Polishing the crystal ball
The intelligence community often fails to make accurate predictions. Amy Zegart, an expert brought in to improve analysis in the United States, sets out what can be done to overcome our cognitive biases.
Improving analysis to prevent nuclear catastrophe isn’t just a matter of history. Great power competition is back. Russia and China are trying to rewrite the international order along authoritarian lines.
The cover captures the morning mist at Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand. Like every other aspect of life on Earth, forests are facing increased challenges posed by climate change. A collection of papers in this week’s issue probes the vulnerabilities and potential resilience of forests in a warming world. Three studies focus on North America: one examining the response of boreal species to warming and drought, another analysing the timing of stem growth in temperate deciduous forests, and a third revealing migration of white spruce (Picea glauca) into the Arctic tundra. In the tropics, one paper investigates the
impact of phosphorus availability in the Amazon, while another assesses the reasons for increased mortality of tropical trees. Finally, a sixth paper shows how satellite imaging can be combined with machine learning to identify declining resilience in the world’s forests.
Parkour athlete Jason Paul uses all of his freerunning skills and speed to chase across the busy streets of Mumbai to return a Bollywood actors lunchbox… 🇮🇳
See more incredible freerunning from Jason Paul here: https://www.redbull.com/int-en/shows/…
Below, you can explore Avant et après, the final manuscript of the highly influential French Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. It is available both in its original form, as well as translated.
Part-memoir and part-manifesto, Avant et après reveals important insights into Gauguin’s life, relationships and thoughts. It includes numerous drawings and monotype prints by the artist.
Avant et après is an important addition to what is already the most significant collection of works by Gauguin in the UK – joining amongst other works the masterpieces from his Tahitian period, Nevermore and Te Rerioa – and further strengthens The Courtauld’s resources for Gauguin scholarship.
In this week’s issue: How a strange system of eight-dimensional numbers could provide the mathematical framework to describe the entire universe.
An electric bus service has injected a new playfulness into a borough of Tokyo in need of a revamp. We hop aboard and meet Eiji Mitooka, its creator and Japan’s foremost train designer, who explains why he puts fun at the top of his list when designing public transport. All aboard!
Read more in the June issue of the magazine: [https://monocle.com/shop/product/2155…
A.M. Edition for Aug. 18. Recent explosions at a Russian air base and an ammunition depot in Crimea have made the Russian-occupied peninsula the latest battleground in the Ukraine war.
WSJ European security correspondent James Marson explains what the attacks signal about Ukraine’s capabilities and Russia’s ability to fight the war in southern Ukraine.
The aim is to deepen ties on a range of issues including digital trade, agriculture and trade facilitation, and comes amid fresh tensions over Taiwan between the U.S. and China.
The attack comes on the heels of the first anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of the South Asian country.
Climate change is causing rising temperatures, extreme weather events and more and more drought. And, in this changing reality, everyone needs more water. Humans are competing with the natural world for water. What does this mean for biodiversity? Fewer and fewer countries still have an abundance of water. The climate crisis, overpopulation and overexploitation are the root of this global problem. And, in a warming world, everyone is using more water: people, agriculture and industry. In Germany, streams and ponds are disappearing, forests and soils are drying out. What does this mean for biodiversity? And how do people cope with drought in countries that have even less water — for example, in the USA or Mexico? What happens when our water dries up?
Joe Biden’s political capital is riding high after a key plank of his legislative programme came to fruition. But the US president has greeted this “hot streak” in his usual quiet fashion. For his predecessor, it was a decidedly rough week after his home was raided by the FBI, looking for official documents that Donald Trump had held on to after his presidential term had ended. The reaction was a typical explosion of rage and accusation. David Smith, our Washington bureau chief, follows this compare-and-contrast theme to see which of the two men, who at this juncture still look likely to face each other again in the 2024 presidential election, came out on top.
Boomers Daily 