Random Articles (Page 3)
Have a deep view into what people are curious about.
π Republic of Molossia β A Micronation in the US
The Republic of Molossia, also known as Molossia, is a micronation claiming sovereignty over 1.28 acres of land near Dayton, Nevada. The micronation has not received recognition from any of the member states of the United Nations. It was founded by Kevin Baugh. On April 16, 2016, Baugh hosted a tour of Molossia, sponsored by the website Atlas Obscura. He continues to pay property taxes on the land to Storey County (the recognized local government), although he calls it "foreign aid". He has stated "We all want to think we have our own country, but you know the U.S. is a lot bigger".
Discussed on
- "Republic of Molossia β A Micronation in the US" | 2022-08-31 | 16 Upvotes 7 Comments
π Homey Airport
Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport (ICAO: KXTA, FAA LID: XTA) or Groom Lake (after the salt flat next to its airfield). Details of its operations are not made public, but the USAF says that it is an open training range, and it is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The USAF and CIA acquired the site in 1955, primarily for flight testing the Lockheed U-2 aircraft.
The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component of unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore. It has never been declared a secret base, but all research and occurrences in Area 51 are Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI). The CIA publicly acknowledged the base's existence on 25 June 2013, following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in 2005 and declassified documents detailing its history and purpose.
Area 51 is located in the southern portion of Nevada, 83 miles (134Β km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. The surrounding area is a popular tourist destination, including the small town of Rachel on the "Extraterrestrial Highway".
Discussed on
- "Homey Airport" | 2023-07-27 | 10 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Regular Heptadecagon Inscribed in a Circle
Discussed on
- "Regular Heptadecagon Inscribed in a Circle" | 2010-04-15 | 44 Upvotes 13 Comments
π Body Doubling
Body doubling or parallel working is a strategy used to initiate and complete tasks, such as household chores or writing and other computer tasks. It involves the physical presence, virtual presence through a phone call, videotelephony or social media presence, of someone with whom one shares their goals, which makes it more likely to achieve them. For some people, it works best to both do similar tasks, while for others, just being in the same (virtual) room is enough.
It was partially popularized by those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to help manage symptoms. Its usefulness has also been noted by those with autism, but efficacy is not clearly known as long term studies have not been conducted on the topic. In 2023, J. Russel Ramsay, professor of clinical psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine and co-director of the ADHD treatment and research program of the University of Pennsylvania, noted that, while extensive research on the strategy's effect on productivity doesn't exist, "the idea of externalizing motivation is a longstanding evidence-based mechanism for managing ADHD."
ADHD body doubling comes into play allowing individuals with ADHD to perform and complete tasks more easily and with less distractions, where otherwise they might struggle more. "ADHD body doubling is a productivity strategy used by individuals with ADHD to finish possibly annoying jobs while having another person beside them."
Body doubling is said to aid individuals with focus and productivity while working. Another person, known as a 'body double' sits alongside the individual with ADHD to help them focus while completing a certain task. The role of this individual is to not partake in the task but, more importantly, serve as a support system and create a welcoming environment that allows the individual to focus by reducing any distractions. The idea of body doubling allows for specific reminders to the individual to stay on task which helps alleviate the symptoms of ADHD.
Discussed on
- "Body Doubling" | 2025-03-29 | 66 Upvotes 16 Comments
π Expect β automates programs that expose a text terminal interface
Expect is an extension to the TCL scripting language written by Don Libes. The program automates interactions with programs that expose a text terminal interface. Expect, originally written in 1990 for the Unix platform, has since become available for Microsoft Windows and other systems.
Discussed on
- "Expect β automates programs that expose a text terminal interface" | 2013-03-25 | 69 Upvotes 31 Comments
π Balfour Declaration
The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. The declaration was contained in a letter dated 2Β November 1917 from the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The text of the declaration was published in the press on 9Β November 1917.
Immediately following their declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire in November 1914, the British War Cabinet began to consider the future of Palestine; within two months a memorandum was circulated to the Cabinet by a Zionist Cabinet member, Herbert Samuel, proposing the support of Zionist ambitions in order to enlist the support of Jews in the wider war. A committee was established in April 1915 by British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to determine their policy towards the Ottoman Empire including Palestine. Asquith, who had favoured post-war reform of the Ottoman Empire, resigned in December 1916; his replacement David Lloyd George favoured partition of the Empire. The first negotiations between the British and the Zionists took place at a conference on 7 February 1917 that included Sir Mark Sykes and the Zionist leadership. Subsequent discussions led to Balfour's request, on 19 June, that Rothschild and Chaim Weizmann submit a draft of a public declaration. Further drafts were discussed by the British Cabinet during September and October, with input from Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews but with no representation from the local population in Palestine.
