Enlarge / The New Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzen is made to be pointed at, rapidly, in a crowded environment. (credit: Machinery Enchantress / Crowd Supply)

"Hong Kong has better food, Shanghai has better nightlife. But when it comes to making things—no one can beat Shenzen."

Many things about the Hua Qiang market in Shenzen, China, are different than they were in 2016, when Andrew "bunnie" Huang's Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzen was first published. But the importance of the world's premiere electronics market, and the need for help navigating it, are a constant. That's why the book is getting an authorized, crowdfunded revision, the New Essential Guide , written by noted maker and Shenzen native Naomi Wu and due to ship in April 2024.

Huang notes on the crowdfunding page that Wu's "strengths round out my weaknesses." Wu speaks Mandarin, lives in Shenzen, and is more familiar with Shenzen, and China, as it is today. Shenzen has grown by more than 2 million people, the central Huaqiangbei Road has been replaced by a car-free boulevard, and the city's metro system has more than 100 new kilometers with dozens of new stations. As happens anywhere, market vendors have also changed locations, payment and communications systems have modernized, and customs have shifted.

Enlarge / In the past you needed to be brave to own an Italian motorcycle. Now you just need to be brave to ride one. (credit: Ducati)

Michael visited the Ducati factory while on a trip to Italy with Lamborghini . Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

BOLOGNA, ITALY—For decades, owning an Italian motorcycle required a tradeoff. On one hand, Italian bikemakers led the pack with gorgeous designs and the most exotic, highest-performing engines in the world. No other country could come close to matching the sounds and smells of a Ducati, Moto Guzzi, or Aprilia revving by. But build quality and reliability always presented a challenge for owners, not to mention parts availability and exorbitant maintenance costs.

Ducati arguably led the charge in every regard, setting a standard as the Ferrari of the motorcycle world with eye-catching Rosso Corsa red paint jobs to go along with real racing success in MotoGP and World Superbike thanks to famous—some might say infamous—desmodromic engines. However, In recent years under Volkswagen Group's ownership, Ducati has made great strides in reliability and build quality, which explains to a large extent why 2022 was the firm's most profitable year ever, with 62,000 bikes sold worldwide.

During a recent trip to Italy, I visited the Ducati factory in Bologna to learn how modernizing the production facility at Borgo Panigale helped improve the bikes built there over the decade since joining the Volkswagen group.

Enlarge / Eye drop over woman's eye. (credit: Getty | AGF )

The Indian manufacturing facility that made generic eye drops sold under CVS, Target, Rite Aid, and Walmart brands had a slew of manufacturing violations, including allowing workers to regularly perform their roles barefoot and failing to document bacterial contamination, according to an inspection report released by the Food and Drug Administration.

Last month, the regulator warned consumers to immediately stop using over two dozen kinds of big-brand eye drops due to a risk of infection . The list has since been updated to include a few more products. In addition to the big store brands, the eye drops were also sold as Leader (Cardinal Health), Rugby (Cardinal Health), and Velocity Pharma branded products.

All of the products are made by Kilitch Healthcare India Limited in Mumbai. At the time of the FDA's initial warning, the agency said it had found bacterial contamination in critical production areas of the Mumbai facility. As such, the agency warned of a possibility that the products, which are intended to be sterile, may not be and could pose a risk of infection.

Enlarge / A Lamborghini body undergoes inspection at the factory. (credit: Lamborghini)

Porsche provided flights from Los Angeles to Bologna and two nights in a hotel so we could visit the Lamborghini factory. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

Approximately 200 miles north of Rome, outside Bologna, lies the small town of Sant'Agata Bolognese, notable as the home of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. I recently visited the town and factory, ostensibly to learn about Lamborghini's early sustainability efforts as the supercar manufacturer transitions to hybridization and electrification over the next few years. But first, Lambo put that step into context by dropping me into a V12-powered Aventador SVJ for a drive through the Italian countryside.

A jaunt through busy Bologna and the surrounding roads in such a track-focused Aventador quickly reveals the soul of Lamborghini as an automaker—raucous and enervating, all drama and sensory overload from start to finish. At first, the SVJ nags me as I upshift too soon or downshift too aggressively, but familiarity begins to inspire confidence.

Stop-start traffic in this car borders on torture. Italian traffic impinges upon any hopes of driving at speed. Instead, stuck in lines of unidentifiable hatchbacks never sold in the United States, I navigate narrow roundabouts and merging lanes pinched by barricades and balustrades at nearly every intersection.

Enlarge / Rivian pick-up trucks on the assembly line in Normal, Illinois. (credit: Bloomberg )

Spotting an electric truck on the road remains a novelty in most of the US, but not Normal, Illinois.

The town in the Midwestern corn belt is home to the manufacturing operations of Rivian, the battery-powered vehicle start-up worth more than Ford or Volkswagen soon after it listed 18 months ago.

Rivian’s market capitalization has since crumbled from a peak of $162 billion to $12.5 billion in the face of production shortfalls and intensifying competition from carmakers both established and new. It is expected to report a $1.7 billion operating loss on $654 million in revenue in first-quarter results due on Tuesday, according to a compilation of analysts’ estimates.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images )

As sea levels rise, coastal areas face a growing risk of flooding. But humans and environments near urban centers and the ocean may face issues beyond rising water. These areas have also been home to a large number of manufacturing facilities.

Over the years, many of them may have left toxic chemicals in the soil. And now, those areas are also being threatened by floods. When it rains too hard or the sea rises too much, people nearby can expect to be exposed to a wide variety of leftover material and chemicals, some of which aren’t meant to be ingested or touched by humans.

How big is the risk? Many of our largest cities lie near the sea. By some counts, in 2020, around 400 million people lived within 20 meters of sea level and within 20 kilometers of a coastline.