Category Archives: Reviews
Weather: Why Tornadoes Hit U.S. Midwest & South
Tornadoes develop from severe thunderstorms in warm, moist, unstable air along and ahead of cold fronts. Such thunderstorms also may generate large hail and damaging winds. When intense springtime storm systems produce large, persistent areas that support tornado development, major outbreaks can occur.
Art Exhibitions: ‘HILMA AF KLINT & PIET MONDRIAN – FORMS OF LIFE’ At The Tate
Although they never met, af Klint and Mondrian both invented their own languages of abstract art rooted in nature. At the heart of both of their artistic journeys was a shared desire to understand the forces behind life on earth.
HILMA AF KLINT & PIET MONDRIANFORMS OF LIFE
20 APRIL – 3 SEPTEMBER 2023
Best known for his abstract work, Mondrian in fact began his career – like af Klint – as a landscape painter. Alongside Mondrian’s iconic grids, you will see the rarely exhibited paintings of flowers he continued to create throughout his life. Also on display will be enigmatic works by af Klint in which natural forms become a pathway to abstraction.
Both artists shared an interest in new ideas in spirituality, scientific discovery and philosophy. Af Klint was also a medium, and this exhibition showcases the large-scale, otherworldly masterpieces she believed were commissioned by higher powers.
The Arctic Circle: China’s Emerging ‘Polar Silk Road’
But what are China’s plans for the region? In 2013, the “Yong Sheng” made history: It was the first Chinese cargo ship to reach Europe via the Arctic. This promising route, which Beijing soon dubbed the “Polar Silk Road,” made the “Yong Sheng” a symbol of Chinese ambitions in the far north. Increasingly self-confident, China is now expanding its sphere of influence bit by bit in the Arctic – a place of high geopolitical significance.
The country’s influence is spreading, with projects that include investments in gas resources in the Russian Arctic on the Yamal Peninsula. In January 2018, China initiated the “Polar Silk Road” project. Now, the country is pursuing a rapprochement with Iceland and Norway through businessmen. China maintains a research station on Spitsbergen and has even started to define itself publicly as a country “close to the Arctic” – a status from which China hopes to derive new rights.
The Arctic seems a long way from Beijing. But Chinese president Xi Jinping has understood how important this region is. China’s need for resources is driving Xi Jinping to negotiate with the major Arctic powers, who largely view him with suspicion. The new geopolitics of the Arctic are playing out not only in world capitals and in the media, but also on the ground: Emissaries, entrepreneurs, and mediators are traveling to the strategic region.
This group includes Chinese nationals as well as Norwegians, Icelanders, Swedes and Americans. China is expanding. After “Chinafrica,” will we now also speak of “Chinarctica”? China, it is said, has time on its side. And in the meantime it is openly dreaming of superpower status. The Americans are worried, the Europeans are hesitant and the Russians are eager for investments. But what are China’s real goals?
World Economic Forum: Top Stories- April 1, 2023
0:15 What happened in the Credit Suisse takeover – The Swiss government has brokered an emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by rival bank UBS. Experts are calling it the ‘most dramatic moment in global banking’ since the 2008 crisis. The deal was worth $3.2 billion, that’s 6% less than what Credit Suisse was worth last Friday and wiped out $17 billion in additional tier 1(AT1) bonds. So what are AT1 bonds? AT1 bonds were created after the 2008 financial crisis when the banking industry became more regulated. They are a type of hybrid debt issued by banks. AT1 bonds can offer high returns. Watch to learn more about how the AT1 bonds were related to the Credit Suisse crisis.
1:48 The world’s lightest paint – It was inspired by butterflies’ wings. It’s so light that you could coat a Boeing 747 with just 1.5 kg of paint, rather than the 500 kg of paint typically used. Its inventors say it’s light enough to make cars and planes more energy-efficient. It absorbs less heat than standard paint and keeps underlying surfaces up to 16˚C cooler. So it could help us cut down on energy used for air conditioning
3:05 Belgium’s Artificial Energy Island – Belgium is building a new island in the North Sea to transform offshore wind energy. Princess Elisabeth Island will be 45km off the coast and will serve as a hub for the Princess Elisabeth Zone, a planned 3.5GW offshore wind farm. This artificial wind energy island will be 6 hectares in size, equivalent to around 12 football pitches. It will collect all the electricity generated by turbines, then send it to the mainland through undersea cables. The artificial wind energy island will also host interconnectors from the UK and Denmark, which will, in turn, connect to other North Sea wind farms. Construction is set to begin next year, and the island is due to be fully operational by 2030. Watch to learn more about Belgium’s artificial wind energy island.