By late 1917, in the lead-up to the Balfour Declaration, the wider war had reached a stalemate, with two of Britain's allies not fully engaged: the United States had yet to suffer a casualty, and the Russians were in the midst of a revolution with Bolsheviks taking over the government. A stalemate in southern Palestine was broken by the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917. The release of the final declaration was authorised on 31 October; the preceding Cabinet discussion had referenced perceived propaganda benefits amongst the worldwide Jewish community for the Allied war effort.
The opening words of the declaration represented the first public expression of support for Zionism by a major political power. The term "national home" had no precedent in international law, and was intentionally vague as to whether a Jewish state was contemplated. The intended boundaries of Palestine were not specified, and the British government later confirmed that the words "in Palestine" meant that the Jewish national home was not intended to cover all of Palestine. The second half of the declaration was added to satisfy opponents of the policy, who had claimed that it would otherwise prejudice the position of the local population of Palestine and encourage antisemitism worldwide by "stamping the Jews as strangers in their native lands". The declaration called for safeguarding the civil and religious rights for the Palestinian Arabs, who composed the vast majority of the local population, and also the rights and political status of the Jewish communities in other countries outside of Palestine. The British government acknowledged in 1939 that the local population's wishes and interests should have been taken into account, and recognised in 2017 that the declaration should have called for the protection of the Palestinian Arabs' political rights.
The declaration had many long-lasting consequences. It greatly increased popular support for Zionism within Jewish communities worldwide, and became a core component of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founding document of Mandatory Palestine. It indirectly led to the emergence of Israel and is considered a principal cause of the ongoing IsraeliβPalestinian conflict, often described as the world's most intractable conflict. Controversy remains over a number of areas, such as whether the declaration contradicted earlier promises the British made to the Sharif of Mecca in the McMahonβHussein correspondence.
Discussed on
- "Balfour Declaration" | 2023-10-19 | 16 Upvotes 7 Comments
π English Wikipedia drove out fringe editors over two decades
Discussed on
- "English Wikipedia drove out fringe editors over two decades" | 2023-11-06 | 118 Upvotes 199 Comments
π Larry (Cat)
Larry (born c.βJanuary 2007) is a British domestic tabby cat who has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street since 2011. He is cared for by Downing Street staff, and is not the personal property of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Larry has lived at 10 Downing Street during the premierships of six prime ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. He is the first cat to be officially given the title of Chief Mouser, according to the Downing Street government website.
Discussed on
- "Larry (Cat)" | 2025-07-04 | 350 Upvotes 74 Comments
π Wolf Warrior Diplomacy
Wolf warrior diplomacy (Chinese: ζηΌε€δΊ€; pinyin: ZhΓ nlΓ‘ng WΓ ijiΔo) describes an aggressive style of coercive diplomacy adopted by Chinese diplomats in the 21st century under Chinese leader Xi Jinping's administration. The term was coined from the Chinese action film, Wolf Warrior 2. This approach is in contrast to prior Chinese diplomatic practices of Deng Xiaoping, which had emphasized the avoidance of controversy and the use of cooperative rhetoric. Wolf warrior diplomacy is confrontational and combative, with its proponents loudly denouncing any criticism of China on social media and in interviews. As an attempt to gain "discourse power" in international politics, wolf warrior diplomacy forms one part of a new foreign policy strategy called Xi Jinping's "Major Country Diplomacy" (Chinese: ε€§ε½ε€δΊ€; pinyin: DΓ guΓ³ WΓ ijiΔo) which has legitimized a more active role for China on the world stage, including engaging in an open ideological struggle with the West.
Although the phrase "wolf warrior diplomacy" was popularized as a description of this diplomatic approach during the COVID-19 pandemic, the appearance of wolf warrior-style diplomats had begun a few years prior. Chinese leader and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping's foreign policy writ large, perceived anti-China hostility from the West among Chinese government officials, and shifts within the Chinese diplomatic bureaucracy have been cited as factors leading to its emergence.