City

A fascinating and robust new study has for the first time examined the association between teenage psychotic experiences and exposure to air pollution. The study strikingly found higher rates of adolescent psychotic experiences significantly correlated with increased levels of urban air pollution.

Architects have long embedded geometrical patterns into their designs that lay hidden from the view of us ground-dwelling humans. ​In this gallery we feature some of the most spectacular secret symmetries uncovered through modern drone photography.

As we look forward to a 21st century filled with massive mega-cities, and extraordinary technological innovation, we must ask how are our science fiction visions influencing the cities we build, and what can we learn from some of these prescient fictional texts?

Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini has conceived a futuristic community named Wayaland made up of floating pyramid structures. It's still very much in the concept stage, though Lazzarini is hoping to raise the funds to build it with a crowdfunding campaign.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is looking past the oil era to a new age of global commerce, and he's building a half-trillion dollar, futuristic paradise of a megacity as its centrepiece. Neom is Dubai 2.0, a lavish international hub based on next-level tech and a new, progressive Saudi politics.

​The vision of Italian architect Stefano Boeri is starting to take shape around the world. Now the Chinese region of Liuzhou will also play home to some of his handiwork, with construction underway on a so-called Forest City that is hoped to soak up some of the country's infamous air pollution.

Considering taxpayers are footing the bill, it pays to improve the efficiency of the more than 300 million streetlights around the globe. A team in Germany has now developed an array of low-power LEDs that are more efficient, safer, cooler, and easier on the eyes.

Everyone from Renault to VW, with a few Russians in between, has taken a crack at repackaging the city car. For some reason though, most of these "reinventions" still have four wheels. Canadian company Electra Meccanica has joined Elio Motors in asking why, with its three-wheeled Solo.

Most city cars are smaller and smarter than your average car, but they're limited by design and manufacturing conventions handed down from larger cars. What happens when you abandon these conventions? Well, Russian company Mirrow has tried to find out, and created the Provocator in the process.

For those who are forever glued to their smartphones, navigating a city can be hazardous. Dodging street lights and other pedestrians without looking up is tricky, and crossing roads is downright dangerous. That's why Augsburg in Germany is trialling in-road pedestrian lights.​

A recently announced partnership with a New York City-based start-up is set to bolster Las Vegas' commitment to renewable energy sources. Soon enough, some of "Sin City's" sidewalks will be illuminated by EnGoPLANET's innovative, sun- and people-powered street lights.

Let's cast our eye over the more promising drone applications to emerge in 2015 – a diverse list that includes everything from drones that deliver medical supplies to drones that can build bridges all by themselves. ​