4:11 Switzerland’s Solar Railway – Start-up Sun-Ways has collaborated with the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne for a pilot project testing the panels on a section of rail near Buttes in Western Switzerland. If rolled out to the country’s entire 5,000km rail network they could supply 2% of Switzerland’s electricity. Sun-Ways believes 50% of the world’s railways could be equipped with its system.
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The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
Art Exhibition Tour: ‘Philip Guston Now’ In London
Philip Guston Now
March 2 – August 27, 2023
As the world whirled around him, he painted to meet the moment. He captured both simple pleasures of daily life (like eating or driving) and large-scale violence by “bearing witness” to the world with an unflinching look at war, racism, and his own inner demons.
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Explore Selected Works
Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – April 3, 2023
Barron’s Magazine – April 3, 2023:
The Battle Over TikTok Is Just Starting
Americans spent 53 billion hours on TikTok last year, according to one Wall Street estimate. If the service is banned in the U.S., much of that time could go to Meta, YouTube, and Snap. What it all means for stocks.
Barney Frank Says He Tried to Save Signature Bank
The former Democratic congressman, of Dodd-Frank fame, has a lot to say about the rapid demise of the New York bank that he served as a director.
These 15 Midsize Banks Have a Risky Specialty
With high concentrations of commercial real estate loans, these midsize lenders could come under pressure. But they look to be managing the risks well.
UP AND DOWN WALL STREET
March’s Stock Market Came in Like a Lion, Goes Out Like a Bull
The Stock Market Rallied Into a Banking Slowdown. Be Worried.
The New York Times Book Review – April 2, 2023
The New York Times Book Review – April 2, 2023:
Guerrilla Gardeners Meet Billionaire Doomsayer. Hurly-Burly Ensues.
“Birnam Wood,” by the Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton, is a fast-moving ecological novel and a generational cri de coeur.
Read Your Way Through Edinburgh
Edinburgh calls to readers, its pearl-grey skies urging them to curl up with a book. Maggie O’Farrell, the author of “Hamnet,” suggests reading that best reflects her city.
Fine Art: The Burlington Magazine – April 2023
The Burlington Magazine – April 2023: Few paintings capture the exhilaration of the arrival of spring as powerfully as Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Orchard in blossom, bordered by cypresses’, a detail of which is on the cover of our newly published April issue.
Process: Design Drawings from the Rijksmuseum 1500–1900
The manifold collections of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, include rich holdings of the decorative arts, international in scope, with a natural bias towards the Netherlands. But unlike the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, products of the nineteenth-century campaign to improve design, the Rijksmuseum, a national museum of art and history, had no strong motive to collect design drawings (although the Rijksprentenkabinet, housed in the museum, contains one of the world’s great assemblages of engraved ornament).
Politics versus archaeology in Paris
An air of anticipation has greeted the fourth anniversary of the fire that broke out on 15th April 2019 and destroyed the medieval roof of Notre-Dame, Paris, together with its flèche, designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in 1859. The main controversies surrounding the restoration having been settled – as reported in this Magazine, in July 2020 the French government announced that the roof and flèche will be rebuilt as they were, using the same materials as the original – attention has turned to the discoveries being made and to the restoration process.
Culture: The New Review Magazine – April 2, 2023
The New Review (April 2, 2023) – How running helped me navigate the strange terrain of grief An extract from @drrachelhewitt’s memoir, In Her Nature @ChattoBooks.
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad review – drama in the West Bank
An actor returns to Palestine and joins a local production of Hamlet in this richly layered and elegant examination of memories and oppression
The West Bank town of Jenin: ‘what could offer a more febrile union of the personal and the political than Palestine?’ Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
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