Random Articles (Page 2)
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π Berry Paradox
The Berry paradox is a self-referential paradox arising from an expression like "The smallest positive integer not definable in under sixty letters" (a phrase with fifty-seven letters).
Bertrand Russell, the first to discuss the paradox in print, attributed it to G. G. Berry (1867β1928), a junior librarian at Oxford's Bodleian Library. Russell called Berry "the only person in Oxford who understood mathematical logic". The paradox was called "Richard's paradox" by Jean-Yves Gerard".
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- "Berry Paradox" | 2022-08-19 | 27 Upvotes 4 Comments
π World Game
World Game, sometimes called the World Peace Game, is an educational simulation developed by Buckminster Fuller in 1961 to help create solutions to overpopulation and the uneven distribution of global resources. This alternative to war games uses Fuller's Dymaxion map and requires a group of players to cooperatively solve a set of metaphorical scenarios, thus challenging the dominant nation-state perspective with a more holistic "total world" view. The idea was to "make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone," thus increasing the quality of life for all people.
π Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered
Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays by German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher. The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" came from a principle espoused by Schumacher's teacher Leopold Kohr (1937-1994) The concept is often used to champion small, appropriate technologies or polities that are believed to empower people more, in contrast with phrases such as "bigger is better".
First published in 1973, Small Is Beautiful brought Schumacher's critiques of Western economics to a wider audience during the 1973 energy crisis and the popularisation of the concept of globalization. In 1995 The Times Literary Supplement ranked Small Is Beautiful among the 100 most influential books published since World War II. A further edition with commentaries was published in 1999.
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- "Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered" | 2010-02-25 | 17 Upvotes 11 Comments
π My Trial as a War Criminal (By Leo Szilard, Inventor of Nuclear Chain Reaction)
"My Trial as a War Criminal" is a 1949 short story by atomic physicist Leo Szilard. Szilard had played a leading role in the Manhattan Project, and in the story he imagines the kind of show trial he might have had if he had been prosecuted in a manner similar to the Nuremberg Trials. Szilard earlier drafted the letter Albert Einstein signed, to Franklin Roosevelt, suggesting the US develop the military uses of nuclear power, and later the petition unsuccessfully advocating against the use of nuclear weapons.
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- "My Trial as a War Criminal (By Leo Szilard, Inventor of Nuclear Chain Reaction)" | 2024-08-14 | 33 Upvotes 1 Comments
π Door to Hell
The gates of hell are various places on the surface of the world that have acquired a legendary reputation for being entrances to the underworld. Often they are found in regions of unusual geological activity, particularly volcanic areas, or sometimes at lakes, caves, or mountains.
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- "Door to Hell" | 2014-06-02 | 132 Upvotes 47 Comments
- "Door to Hell" | 2013-08-31 | 14 Upvotes 5 Comments
π Buy Nothing Day
Buy Nothing Day (BND) is an international day of protest against consumerism. In North America, the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden, Buy Nothing Day is held the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, concurrent to Black Friday; elsewhere, it is held the following day, which is the last Saturday in November. Buy Nothing Day was founded in Vancouver by artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by Adbusters, based in Canada.
The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of overconsumption." In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called "Black Friday", which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States. In 2000, some advertisements by Adbusters promoting Buy Nothing Day were denied advertising time by almost all major television networks except for CNN. Soon, campaigns started appearing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Sweden. Participation now includes more than 65 nations.
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- "Buy Nothing Day" | 2021-11-26 | 50 Upvotes 3 Comments
- "Buy Nothing Day" | 2016-11-25 | 27 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Destreza
La Verdadera Destreza is the conventional term for the Spanish tradition of fencing of the early modern period. The word destreza literally translates to 'dexterity' or 'skill, ability', and thus la verdadera destreza to 'the true skill' or 'the true art'.
While destreza is primarily a system of swordsmanship, it is intended to be a universal method of fighting, applicable to all weapons in principle, but in practice dedicated to the rapier specifically, or the rapier combined with a defensive weapon such as a cloak, a buckler or a parrying dagger, besides other weapons such as the late-renaissance two-handed montante; the flail; and polearms such as the pike and halberd.
Its precepts are based on reason, geometry, and tied to intellectual, philosophical, and moral ideals, incorporating various aspects of a well-rounded Renaissance humanist education, with a special focus on the writings of classical authors such as Aristotle, Euclid, and Plato.
The tradition is documented in scores of fencing manuals, but centers on the works of two primary authors, JerΓ³nimo SΓ‘nchez de Carranza (Hieronimo de CaranΓ§a, died c. 1608) and his student Luis Pacheco de NarvΓ‘ez (1570β1640).
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- "Destreza" | 2023-04-03 | 43 Upvotes 20 Comments
π AMPRNet: Amateur Packet Radio Network
The AMPRNet (AMateur Packet Radio Network) or Network 44 is used in amateur radio for packet radio and digital communications between computer networks managed by amateur radio operators. Like other amateur radio frequency allocations, an IP range was provided in 1981 for Amateur Radio Digital Communications (a generic term) and self-administered by radio amateurs. In 2001, undocumented and dual-use of 44.0.0.0/8 as an internet telescope began, recording the spread of the Code Red II worm in July 2001.
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- "AMPRNet: Amateur Packet Radio Network" | 2015-11-18 | 25 Upvotes 14 Comments
π Blue iceberg
A blue iceberg is visible after the ice from above the water melts, causing the smooth portion of ice from below the water to overturn. The rare blue ice is formed from the compression of pure snow, which then develops into glacial ice.
Icebergs may also appear blue due to light refraction and age. Older icebergs reveal vivid hues of green and blue, resulting from a high concentration of color, microorganisms, and compacted ice. One of the better known blue icebergs rests in the waters off Sermilik fjord near Greenland. It is described as an electric blue iceberg and is known to locals as "blue diamond".
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- "Blue iceberg" | 2023-07-29 | 82 Upvotes 14 Comments
π Radiatori β pasta shaped like a radiator to maximize heat exchange
Radiatori are small, squat pasta shapes that are said to resemble radiators. Although it is rumored that they were created in the 1960s by an industrial designer, their invention was actually between the First and Second World War. They are often used in similar dishes as rotelle or fusilli, because their shape works well with thicker sauces. They are also used in casseroles, salads, and soups. The form is sometimes called pagoda pasta..
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- "Radiatori β pasta shaped like a radiator to maximize heat exchange" | 2020-11-11 | 14 Upvotes 6 Comments