Previews: The Economist Magazine – April 15, 2023

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The Economist – April 15, 2023 issue:

The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record

The world’s biggest economy is leaving its peers ever further in the dust

Can the West win over the rest?

In a more transactional world the price of influence is going up

Emmanuel Macron’s blunder over Taiwan

The French leader has made a dangerous situation worse

Travel & Nature: National Geographic — May 2023

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National Geographic Magazine – May 2023: The groundbreaking, award-winning natural history franchise Secrets Of returns with its next installment, Secrets of the Elephants, from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer at Large James Cameron. 

THE ELEPHANT NEXT DOOR

Secrets Of The Elephants” Clip Released – What's On Disney Plus

ASIAN ELEPHANTS ARE LEARNING TO LIVE WITH US. BUT WILL WE LEARN TO LIVE WITH THEM?

Kosovo wants to decide its future—but will history hold it back?

This small Balkan country won its independence from Serbia 15 years ago, but still waits for justice for wartime victims and global recognition as a new nation.

Travel: A Walking Tour Of Downtown Cairo, Egypt

Uploaded April 12, 2023: A walking tour starting at Talaat Harb Square in Abdeen, and exploring the historic neighborhoods and architecture of downtown Cairo before strolling through the bustling markets under Al Azhr Bridge.

Video timeline: 0:00 Intro 4:20 Al Sharifain Passage 7:07 Qasr Al Nil Street Abdeen 11:24 Mustafa Kamil Pasha 13:20 Ex-Davis Bryan Building 15:37 Adly Building 19:34 Opera Square 22:13 Al-Kakhia Mosque 23:23 Suuq el Ataba Electronics Market 32:34 Suuq el Ataba Furniture Market 37:35 Abd El-Aziz Street 40:25 Attaba Square 44:24 Al Azhar Market Under Bridge 48:30 El-Gaish Open Air Market

Filmed and edited by: 4K World Wanderings

Nature: The Hummingbird Effect In Costa Rica (PBS)

Nature on PBS (April 12, 2023) – Discover how tiny hummingbirds influence their many flowering kingdoms and their ripple effects on macaws, quetzals, monkeys, tapirs and more. Set in the exotic landscapes of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica’s motto is Pura Vida – Pure Life – and this deceptively small country is bursting with some of the most spectacular wildlife and pristine ecosystems in the world. All this diversity thrives, in part, thanks to one surprising little creature: hummingbirds.

Venture across Costa Rica’s wild and rugged landscapes, from volcanic peaks to coastal jungle to misty cloud forests, and discover the nation’s dazzling diversity of hummingbirds. There are more than 50 species of hummingbirds here, and they play an outsize role in maintaining some of the richest and wildest environments on Earth.

The Hummingbird Effect premiered on April 12, 2023.

News: US Documents Leak, Myanmar Junta Airstrike, Erdogan Seeks Reelection

The Globalist, April 13, 2023: The US intelligence leak continues to cause a stir as documents suggest that Serbia might have provided lethal aid to Ukraine.

Plus: Myanmar’s junta accepts responsibility for a deadly airstrike, Erdogan launches his re-election campaign and a famous statue from the British Museum returns to Tahiti.

Front Page: The New York Times — April 13, 2023

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E.P.A. Lays Out Rules to Turbocharge Sales of Electric Cars and Trucks

The new rules would require nothing short of a revolution in the U.S. auto industry.
CREDITMADDIE MCGARVEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Biden administration is proposing rules to ensure that two-thirds of new cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States by 2032 are all-electric.

The Final Blocks: Inside Ukraine’s Bloody Stand for Bakhmut

Ukrainian soldiers at a frontline position in southern Bakhmut on Friday, watching the horizon where Russian troops are stationed.
CREDITMAURICIO LIMA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Pushed into a shrinking corner of the devastated city, the Ukrainian military is determined to hold out for strategic reasons, even as allies question the cost.

