Tuesday 31 March 2015
Vladimir Putin's formative German years
Anyone who wants to understand Vladimir Putin today needs to know the story of what happened to him on a dramatic night in East Germany a quarter of a century ago. It is 5 December 1989 in Dresden, a few weeks after the Berlin Wall has fallen. East German communism is dying on its feet, people power seems irresistible. Crowds storm the Dresden headquarters of the Stasi, the East German secret police, who suddenly seem helpless.
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As Boomers shed their stuff, their offspring reject it
A seismic shift of stuff is underway in homes all over America. Members of the generation that once embraced sex, drugs and rock-and-roll are trying to offload their place settings for 12, family photo albums and leather sectionals. Their offspring don’t want them. As baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, start cleaning out attics and basements, many are discovering that millennials, born between 1980 and 2000...
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The Photographer Who Broke the Internet's Heart
BBC Trending spoke to the man behind the photo of a Syrian girl who surrendered to a camera.
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Monday 30 March 2015
Vladimir Putin's Formative German Years
Anyone who wants to understand Vladimir Putin needs to know what happened to him on a night in Dresden in 1989.
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The Dark Underworld of the Paris Catacombs
Paris, the capital of France, is often called La Ville Lumière (meaning ‘The City of Light’), however, beneath this bustling European city of 12 million people, lies a dark subterranean world holding the remains of 6 million of its former inhabitants. These are the Paris Catacombs: a network of old caves, quarries and tunnels stretching hundreds of miles, and seemingly lined with the bones of the dead.
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Poland blames Russian air controllers in 2010 crash
Two Russian air traffic controllers are among those charged in a military investigation of a 2010 plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski. The military prosecutors said bad weather was the primary cause of the crash, which killed 95 people on their way to Katyn, Russia.
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Can Canada teach the rest of us to be nicer?
The world, I think, would be a better place if we were all a bit more Canadian. Canadian niceness is pure, and untainted by the passive-aggressive undertones found in American niceness (have a good day, or else!). It’s also abundant. Canada is to niceness as Saudi Arabia is to oil. It’s awash in the stuff, and it’s about time, I say, the rest of the world imported some.
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The complex role of malls: private but sort-of-public spaces
Victor Gruen, inventor of Edina’s Southdale Mall, had dreams of saving ruined cities. As he saw it, postwar America had fallen on hard times, ruined by planners and their monolithic neighborhoods. Gruen wanted nothing more than to resurrect the vibrant street life of his native Vienna.
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Circular Decay
Captured in an abandoned building at the north end of Regina, Saskatchewan in near complete darkness. © Ian D. McGregor
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A Tranquil Home that Unites with the Natural Beauty of the Site
Walker Warner Architects have designed a home located in the town of Woodside, California.
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Where Are London's Missing Map Traps?
No online map is as beautiful, or feels as canonical, as the ones between the covers of the London A-Z. But the Guide to all of Londo is not flawless. Even more shockingly, its imperfections are deliberate. The London A-Z contains so-called map traps: non-existent features inserted into the map to catch out unauthorised copiers of the original.
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Internet Trolls: Propaganda's Final Frontier
If we are now in fact living in a global village, it’s one where the inhabitants agree on just one thing: capitalism is the ideal model for generating economic growth. Everything else – political structure, religious and cultural values, and who gets the biggest slice of the capitalist pie – is all very much up in the air. These ideas matter.
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Debunking the Myth of the Job-Stealing Immigrant
When I was growing up in the 1980s, I watched my grandfather — my dad’s stepdad — struggle with his own prejudice. He was a blue-collar World War II veteran who loved his family above all things and was constantly afraid for them. He carried a gun and, like many men of his generation, saw threats in people he didn’t understand: African-Americans, independent women, gays. By the time he died, 10 years ago, he had softened. He stopped using racist and homophobic...
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Sunday 29 March 2015
Six seconds that shaped 1,500 songs
Amen, Brother was a little-known B-side released in 1969. Barely noticed at the time, its drum solo has been hugely influential, appearing in more than 1,500 other songs.
