Each religion’s followers tend to believe that their religion is true and others are fake. There is a reluctance to explore other religions for fear of being ‘led astray’, and this reluctance is born of and reinforced by peer pressure, conformity and groupthink. This is why some people find objects of suspicion in things as superficial as other religions’ followers’ clothing, rituals, food, and even hairstyles.
In Copenhagen there is a two-Michelin-star restaurant called Noma which has been ranked Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant Magazine four times. It was co-founded by René Redzepi, a Dane who had previously worked at world-famous restaurants El Bulli, The French Laundry and Le Jardin des Sens. Redzepi is a pretty serious foodie. Noma has been central in the development of a cuisine known as the New Nordic Diet.
Elite athletes are special people who exist on a different plane from the average person. They are driven to succeed at all costs. But sporting authorities have drawn a line in the sand that can bring famous careers to an end if crossed: no performance-enhancing drugs. The world of doping in sport is therefore a delicately-poised knife edge of conflict, deception, and brinkmanship.
Smart cities aim to provide their residents with improved public services and better quality of life by investing in digital technologies. They also emphasize community involvement in the running of the city. With the key stakeholders (citizens) participating more directly in matters of infrastructure, mobility, environment, sustainability and economy, their city functions better and serves their needs and desires more efficiently. Digital technology aids citizens by providing real-time monitoring of services and utilities, and the ability to respond to changing needs in real time.
Somehow the instruction manual for a new child always gets lost between the maternity ward and home, and they don’t do reprints.
So, you’ve got a baby. Now what?
It took the suicide of the headteacher of Hendon School in North London to get pupils and staff talking about mental health. The terrible event shocked them into dialogue, and two years later a group of more than 30 pupils have organised conferences for other schools and created a mental health app to help fellow students find support.
Why exactly did the apocryphal apple fall on Isaac Newton’s head? That’s what Newton wondered, and set out to discover why. Many of us wonder in the same way about why things happen, but don’t have time to dedicate our lives to getting to the bottom of it. Most of us don’t have a nuclear reactor or particle accelerator in our garden shed. Here’s a course for armchair physicists around the world who want to be told how it all works by people who have done all the hard thinking.
With the UK having voted to leave the European Union and right-wing leaders in Europe and around the world celebrating the decision (when this was written), it might be a good time for future leaders, administrators and businesspeople to deepen their knowledge of International Relations. In an atmosphere of growing nationalism, diplomacy and knowledge of world affairs are skills that might be in higher demand.
How can we be free in a world of jobs, debt and alarm clocks? What’s the best way to live life from moment to moment? If we don’t decide this ourselves, the pressures of life are sure to fill up those moments for us and we risk being left without a sense of peace, purpose or pleasure.
‘The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.’
Have you ever wanted to solve a crime? It seems to be a common fantasy – stepping into the shoes of a flinty-eyed detective, assessing the evidence and leaving no stone unturned to tighten the net around the criminal until he is forced to confess. These days a lot of that work is done via forensic science. There are quite a lot of games on the Google Play and Apple Stores based on forensic TV shows like CSI and NCIS in which you analyse the evidence to deduce who committed the crime.
