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๐ Cuisenaire rods
Cuisenaire rods are mathematics learning aids for students that provide an interactive, hands-on way to explore mathematics and learn mathematical concepts, such as the four basic arithmetical operations, working with fractions and finding divisors. In the early 1950s, Caleb Gattegno popularised this set of coloured number rods created by the Belgian primary school teacher Georges Cuisenaire (1891โ1975), who called the rods rรฉglettes.
According to Gattegno, "Georges Cuisenaire showed in the early 1950s that students who had been taught traditionally, and were rated โweakโ, took huge strides when they shifted to using the material. They became 'very good' at traditional arithmetic when they were allowed to manipulate the rods."
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- "Cuisenaire rods" | 2015-07-31 | 43 Upvotes 20 Comments
๐ The Battle of Snake Island
The Battle of Snake Island took place on 24 February 2022 on Snake Island (Ukrainian: ะััััะฒ ะะผััะฝะธะน, romanized:ย Ostriv Zmiinyi) during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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- "The Battle of Snake Island" | 2022-02-25 | 59 Upvotes 6 Comments
๐ Sand Theft
Sand theft or unauthorised or illegal sand mining leads to a widely unknown global example of natural and non-renewable resource depletion problem comparable in extent to global water scarcity. Beach theft is illegal removal of large quantities of sand from a beach leading to full or partial disappearance of the beach.
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- "Sand Theft" | 2019-12-11 | 171 Upvotes 92 Comments
๐ Isetta
The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car, a name also given to other similar vehicles.
In 1955, the BMW Isetta became the world's first mass-production car to achieve a fuel consumption of 3ย L/100ย km (94ย mpgโimp; 78ย mpgโUS). It was the top-selling single-cylinder car in the world, with 161,728 units sold.
Initially manufactured by the Italian firm Iso SpA, the name Isetta is the Italian diminutive form of Iso, meaning "little Iso".
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- "Isetta" | 2020-07-05 | 72 Upvotes 66 Comments
๐ False Vacuum
In quantum field theory, a false vacuum is a hypothetical vacuum that is relatively stable, but not in the most stable state possible. In this condition it is called metastable. It may last for a very long time in this state, but could eventually decay to the more stable one, an event known as false vacuum decay. The most common suggestion of how such a decay might happen in our universe is called bubble nucleation โ if a small region of the universe by chance reached a more stable vacuum, this "bubble" (also called "bounce") would spread.
A false vacuum exists at a local minimum of energy and is therefore not completely stable, in contrast to a true vacuum, which exists at a global minimum and is stable.
๐ Kessler Syndrome
The Kessler syndrome (also called the Kessler effect, collisional cascading, or ablation cascade), proposed by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978, is a theoretical scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) due to space pollution is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade in which each collision generates space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions. One implication is that the distribution of debris in orbit could render space activities and the use of satellites in specific orbital ranges difficult for many generations.
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- "Kessler Syndrome" | 2020-02-13 | 57 Upvotes 57 Comments
- "Kessler Syndrome" | 2018-11-01 | 63 Upvotes 62 Comments
๐ Physics Envy
The term physics envy is used to criticize modern writing and research of academics working in areas such as "softer sciences", liberal arts, business studies, and humanities. The term argues that writing and working practices in these disciplines have overused confusing jargon and complicated mathematics to seem more 'rigorous' and like mathematics-based subjects like physics.
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- "Physics Envy" | 2023-02-20 | 32 Upvotes 23 Comments
๐ List of countries by tax rates
A comparison of tax rates by countries is difficult and somewhat subjective, as tax laws in most countries are extremely complex and the tax burden falls differently on different groups in each country and sub-national unit. The list focuses on the main indicative types of taxes: corporate tax, individual income tax, and sales tax, including VAT and GST, but does not list capital gains tax.
Some other taxes (for instance property tax, substantial in many countries, such as the United States) and payroll tax are not shown here. The table is not exhaustive in representing the true tax burden to either the corporation or the individual in the listed country. The tax rates displayed are marginal and do not account for deductions, exemptions or rebates. The effective rate is usually lower than the marginal rate. The tax rates given for federations (such as the United States and Canada) are averages and vary depending on the state or province. Territories that have different rates to their respective nation are in italics.
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- "List of countries by tax rates" | 2016-10-10 | 25 Upvotes 13 Comments
๐ MasterโSlave Morality
Masterโslave morality (German: Herren- und Sklavenmoral) is a central theme of Friedrich Nietzsche's works, particularly in the first essay of his book, On the Genealogy of Morality. Nietzsche argued that there were two fundamental types of morality: "master morality" and "slave morality". Master morality values pride and power, while slave morality values kindness, empathy, and sympathy. Master morality judges actions as good or bad (e.g. the classical virtues of the noble man versus the vices of the rabble), unlike slave morality, which judges by a scale of good or evil intentions (e. g. Christian virtues and vices, Kantian deontology).
For Nietzsche, a morality is inseparable from the culture which values it, meaning that each culture's language, codes, practices, narratives, and institutions are informed by the struggle between these two moral structures.
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- "MasterโSlave Morality" | 2019-11-26 | 47 Upvotes 62 Comments
๐ Kleroterion
A kleroterion (Ancient Greek: ฮบฮปฮทฯฯฯฮฎฯฮนฮฟฮฝ) was a randomization device used by the Athenian polis during the period of democracy to select citizens to the boule, to most state offices, to the nomothetai, and to court juries.
The kleroterion was a slab of stone incised with rows of slots and with an attached tube. Citizens' tokensโpinakiaโwere placed randomly in the slots so that every member of each of the tribes of Athens had their tokens placed in the same column. There was a pipe attached to the stone which could then be fed dice that were coloured differently (assumed to be black and white) and could be released individually by a mechanism that has not survived to posterity (but is speculated to be by two nails; one used to block the open end and another to separate the next die to fall from the rest of the dice above it). When a die was released, a complete row of tokens (so, one citizen from each of the tribes of Athens) was either selected if the die was coloured one colour, or discarded if it was the alternate colour. This process continued until the requisite number of citizens was selected.
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- "Kleroterion" | 2019-09-04 | 99 Upvotes 22 Comments