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Should You Tip on Takeout?
Americans feel strongly that tipping waiters and waitresses anything under 15% is perniciously cheap, yet most people seem equally certain that tipping on takeout orders is unnecessary. Is it really?
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53 Stations of the Tōkaidō as Potted Landscapes
This book from the mid-19th century, Tokaido Gojusan-eki Hachiyama Edyu, presents a series of fifty-three prints created by a relatively obscure ukiyo-e artist named Utagawa Yoshishige, each illustration depicting a Tōkaidō station in the form of a potted landscape. The illustrations are based on actual pieces constructed by Kimura Tōsen.
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This 19th Century 'Stench Map' Shows How Smells Reshaped New York City
During the 19th century, it was widely believed that bad smells carried diseases. In the 1870s, the New York City Metropolitan Board of Health created the "stench map" below to point out where malodorous industries—then called "offensive trades"—were located in the city.
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Saturday 28 March 2015
China, the Wild and Remote bits
"It was a muggy day, the sort where you feel your t-shirt sticking to you before you even realize it. We hired some local guides, who then hired some even more local guides to help show the way to the spire we wanted to ascend. Boy was it grueling! Jagged rocks, thorny bushes, all-fours most of the way. Sometimes the only thing to hold onto was a thorn bush or a glassy-evil-jaded rock. At the top, I looked down to see all kinds of grisly lacerations... but gathered my wits to get this photo!"
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Nine Films to Watch in April
BBC Culture picks nine films coming out next month, including Ex Machina, the Avengers sequel and Russell Crowe’s directorial debut.
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A $50 device is breaking North Korean government’s grip on media
When a North Korean defector and the Human Rights Foundation planned to distribute Sony Pictures' The Interview to North Korea via balloon air-drops of DVDs and USB sticks late last year, they knew there was a good chance that the movie would be seen by at least some of the secretive country's citizens. That's because the North Korean government hasn't been able to stop the spread of low-cost digital media players smuggled in from China—many of them manufactured almost exclusively for the North.
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Sex and Suffering: The Tragic Life of the Courtesan in Japan’s Floating World
It’s difficult to get a window into the world of Edo-Period Japanese prostitutes without the gauzy romantic filter of the male gaze. The artworks in the new San Francisco Asian Art Museum exhibition, “Seduction: Japan’s Floating World,” were made by men for men, the patrons of the Yoshiwara pleasure district outside of Edo, which is now known as Tokyo.
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Canada’s Government Has Removed Regulations That Protect Its Rivers And Lakes
In its quest for oil, Canada has lifted regulations on much of its water supply.
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Toshio Shibata’s Mesmerizing Photographs of Water
The Japanese photographer finds sublime beauty in unlikely landscapes.
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Friday 27 March 2015
The Tallest Tower in Europe Will Be ... In a Quaint Swiss Village?
A new tower designed by Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne was announced today which, when complete, will be the tallest building in Europe. Is it in Moscow? London? Frankfurt? Nope. Mayne's shiny slab will stab the sky in the tiny hamlet of Vals, Switzerland.
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The equivalent of “It’s all Greek to me” in 30 other languages
English speakers say, “It’s all Greek to me,” when they find something hard to understand. Mark Liberman, a professor linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, started wondering what the equivalent was in different languages. Drawing on a variety of sources, including Wikipedia, Omniglot and user comments, he created this graph, which shows the language that other languages use to describe things that are hard or impossible to understand.
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Earth’s surface rising in North America, Europe: after-effect of ice age
In the U.S., this past year has had more than enough reminders of how weather can affect our lives.
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Trans-Eurasian Belt Development Superhighway Would Connect Russia and U.S.
It could be the ultimate road trip — on a proposed superhighway that would wind halfway round the world and connect Russia and the U.S. The project fits Russia's imperialist ambitions, but a few glaring holes in the proposal have left some wondering if it's even possible.
