and emergency power shutoffs. Now a new generation of technology start-ups is pitching a more targeted approach: using artificial intelligence to help utility companies decide what to inspectand where to intervenebefore a spark becomes a blaze. The stakes are rising. In 2025 more than 77,000 wildfires were reported in the U.S.significantly more than the past decade's averageand burned more than five million acres.
They were trying to get to the bottom of how to diminish catalogue distribution without having a negative impact on store and online sales. They were also keen to define the geographic areas where digital content would work best and how to profile those areas to classify digital purchase behaviour. Together with Analytic Partners they were able to uncover opportunities to eliminate 22% of catalogues with negligible sales impact and increasing digital support in high-performing topologies, preserving€ 294 million in sales.
Between the lines: This isn't benevolence. It's customer acquisition. Mayors don't just buy "AI." They buy cloud, data modernization, cybersecurity, services, and long-term support - the tech stack underneath any serious deployment. In return, cities get tools that could fix long-standing challenges, Cris Turner, vice president of government affairs at Google told Axios last June when it first released its playbook.