Relationships

A public art installation makes it possible for people far apart to interact with each other. The ongoing project, "Portal—a Bridge to the United Planet", aims to create a sense of unity among people in different countries. 

Watch the short video below and listen for the answers to these questions:

1. When did the project start?

2. When the news of the portal "instantly went viral", how many people did it reach?

3. How big is the portal?

4. How does it work?

5. Which two countries were connected first?

In the United Kingdom, the United States and other developed countries, abused or neglected children are often sent to live with a foster family. But that rarely happens in Japan, one of the world's wealthiest and most progressive societies. 

The California-based architects Virginia San Fratello and Ronald Rael have transformed a stretch of the border fence between Mexico and the U.S. into an international playground. The pair installed three hot pink seesaws between the slats of the fence where Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, abuts Sunland Park, New Mexico, allowing people on both sides of the increasingly militarized border to play together.

More and more people are feeling both tired and lonely at work. In analyzing the General Social Survey of 2016, close to 50% of people say they are often or always exhausted due to work.

What’s more, there is a significant correlation between feeling lonely and work exhaustion: the more exhausted people are, the lonelier they feel.

Hours before a rare snowstorm hit the Hague in the Netherlands last month, Sergeant Erik Smit got a call from dispatch: A Jack Russell was locked out on a third-story balcony.

Neighbors heard it barking and knew that the owner, who had left for work at 7:30 A.M., would not be back until the end of the day, when the terrace would be covered by several inches of snow.

Sergeant Smit of the national police force rang a few doorbells and yelled some questions to residents, but no one could help. He then radioed for a 22-ton fire truck with a crane and platform.