Why China Could Dominate the Next Big Advance in Batteries

China is far ahead of the rest of the world in the development of batteries that use sodium, which are starting to compete with ubiquitous lithium power cells.

Inflation Cools Notably, but It’s a Long Road Back to Normal

Fed officials are debating how to set policy after bank blowups. Fresh inflation data are unlikely to make such decisions easier.

Book Reviews: ‘On The Origin Of Time – Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory’

nature Magazine Science Book Reviews – April 2023

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On the Origin of Time

Like his mentor and colleague Stephen Hawking, Thomas Hertog has never shied away from being ambitious in theorizing about the universe. This sweeping book provides an accessible overview of both what we know about cosmology, and some audacious ideas for moving into the unknown. It is an introduction to Hawking’s final theory, but also a glimpse into even grander theories yet to come.

Professor Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe

Research Preview: Nature Magazine – April 13, 2023

Volume 616 Issue 7956

nature Magazine – April 13, 2023 issue: Octopuses use chemotactile receptors (CRs) in the suckers on their arms to ‘taste by touch’ as they explore their sea-floor environment. These proteins evolved from neurotransmitter receptors to allow octopuses to detect poorly soluble natural products on contact.

World’s biggest butterfly is low on genetic diversity

Ornithoptera alexandrae, Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly.
Rare beauty: the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing can have a wingspan of more than 28 centimetres. Credit: Alamy

An endangered butterfly, found only in Papua New Guinea, has had a small population for a million years.

Three ways to solve the plastics pollution crisis

Man walks through a canal which is blocked by piles of plastic waste and food waste dumped, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
A canal blocked by waste, including discarded plastic, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit: Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Researchers are studying how more-sophisticated policies, smarter recycling and new materials could stem the tide of waste.

Research: New Scientist Magazine – April 15, 2023

New Scientist | Science news, articles, and features

New Scientist Magazine April 15, 2023 issue:

How do we know that therapy works, and which kind is best for you?

How do we know that therapy works, and which kind is best for you?

Psychotherapy has never been more available and yet, with so many options, it can be hard to know where to start. Thankfully, researchers are getting to grips with what really works and why

The Power of Language review: What speaking many languages can do

Physicist David Wolpert on how to study concepts beyond imagination

Design: Brunswick House Remodel Tour, Melbourne

The Local Project – (April 12, 2023) – Located in Brunswick, Victoria, Brunswick House by Placement is a showcase of how a narrow home can contain a lot of graceful design aspects within its walls. Sitting on a small block, the house offers a north-to-south-facing layout, with neighbours flanking on either side.

Tasked to rectify a defunct terrace typology that is common to the area, the architect has employed a refined sense of detail from entrance to the back courtyard. To retain certain aspects of the original home, Placement has chosen to maintain the main bedroom with its original fireplace. While the house tour continues on, small design elements help to reignite the home’s historical character through a modern lens.

Placement has a sense of release and decompression to unveil the house by designing a double-height ceiling that leads into the dining area. When responding to the home’s narrow site, the architect had to find a way to welcome light into the centre of the building. This crucial design element was answered by the use of a central courtyard, which has been finished with large glass windows to allow for light to flood the living spaces. Moving from the dining area, two hallways are revealed, one which accesses the bathroom and another that works as a galley kitchen, and at the end of both hallways sits the living room and rear garden.

An additional mezzanine level is built above the hallways, designed to be used as a multipurpose room, second bedroom or office space. However, the space ultimately helps to zone out the separate dining and living areas. Employing bricks as the main material element within the narrow home, they are laid in a stack bond to accentuate the verticality in the space. Selecting the Nubrik artisan by Brickworks for its tactility and textural quality, the architect has used brick to help define the interior detailing and works alongside the timber joinery. In doing so, the timber is employed to do the heavy lifting of the interior spaces as the joinery creates a seamless transition between living, dining and the mezzanine level by creating overlapping lines.