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A moment of zen: Jon Stewart leaves The Daily Show
History & The Arts

A moment of zen: Jon Stewart leaves The Daily Show

...opened his final episode of The Daily Show with “full-team coverage” of Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, featuring current and returning Daily Show correspondents from throughout Stewart’s tenure, including Stephen Colbert. [Jon Stewart interviews Barack Obama] Jon Stewart conducts one last interview with Barack Obama Before spontaneous and...
Oliver Sacks: "Don't skip the footnotes"
Health, Sports & Psychology

Oliver Sacks: "Don't skip the footnotes"

...course, for many suffering patients for whom Sacks could offer no respite. What we can learn from the life of Sacks The majority of Sacks’ adult life is marked by two distinct periods. The first, as a young man, is characterised by its vigour: motorcycling across America, weightlifting, experimenting with drugs, and youthful lust and love. His later life, however, is...
From the Sumerians to Shakespeare to Twain: why fart jokes never get old
History & The Arts

From the Sumerians to Shakespeare to Twain: why fart jokes never get old

...opening poetic ode refers to the flatus as “Cure of cholick, cure of gripes, tuneful drone of lower pipes.” Swift then goes on to subject the fart to a detailed analysis – carefully describing its legal, social and scientific dimensions – before concluding that there are multiple species of fart, including “the sonorous and full-toned or rousing fart,” “the...
John Perry Barlow: An Appreciation
Science, Maths & Technology

John Perry Barlow: An Appreciation

...course of my life when I was just starting out as an internet developer in the early 1990s, and when I met him and went to work for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, I had the incredible and inspiring opportunity to affirm my first impression of his philosophy: the internet would only be a force for good if we committed ourselves endlessly to that cause, and otherwise,...
Can natural infrastructure help Brazil beat its water crisis?
Nature & Environment

Can natural infrastructure help Brazil beat its water crisis?

...open spaces like forests or wetlands that are strategically managed to protect downstream water supplies. If these natural areas are lost to urban sprawl, converted to farms, or are otherwise degraded, city water supplies are more likely to suffer shortages or become polluted. When managed properly, natural infrastructure directs more clean water to cities by controlling...
Human impacts on the lives of animals
Nature & Environment

Human impacts on the lives of animals

...Open University's Science courses and qualifications [Black necked storks] During the long history of life on Earth, the generally slow pace of evolution has been punctuated by dramatic mass extinction events, during which, over a relatively short period of time, a very large number of species became extinct. There are thought to have been five such events, of which the...
Two kings, two very different coronations
History & The Arts

Two kings, two very different coronations

...Open University’s History courses. [The Royal Coronation of H.M. King George IV]The Royal Coronation of H.M. King George IVShow descriptionWestminster abbey during the coronation of George IV, George IV is seated on a raised platform with spectators surrounding him. Although coronation ceremonies are characterised by tradition, they are also important opportunities for...
Messaging apps – paying attention and timing it right
Languages

Messaging apps – paying attention and timing it right

...Open University's English courses. A lot has been written about the ‘attention economy’ – the way that social media companies, businesses and advertisers compete to gain people’s attention in order to boost sales. They do this because otherwise their message or product gets lost in the overwhelming amount of information that circulates on the internet. [Three...