The Line: an ambitious city layout by Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 (image from Neom)
Seen as one of the most ambitious city construction projects in modern history, The Line in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 has inspired minds with its unique approach to city building—but it has also drawn scorn from critics who dismissed it as impractical.
Despite the detractors, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has continued funding the construction of the city that (if successful) could ultimately cement his place in human history.
Video explaining The Line in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
The B1M does a fantastic job explaining the inspiration for The Line (which has roots in cyberpunk) and the decision to use mirror walls (inspired by an actual building).
Whether the project will succeed or fail depends on what happens next year, as the world awaits to see if the first phase of the project rises out of the desert in 2026.
Dami Lee explaining how an Ecumenopolis would function
What was interesting about this video was not only the explanation of the potential hazards & difficulties of urbanizing an entire planet, but also the revelation on how much of Earth is urbanized—& the extent was very surprising.
Diagram showing how much of Earth is urbanized in 2025
Interestingly, Dami Lee projected how many people could live on planet Earth if all available land were urbanized at a reasonable density.
Diagram showing urbanization of all land on Earth, & the population densityDiagram showing the population of all land on Earth if it was fully urbanized
Complete urbanization of the entire surface area is unlikely (and not wise), as people need green spaces for psychological reasons and farms for biological ones, so a better diagram was displayed.
Diagram rethinking population density & the urbanization of planet Earth
Overall,, a planet with a trillion people would probably not be welcomed by the masses. However a planet hosting a couple of hundred billion people would (in theory) be feasible & potentially sustainable (but probably not enjoyable).
It was a fun video to watch, & I enjoyed Dami Lee explaining a potentially crowded future through two fictional worlds that serve as (albeit horrifying) examples.
In our never-ending age of entertainment & chaos, we can often feel isolated, dealing with our issues—even national ones.
What I enjoy most about this video by We Love Animals is that when one herd was unable to resolve the life-and-death issue of the little elephant, another herd came to the rescue.
Elephant herd rescuing baby elephant who was stuck upside down
The herd was surrounded by a pride of lions looking for an easy snack. Sadly the elephant mother (who refused to give up on her child) was driven away from her baby by her own herd due to the desperation of dehydration.
However, another herd (which probably heard the mother’s cries) was nearby, and the matriarch came to the rescue of the baby elephant despite the latter not being part of her herd.
Moral of the Story
As people, we need to do what we can to help each other, but doing so starts with empathy. We live in desperate times, when resources are becoming scarce & the cost of living is increasing.
Simply fighting amongst ourselves & leaving the weak to perish alone by forcing away help may appear efficient (from a survival of the fittest mindset), but it is ultimately cruel.
During these difficult times, we need to help each other. If that assistance is beyond the ability of our current neighbors, factions, region, etcetera, then we need to accept help from others outside of our community in order to survive.
Unless you have ignored the news for the past decade, you are probably aware of the conjoined twins, Abby & Brittany. The conjoined twins recently were married (congratulations!!! 🥂) & are living their lives like everyday folks in America.
Conjoined Twins married & enjoying life
Recently, a video was posted explaining the biological science behind how the twins’ fused bodies function and how they harmoniously function together as one.
Anatomy of Abby & Brittany’s body
It is fascinating that each has independent hearts, a pair of lungs, stomachs, brains, and spinal cords—and they share three kidneys.
They also had a third arm at birth, but doctors removed that around the time when they were born.
Aside from being fused, the conjoined twins live full, active lives. However, if you see them in person, please refrain from photographing them, as they apparently do not like it.
Happy New Years everyone! I pray everyone enjoyed celebrating New Years Day, & that they are looking forward towards improving in 2025 (come what may).
I know New Years Resolutions are really popular, & if you are wondering what mine are, it is not to make any! 🤪
Joking aside, I do want to improve myself physically throughout the year, & strive to thrive in 2025, as we all know what is coming near the end of January.
You do not know‽ It starts with a “T” & is five letters long. It is Trump Taxes! 😜 (filing starts on January 27th in the United States 🇺🇸)
People dancing on New Years Day (AI image)
New Years Resolutions From The Fediverse
So I was scrolling through the Fediverse & I came across some interesting New Years Resolutions people are mentioning.
My New Year’s resolution is to make it through 2025 without accidentally filling a form out with 2024 as the date.
My 2025 New Year’s resolution is to own more armor and swords ✨ (@taint_behavin on Threads)
That sounds cool!
My New Year’s resolution is to train a rat to draft court filings like we’re in a legal ratatouille (@[email protected] on Threads)
I loathe rats 🐀 so no way! 🙅🏾♂️
2024 was very challenging. My New Year’s resolution is to do a better job concealing my New Jersey drone fleet. (@kyle on Mister Computer)
😂 If you will not tell, then I will not either!
I saw someone recently say instead of New Year Resolutions they make a bingo card of things they’d like to do/experiences they’d like to have and it worked much better. (@thomas on PHPC Social)
my new years resolution is to be soft, fluffy, and to contribute to the downfall of my enemies (@eri on Moth Zone)
😅 Yeah, I would not want to get on their bad side!
A lot of people don’t like the concept of resolutions and goals at new year, because it’s arbitrary and silly.
But I love it, this time of year always seems like a fresh start after the holidays and if there’s one thing I pretty much always need it’s a break and a fresh start!
I’ve made myself a wonderfully complex goal-accomplishing plan for 2025, and trust me it’s a thing of beauty.
Probably won’t get around to even half of it, but it certainly looks more achieveable once it’s all written down 😁
That is true. Perhaps typing out a detailed New Years Resolution in private is a better alternative to not making one at all. Even if you do not achieve all of your goals, you should at least be able to achieve half of them.
Random AI image of me on the Moon 🌖
My New Years Resolutions
Well, it would not be fair to post others New Years Resolutions & not post mine (which are more or less simple)
Move to California: find an affordable place to live & migrate to the west coast. I have lived in the Northeast & Southeast, & I would enjoy a change of pace & scenery.
Finish typing up a book (something I am currently working on right now—as a side project or hobby)
Exercise more: Yes, I need to lose that COVID gut of mine! 💪🏾
Travel the world with my future wife: once we settle down, we want to travel to more exotic places, albeit on a budget! 😅
Buy & renovate inexpensive houses in Japan 🇯🇵, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Sierra Leone 🇸🇱, & maybe Italy 🇮🇹. Housing prices are expensive nowadays, but there are places that are affordable.
Travel to the Moon! 🌖 Okay, this has always been a dream of mine, & for better or worse requires assistance from Elon Musk. I will however NOT go up on the first rocket! 🚀 😂
Those are my New Years Resolutions so far. Anyways, be blessed everyone! Stay safe & stay sane in 2025!
AI art of garden & gazebo AI art of garden with bridgeAI art of garden with small bridgeAI art of homes covered in snow at nightAI art of home covered in snow at nightAI art of trees covered in snow at nightAI art of mountain range in winterAI art of tree & field covered in snowAI art of forest & fields covered in snowAI art of sun illuminating trees that are covered in snow
