The year saw the start of some very interesting trends that will play out over the next few years in a big way.

These stories from the past six months tell a lot about the shape of things to come in 2013.

We get small and look at designs from around the world

What we learned from last year and will look for in this one

Hydroponics systems, electricity-free appliances and more caught your attention in 2015.

A delicate balance of dark fruit, cocoa, pepper and mushroom from a sustainable vineyard that donates to AIDS and cancer patients.

Here's the manifesto by the Spanish wine industry to fight climate change by making wineries more eco-friendly. Vines are very sensitive to climate change and so their environment, landscape, culture and tradition need protecting.

Frei's 2009 Chardonnay touches your nose with hints of rose water, jasmine and other floral delights. But on the palette, it is swimming with honey and sweet butter and just enough acidity to make it all work.

Here is a fun and spicy twist on a classic margarita using fresh cilantro and jalapeño.

The Spanish porrón is a glass pitcher in the shape of a watering can that gets passed around at big events. That way, there is no need for plastic glasses or washing up!

Perhaps our perceptions are predicated on the packaging.

The recent “release” and immediate brutal re-arrest of Sowore raises the question of the nature of the present regime in Nigeria. The justified anger of many workers and youth poses the problem of “what is to be done?” Here comrade Rashy in Nigeria explains that this event brings into sharp focus the need to radically transform Nigerian society along socialist lines.

Yesterday’s presidential election in Algeria was marked by a massive boycott campaign called for by the Hirak movement, which is now 43 weeks old. The boycott had been preceded by a four-day general strike and was particularly strong in the Kabylie region. Tens of thousands came onto the streets across the country defying a police ban on demonstrations. Whoever the generals decide will be the country’s president, they will not have any real legitimacy.

South African capitalism is in total crisis. The ruling class is divided and the worsening conditions of the workers and poor are causing a groundswell of resentment that will burst to the surface sooner or later, placing renewed class struggle on the agenda.

It would be hell if the Covid-19 breaks out in Nigeria on the scale presently being witnessed in Europe and the US. Apart from the dire state of the healthcare system, 69 million Nigerians have no access to clean water. This invariably leads to water-borne diseases like cholera, which continue to break out as regular epidemics. Social distancing and self-isolation presuppose that people have enough space. In Lagos where we have over 100 slum areas, about 80 people can be found sharing a 10-room building with only two toilets and a bathroom being shared by all with no pipe-borne or treated water readily available.

The coronavirus pandemic is a turning point in history. The world economy is receiving one savage blow after another. Healthcare systems are totally overwhelmed in the advanced capitalist countries as a result of decades of attacks on living standards. The inefficient and ghastly nature of capitalism is in full display in the west, where people until recently enjoyed at least a semi-civilised existence. In Africa, Asia and Latin America the consequences of a full-scale outbreak will be catastrophic.

Kano has become the epicentre of the spread of Covid-19 in northern Nigeria. A large number of so-called “mysterious” deaths was recently reported, but the state government of Kano blatantly claims that the sharp rise in deaths is not due to Covid-19. Here we provide an eyewitness account from an IMT comrade in Kano.

The Moroccan regime has detained over 500 political prisoners, according to the president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, Aziz Ghali. Amongst them are those imprisoned in the Hirak Rif protests and the Gerak Jaradah movement: trade unionists, bloggers, a journalist… pretty much everybody. Not a day goes by without social media reporting the arrest of new militants or ordinary citizens whose only crime, in the majority of cases, is having published a Facebook post critical of living conditions or of the state’s politics.

Americans are willing to overlook human suffering in order to have regular meat on their table.

How green is your state? A new report details which states are sustainability superstars.

But they're not alone: a new report finds that most Americans are considered lonely.

It's in the Fearless Leader's latest move to a planned economy that runs on coal.

Using recycled materials and audio recordings from refugees, this exhibition hopes to deepen understanding and connection with those who have had to flee their home countries.

I don't think it would actually work, but it is an innovative way of reskinning buildings

A new video from the Ecologist Film Unit shows how baby elephants are being smuggled into Thailand from Burma for tourism.

floating bridge is described as "a magnificent piece of engineering."

A species of wasp discovered in Thailand has been named for evil spirits invented by J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter books.

Marrying the traditional material of bamboo with modern engineering, this impressive sports hall in Thailand was constructed without steel reinforcements or connections.

Whether they are are autonomous, self-driving or "shared" like Uber and Lyft, they are still congestion.

This experimental co-living design scheme aims to foster communication, responsibility and human relationships.

They are people who bike or walk, not some separate species.

If we are really going to make a dent in emissions we have to take real estate away from people who drive and redistribute it to people who walk and bike.

"The time for complacency has passed. We must treat this crisis as if our lives, and the lives of our friends, families, and neighbors, depend on it. "

How to make a utilitarian back lane into a wonderful public amenity.

Selfie culture poses a real threat to the great outdoors.

We should follow in the footsteps of many great thinkers and implement regular rambles into our lives.

Idaho is working hard to create an official dark sky reserve, which would make it the first in the US and the 12th in the world.

There will be indignation, but this is the result of one of the most successful transformations of a market in our lifetime.

By 2020 every light bulb is supposed to put out 45 lumens per watt. It's a Bush-era regulation that the current government wants to roll back.

Calls came into emergency centers and even the Griffith Observatory from LA residents who described seeing a “giant silvery cloud.”

The only downside, of course, is that your self-lit holiday centerpiece actually would be a Frankenstein tree.

How would design for obsolescence change if materials that conduct electricity or emit light could be grown and repair themselves, like bone?

In the remote villages around the Cheng Long Wetlands in Taiwan, engagement with environmental issues is on the rise thanks in part to a community-based program that is turning the wetlands into a 'gallery' for ecofriendly art.

Artist Shilpa Joglekar works with rural communities in India and Taiwan to create much-needed play structures out of natural and recycled materials.

To make this small space more livable, there is an emphasis on filling out the vertical space. Plus, a great tatami-inspired seating area.

Draped in moss, orchids, lilies, and ferns, this city bus transports riders to a whole new world.

An old basement is transformed into a beautiful new shared multipurpose space for working, learning and leisure.

According to CNN, a 66 year-old man was beaten to death on his front lawn by his 36 year-old neighbor for watering it yesterday in Sydney, Australia. Apparently, the pair started arguing over his water usage, and the victim sprayed his neighbor with

Planning your holiday party schedule in New York City can be calendar jujitsu, what with work parties, friends parties, family parties, but there are also a few green themed parties that the sustainably minded New Yorker

Sydney sees cycling skyrocket as it implements its 2030 green city plan.