That's Interesting
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Mapping the World’s Key Maritime Choke Points
15th April, 2021Maritime transport is an essential part of international trade—approximately 80% of global merchandise is shipped via sea. Because of its importance, commercial shipping relies on strategic trade routes to move goods efficiently. These waterways are used by thousands of vessels a year—but it’s not always smooth sailing. In fact, there are certain points along these routes that pose a risk to the whole system. Here’s a look at the world’s most vulnerable maritime bottlenecks—also known as choke points.
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The Mathematics Behind Origami, the Ancient Japanese Art of Paper Folding
25th March, 2021The two characters at the core of origami (折り紙), one of the best-known Japanese words around the world, mean “folding” and “paper.” Given the variety and elaborateness of the constructions produced by origami masters over the past few centuries, the simplicity of the practice’s basic nature bears repeating. Those masters must develop no slight degree of manual dexterity, it goes without saying, but also a formidable mathematical understanding of their medium.
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The heavens underground: the Soviet Union’s opulent metro stations, from Belarus to Uzbekistan
04th March, 2021Decorated with chandeliers, mosaics, and Lenin busts, the Soviet Union produced the most photographed transport system in the world. In this excerpt from Fuel’s latest book, Soviet Metro Stations, writer Owen Hatherley and photographer Christopher Herwig celebrate the metro’s expansive architectural legacy, travelling as far as Tashkent and Baku.
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The Complete Works of Hilma af Klint Will Get Published for the First Time in a Beautiful, Seven-Volume Collection
24th February, 2021The seven-volume series, published by Bokförlaget Stolpe, “is organized both chronologically and by theme, beginning with the spiritual sketches af Klint made in conjunction with The Five, a group of women who attended séances in hopes of obtaining messages from the dead.”
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Discover the remarkable buildings that shaped the Eastern Bloc
15th February, 2021The Calvert Journal ‘s Eastern bloc architecture series discusses their roundup of architectural experimentation.
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How one man spent 600 days walking the Silk Road to see the Caucasus and Central Asia by foot
23rd October, 2020In August 2018, anthropology graduate Daniele Ventola left Italy to embark on the biggest adventure of his life — a journey to China along the Silk Road — on foot.
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Lowy Institute Live: In Conversation with General James Mattis and Sir Angus Houston
18th October, 2020On Thursday 15 October 2020, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove hosted an in conversation event via live video stream with General James Mattis, one of America’s most experienced and influential military leaders. They were joined by Sir Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force.
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Taxicab Geometry as a Vehicle for the Journey Toward Enlightenment
15th September, 2020In casual conversation, many (perhaps most) individuals are impatient with what they regard as slight distinctions of meaning. This impatience with fine-grained semantic sensitivity is reflected in the popularity of such pejorative expressions as “splitting hairs” and “just semantics.” The reigning attitude is that individuals who pay attention to apparently small differences in the definitions of words are pedantic and tedious. But slight differences in meaning can be surprisingly meaningful.
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Can Western universities survive without China?
03rd September, 2020Some universities fear they have become too financially dependent on fee-paying Chinese students – and thanks to Covid-19, many of them are staying away this year. Salvatore Babones, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, says Australia is particularly vulnerable to this, while Vivienne Stern of Universities UK says it’s just one of a number of serious concerns for UK and US universities.
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The Strange Costumes of the Plague Doctors Who Treated 17th Century Victims of the Bubonic Plague
11th August, 2020In the 17th and 18th centuries,with the bubonic plague sweeping Europe, plague doctors wandered towns and countryside in a “fanciful-looking costume [that] typically consisted of a head-to-toe leather or wax-canvas garment,” writes the Public Domain Review, “large crystal glasses; and a long snout or bird beak, containing aromatic spices (such as camphor, mint, cloves, and myrrh), dried flowers (such as roses or carnations), or a vinegar sponge.”
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