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Letter tells about battle of Waterloo
Dramatic account of a decisive cavalry charge by British forces at the battle of Waterloo comes to light 200 years after the defeat of Napoleon’s army
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Hacking the Nazis: The secret story of the women who broke Hitler's codes
Of the 10,000-plus staff at the Government Code and Cypher School during World War II, two-thirds were female. Three veteran servicewomen explain what life was like as part of the code-breaking operation during World War II.
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Thursday 26 March 2015
Pot Quiz - SXSW Edition
From time to time back home in L.A., we ask pot smokers what they know about a variety of subjects. We thought it might be fun to try it in Austin as well. This is a special South by Southwest edition of "Pot Quiz."
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The AI Resurgence: Why Now?
Artificial Intelligence has been enjoying a major resurgence in recent months and for some seasoned professionals, who have been in the AI industry since the 1980s, it feels like déjà vu all over again. AI, being a loosely defined collection of techniques inspired by natural intelligence, does have a mystic aspect to it.
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In 2115, when our descendants look back at our society, what will they condemn as our greatest moral failing?
In 100 years it will not be acceptable to use genderised words such as ‘he’ or ‘she’, which are loaded with centuries of prejudice and reduce a spectrum of greys to black and white. We will use the pronoun ‘heesh’ to refer to all persons equally, regardless of their chosen gender. This will of course apply not only to humans, but to all animals.
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Kapow! Attack of the feminist superheroes
From She-Hulk to Ms Marvel and the new female Thor, a new generation of hero is revolutionising the world of comics and consigning sexualised stereotypes to history
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Wednesday 25 March 2015
CN Rail Derailment Numbers Soared Before Recent Crashes
Canadian National Railway's safety record deteriorated sharply in 2014, reversing years of improvements, as accidents in Canada blamed on poor track conditions hit their highest level in more than five years.
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World's largest asteroid impact zone found in central Australia
Australian scientists have uncovered what is believed to be the largest asteroid impact zone ever found on Earth, in central Australia. A team lead by Dr Andrew Glikson from the Australian National University (ANU) said two ancient craters found in central Australia were believed to have been caused by one meteorite that broke in two. A study completed in 2010 confirms an asteroid impact ended the reign of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
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Northern Lights Photos so Beautiful You Won't Believe They're Actually Real
Justin Stevens' stunning photos feature the night sky painted in red, purple blue and green. His pictures from this special season for the aurora borealis have grabbed attention on the internet.
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Noah Goes to Texas
Ellen sent the outrageously adorable Noah Ritter to the Texas State Fair to give her a full report. Apparently, it was a lot of fun.
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Can Dying Languages Be Saved?
Linguists and activists are struggling to preserve endangered languages—and even to resurrect extinct ones.
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Nelson Mandela Memoir to be Published Next Year
A sequel to Nelson Mandela's 1995 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom is to be published next year.
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Tuesday 24 March 2015
Life in Syria
Civilians walk near upright buses barricading a street as protection from snipers loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's rebel-controlled Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood.
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Tide of the Century
An aerial view shows the Mont Saint-Michel off France's Normandy coast March 20, 2015. The Mont Saint-Michel 11th century abbey is expected to be entirely surrounded by the English Channel following exceptionally high spring tides. Parts of the French coast were on alert for the so-called "tide of the century", with tidal coefficients of 118 and 119 respectively on March 20 and 21.
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Co-founder feuds at L.A. tech start-ups show how handshake deals can blow up
Two Stanford University undergraduates shook hands in their dormitory in early 2011, agreeing to partner on what they hoped would be the next big technology start-up. But as their dream came true, their simple exercise of trust became a liability when one co-founder was dumped. A flimsy foundation of oral OKs, napkin scribblings and youthful haste, it turns out, is a dangerous mix. And a common one.
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Teleporter
Click to be transported somewhere in the world. (Warning: highly addictive)
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What the Superdollar Means for Summer Travel
With the Superdollar near parity with the euro, airfares to Paris are down 14 percent from a year ago, according to popular travel site Orbitz. Hotel rates have sunk 10 percent from last year.
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Monday 23 March 2015
What went wrong for the German GP?
As a 2015 German Grand Prix looks increasingly unlikely, how many more historic F1 races will disappear.
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