Sacyr's Blog

One day Mary Anderson was on a streetcar and noticed that the driver had to repeatedly wipe the snow off the window. She came up with a solution: a wiper activated from inside the vehicle to remove the snow. We analyse how the windscreen wiper was born and other great inventions originated by women.

The invasion of Ukraine has helped fuel a global food crisis that could last for years if left unchecked, according to the United Nations. While millions of people are already suffering the consequences, several powers are looking to technology to combat the hunger that inevitably follows wars.

To carve the ancient city of Petra into sandstone walls, while protecting the lives of workers, the Nabataeans resorted to carving giant steps in the mountain. With their ancestral engineering (and work safety) techniques, this nomadic people created the monuments of this emblematic architectural treasure in the middle of the desert two millennia ago.

Hundreds of satellites gather information from the sky about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some can even track troop movements at night and detect tanks hidden under trees. They are used to plan strategies, detect possible war crimes and track refugee flows.

The dot-com crash of the early 2000s lurks in the memories of many seasoned Wall Street investors. Two decades on, some are comparing that event to the current slump in cryptocurrencies. We analyse whether this is just another downturn in a particularly volatile market or another tech bubble about to burst.