If eyes really are windows to the soul, IBM’s latest product could lead to blockchain enlightenment.

As the global $1.9tr e-commerce landscape continues to expand, companies are facing difficulties successfully managing cross-channel commerce across continents, supply chains, and software systems, and are losing revenue as a result.

Orders for the mining machines and construction bulldozers made at this sprawling Caterpillar Inc. factory in central Illinois have jumped, in general, three-fold over the past year.

About a hundred years ago, the United States reached “peak horse.” In 1920 some 25 million horses roamed the plains, boulevards, cul-de-sacs, rodeos, stockyards, ports, farms, and dingy alleys of America — toting freight, plowing fields, fighting wars, carrying passengers on buggy rides, and making a complete mess.

After the Pride of York ferry sailed into the Belgian port of Zeebrugge from Hull in the U.K. earlier this month, dozens of cargo containers were offloaded and whisked away on trucks. The hundreds of passengers weren’t as lucky: They had to line up for border checks.