New York City is covered in illegal scaffolding
Machine learning algorithms could help bring it down
The city that never sleeps is also, it seems, unable to take down scaffolding. New Yorkers have grown so sick of the ugly structures, and the accompanying ground-level cages in place to protect and divert pedestrians, that Eric Adams, the mayor, last year launched a campaign to clear them from the streets.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Construction sights”
From the March 16th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Elon Musk is causing problems for the Royal Society
His continued membership has led to a high-profile resignation
Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions
Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier
Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques
They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes
Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you
A mystery is finally being solved
Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
The two types of human laugh
One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else