Aeroplanes and global warming
Have you ever looked out of the window of a passenger plane from 30,000 feet at the vast expanses of empty ocean and uninhabited land, and wondered how people can have any major effect on the Earth?
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Awards
The Nobels are the originals, of course. Alfred Nobel, the man who invented deadly explosives, decided to try and do something good with all the money he earned, and gave prizes to people who made progress in literature, science, economics and – perhaps most importantly – peace.
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be your own investigative journalist
We are often told that the age of the “information economy” has arrived. The idea is that intellectual work is becoming a more important source of wealth than manufacturing. There are already too many factories for the number of people who want to buy stuff, so the winners in the marketplace need to have a lead in terms of fashion, or technology to beat the competition.
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bilingualism
What are the advantages of learning several languages from an early age? What are the dangers? What’s the best way to teach your child two or more languages simultaneously?
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birth
It is difficult to think about this word without first considering the enormity of it’s meaning.
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Black Sheep and the Mysterious Uncle Bob
All families have their stories, their dramas, their private jokes, nicknames and phrases. They’re the place where our personalities were made
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Calendars
To the first people it was obvious that time went in circles.
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Christmas – the good, the bad and the ugly
Christmas is one of those holidays which means very different things to different people.
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creepy crawlies
Creepy crawlies are those little bugs which provoke feelings such as apprehension, anxiety or aversion – they make your skin crawl. Flies aren’t creepy crawlies but spiders are. Ladybirds are rather sweet but centipedes are scary. Guess which is a creepy crawly?
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Development
Why are there so many people in the world without food, water, schools and doctors?
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ecotourism
Nowadays, many of us try to live in a way that will damage the environment as little as possible and we want to take these attitudes on holiday with us. This is why alternative forms of tourism are becoming more popular all over the world.
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The Eden Project
In 1999, Tim Smit, an ex-rock musician and record producer, borrowed the name of the biblical garden for a collection of space-age domes in a corner of southwest England - the Eden Project.
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environmental protest groups
Facts about the state of the global environment read like quotes on a poster for an epic Hollywood movie.
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flea circuses
A good circus has always built its reputation on its ability to amaze and entertain and what could be more amazing than a flea circus? But does such a thing really exist and can fleas really be taught to perform circus tricks?.
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folklore
According to the dictionary I have, folklore is the study of ancient customs, beliefs, traditions and superstitions of the common people. Who are these 'common people'
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gardening - the beginnings
England is a garden, and such gardens are not made, By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade. Rudyard Kipling, 'The Glory of the Garden'
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Grameen bank
If we are looking for one single action which will enable the poor to overcome their poverty, I would focus on credit”. (Dr Muhammad Yunus)
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iguana farming
When you think of animal farming, cows, sheep, goats, horses, pigs, chickens and ducks probably come to mind. But what about farming lizards? And not only for their skins, to make into shoes or handbags, but for food?
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information society
Once upon a time societies were organised around religion, farming, trade or industry.
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Kenya
Recently a competition was held in Kenya to design a “national dress”. This, however, proved to be more difficult than foreseen - the simple reason being that Kenya is so diverse, and there are so many different tribes, each with their own language, customs and, of course, way of dressing.
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land-locked countries
Is geography important? Here’s a question for you to answer. What have the following countries got in common: Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Iceland and Madagascar?
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the life of trees
When I was a child I read a science fiction story that made me think about trees in a new way. In the story, visitors from an advanced civilisation come to our planet and their spaceship lands in the middle of a forest. The aliens have a long conversation with the trees of the forest, and then leave again, happy to think that the inhabitants of earth are noble, intelligent and peaceful.
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little wooden armies
1500 years ago a king in India named Kaid, who had built a huge empire, was sick at heart. He called his minister, Sassa, to him and said : “Day and night I think about my past battles, I dream of conquests and invasions, I can’t sleep for thinking about imaginary wars and victories. But I have no more enemies, and it is a sin to make war without cause. What can I do to regain my peace of mind?
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martial arts
Martial arts have never been more popular. Recent Hollywood action blockbusters featuring acrobatic fight scenes like The Matrix and Charlie’s Angels have been hugely successful, and the popularity of martial arts films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan have turned actors like Jet Li and Jackie Chan into international superstars.
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Mary Seacole
The most famous nurse of all time must be Florence Nightingale, but have you heard of Mary Seacole?
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the meaning of tingo
I recently found a book by the writer Adam Jacot de Boinod called The Meaning Of Tingo. As a native speaker of English, I was a bit confused. I had never heard of this word “tingo”, and was curious about the title of the book.
