Apple's destined to become the world's first trillion-dollar company. At least, so say an increasing number of industry watchers. Now we have an idea of how it'll get there, and fast: China.

Apple's proposed new "spaceship" building in Cupertino features curved glass and an engineering challenge that makes solving the antennagate and white iPhone problems look cinchy.

In the latest installment of Butterfly Effect, we follow the impact of China's bulging real estate market on commodities such as copper, the latest tech innovations those commodities enable, the scrap they create, and the subsequent recycling opportunities--in China.

China's trains--already faster than any in the U.S.--will soon connect distant economic centers in just a few hours.

"In 1998, 3.4 million Chinese attended university. In 2008, the number was 21.5 million. Once a privilege for a select few, college education has defined a generational experience in China."

These numbers come from an excellent presentation by Frank Yu, who tried to put it up on Slideshare, but in accordance with the mysterious ways of China, it disappeared. I'm sure he will send it to you if you ask.

The most obvious byproduct of the decades-long growth of fast food restaurants is a nation (and increasingly, a world) of overweight citizens. But now we're seeing another disturbing fast food-related trend: McRefugees.