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mountains
A look at three popular mountain sports and some serious environmental problems facing mountains and the people who live on them.
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New Zealand
Tucked away in the Pacific Ocean, here the sun seems to slip more slowly across the sky, perhaps thanks to Maui, a legendary Maori demi-god, whose magic fishing net caught the sun.
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Papua New Guinea
Why New Guinea? One of the first Europeans to arrive in the 16th century from Portugal thought the country resembled Guinea in West Africa.
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Peacekeeping
Wherever there is conflict in the world and enemies have agreed to let a third party or neutral force come in to try and maintain the peace, it is usually the familiar blue helmets of the United Nations that we see on the scene.
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philosophy
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” (Shakespeare). Does this sentence make you think? What does it make you think about? Shakespeare was a dreamer, and some say he was a philosopher too. In this sentence he tells us that our lives are short but we can think up big and important ideas in that short time.
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pirates and piracy
Piracy - the act of robbery from ships at sea - has existed for thousands of years. It was written about by the ancient Greeks and has been written about ever since.
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the post
For as long as humans have existed there has been a need to keep in touch, to transfer information between people in different places.
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puppets
Watch a group of children playing with their toys. At first they might be happy to put the plastic animals in their cages at the zoo and take them out again, or dress the dolls in different clothes, but after a while things get a bit boring.
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qat - to chew or not to chew
Visitors to countries around the Horn of Africa should be prepared for an extraordinary sight. This will be of a man with one great big swollen cheek bulging out, as if a tennis ball has been inserted into it, green teeth and a far away look in his eyes.
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Racial discrimination
“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die". Nelson Mandela
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Rainforests rule!
A world like no other – perhaps this is the best way to describe the world of the rainforest.
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R. Buckminster Fuller
R. Buckminster Fuller should be a model for everybody, but not a person we should think of as special or better than us.
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records
Paul Hunn of north London holds the world record for the loudest burp: he can burp at a volume of over 118 decibels. John Evans of Sheffield can balance 62 books on his head. And Peter Dowedswell of Northampton can eat an entire three course meal consisting of soup, sausages, beans, mashed potatoes and prunes in only 45 seconds.
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royalty
Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about some of the Kings and Queens of England.
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Sojourner Truth
The name Sojourner may be familiar to you. It was the name of the wheeled robot that was sent on the expedition to Mars in 1997 to explore the surface of the planet.
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solar power
Which form of energy is free during the day, produces no dangerous waste products and will be available for the next 4 billion years? Solar power, of course.
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surfing
It seems that the oceans of the world have become many things to many different people. For some the ocean is a source of food and income, for others a source of inspiration and fascination, for some a beautiful garden with hidden depths to explore and for others a dumping ground for their toxic waste, but of all people the ones that probably appreciate, admire and perhaps even understand the changing landscape of the ocean best are surfers.
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technophobia
Technophobia is not a new term and technophobes have existed since the Industrial Revolution and probably for a lot longer in some shape or form.
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10 years without books
This is a story about how the author stopped watching TV and began reading again for pleasure, after ten years in which he hardly turned a page.
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theatre
In many parts of the world, and not only in the UK, “going to the theatre” is seen as an activity which only a very few people do.
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tobacco
What’s in a cigarette? What’s in a puff? Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals. Some of which are harmful, others deadly.
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Universities
More than a quarter of the working population of the USA has one. Cairo, Bologna, and Paris have been offering them the longest. And you can now supposedly get them by sitting at home at a computer. What am I talking about? A university education, of course. So who goes to university and what do they get out of their experience?
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viral marketing
In 1998 Iconocast gave the award for Internet marketing buzzword of the year to the term 'viral marketing', but what does it really mean?
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Waltzing Matilda
Most countries have a unique piece of music that means something special to its people.
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water sports
All over the world people head for oceans, lakes, pools and rivers in search of fun, freedom and excitement. On the water, in the water or under the water, there are a huge range of sports and activities available to lovers of H2O.
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Winter Olympics
The Olympic Motto is 'Citius, Altius, Fortius', (or faster, higher, stronger), and when you hear the words "The Olympics", you may see mental pictures of tanned men and women athletes in brightly coloured sportswear, trying hard to live up to the motto, while keeping to the Olympic ideals of friendship, unity, fair play and peace.
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Word games
This paragraph is not ordinary. Look at it. At first, it won’t look too odd. Just a normal paragraph - you may think. But look at it again and you might find it a bit unusual. Just a tiny bit. What’s wrong with it, you may ask?
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