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As the world's cities undergo explosive growth, inequality is intensifying. Wealthy neighborhoods and impoverished slums grow side by side, the gap between t... 
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Most Beautiful Azan by Muadin Hafiz Mustafa Özcan from turkey. If you want the mp3 version of this Adhan you can message me your email address so that i can ...
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June 1996 The River Huai, like many rivers in China, can no longer supply local agriculture with its lifeblood - water. A lethal chemical cocktail has left w...
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Translate any word from English to more than 30 other European languages, on a map
Claire Law's curator insight,
April 26, 2015 2:30 AM
Lots of fun to visualise linguistic similarities and variability across a region.
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Try the Population Bracketology game from @uscensusbureau! Weekly data visualization from the U.S. Census Bureau compares populations for US states and metro areas. http://go.usa.gov/2nFR
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What it means for the Middle East. By Massimo Franco
The stalemate in Syria has veiled a major change that occurred in last six months with regard to realigning global players engaged in the Middle East. Via Seth Dixon
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
March 3, 2014 11:54 AM
This article explores the geopolitical dimensions of the Pope's policies and alliances.
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Cupcakes, cookies and beer dyed green may mean party time in America, but on the Emerald Isle, they harken back to a desperate past. Still, Ireland has learned to embrace the kitsch for the tourists.
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10 places that would welcome a Putin landgrab, and 10 parts of Russia that want the hell out.
Paige Therien's curator insight,
May 4, 2014 10:57 AM
In the recent light of the Crimea annexation and following conflict, many are questioning what Russia's next move will be and how this region may change in the future. The former USSR encomassed a huge amount of land, and therefore many different ethnic groups. Of course this has always been a problem, and this article illustrates how it probably always will be a problem. As politics and cultures in different countries change, people will favor either secession or affiliation due to these centripetal or centrifugal forces . While some may be far-fetched (Siberia and Brooklyn), it is important to remember that as long as there are some people who are in favor, there may be conflict at same scale. 
Bob Beaven's curator insight,
March 5, 2015 2:43 PM
This article is interesting because it shows that as Russia could potentially gain land, it could also lose parts of the country as well. I thought the Brooklyn Beach point was funny due to Putin's argument that wherever Russians live should be Russia (Crimea). I don't think the United States would ever let this happen though, even if it is just a single part of NY, the US would never let Russia back onto the North American Continent after buying Alaska from them back in the 1800s. I also thought it was an intriguing point to state that China could try to make a move at getting Siberia from Russia. I personally don't think that Russia would willingly give up a resource rich region of its nation to China easily, and if China wanted to buy the region, I'd bet Putin would make them pay a pretty penny for the area. The fact that Russia is such a varied nation, especially in the south of the nation, is not surprising due to winning the land from the Ottomans, and the best thing Russia could do, in the case of Chechnya would be to let them go. This way the country could achieve a lasting peace, rather than always fighting campaigns against the region, which as a result, will make the people hate the Russian government even more. However, I do not think Putin will allow his country to decrease in size, Putin only wants increases.
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The party is finally paying attention to individual rights, not just its own interests. Via Janet Espinosa
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A utopian farming commune in Yunnan Province probably would have pleased Chairman Mao, but the Communist Party has never had much tolerance for independent groups, and the community faces a campaign of intimidation. Via Janet Espinosa
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As St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s national holiday celebrated on March 17, calls for setting aside the Lenten fast and enjoying good food and strong drink, GeoCurrents will take a quick break from the recent series of posts on ethno-linguistic and geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and consider Irish cuisine. As is typical of many regional cuisines around the world, that of the Irish has been influenced by their country’s climate, geography, and history, with many factors melding together to create the culinary sensibilities of the “Emerald Isle”.
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Salaat Hands first or knees first in sujood ? The scholars have differed as to how one should go down in sujood, whether one should go hands first or knees f...
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RMIT University academic Dr Binoy Kampmark explains how the United Nations (The UN) works. Watch other videos in this series http://goo.gl/sHD22 And if yo...
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From
quran
The Noble Qur'an in many languages in an easy-to-use interface.
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"Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (known as Gerd) is now about 30% complete. Once completed, in three years, it will be Africa's largest hydropower dam, standing some 170m (558ft) tall."
Albert Jordan's curator insight,
April 1, 2014 3:06 PM
In an area fraught with political instability, non state actors, and rebel groups all too willing to fight for power and the wealth that comes from it - it will be interesting to see how the conflicts shift over time as this dam gets closer to completion. Will Egypt attempt to sabotage it or will they take a more diplomatic approach and try to work with the Ethiopian government diplomatically again? Perhaps Egypt will whisper in to the ear of Sudan or the various "rebel" groups in the region, considering diplomatic means have apparently failed so far. With Sudan's use of the Blue River also going to be affected by Ethiopia's damming, it will be interesting to see if a cooperation between Egypt and Sudan occurs. Perhaps Ethiopia would like to see a deeper conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, keeping their affected neighbor off balance. 
Tracy Galvin's curator insight,
April 16, 2014 6:47 PM
It is extremely difficult to divide a river. The Ethiopians will benefit immensely from this project but the Egyptians could lose everything if the Nile dries up. This is going to be a difficult problem to solve. 
Jess Deady's curator insight,
May 4, 2014 3:45 PM
There is no way the whole Nile river is going to be dried up because of this damn. Ethiopia won't let that happen. To say that the river is going to have the same amount of water in it, thats not going to happen. Obviously the Gerd is going to have a huge impact on the water supply of the Nile but it definitely isn't going to dry up the whole thing!
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As the movement enjoys a star moment, “controversial” issues risk being left behind.
At first, I wasn’t sure why TEDWOMEN—the feminist-minded spin-off of TED Talks that launched in 2010—troubled me. The San Francisco conference held this past December featured incredible speakers and performers. Swimmer Diana Nyad inspired. Poet Sarah Kay received a standing ovation. And Jane Chen—co-founder of a company that invented an affordable, portable infant-warming system for communities in India without incubators—brought this mom of a preemie to tears. But the impressive participants weren’t enough to quell my uneasiness. It might have been the homogeneity of the audience—mostly white women with coiffed hair—or the gift bag so voluminous that it required a “gift bag guide.” Maybe it was the ticket price: nearly $1,000. (Though TED’s general conference costs more than seven times that much. Maybe this was TEDWomen’s gender-wage-gap bargain?) It wasn’t that the conference—filled with what one attendee called “the empowerment elite”—serves as a sort of Feminism 101 for the wealthy. Via Seth Dixon
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
February 13, 2014 3:22 PM
Race and class issues are important to any discussions that focus on gendered differences in cultural institutions.
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"The cost of assuming that foreign customers will learn your language, and never bothering to learn theirs, is certainly a lot greater than zero. The world isn’t learning English as fast as some people think. One optimistic estimate is that half the world’s people might speak English by 2050. That leaves billions who will not, and billions of others who remain happier (and more willing to spend money) in their own language." Via Seth Dixon
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
March 14, 2014 12:35 PM
Learn another language...it will expand your mental capacities and (according to this article in the Economist) fatten your wallet. 
The Crew's curator insight,
March 19, 2014 10:16 AM
As highlighted by this article, I strongly believe that learning a second language such as Arabic or Mandarin would be extremely beneficial to an adolescent. These languages are profitable to learn due to the fact that we are having increasing business dealings with China and the fact that there is a high demand for people who speak these languages and a short supply.- Hannah 
Nadine Woodley's curator insight,
April 30, 2014 7:56 PM
Yay for this article.... it is important to have another language!
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The Battle of Agincourt of the Hundred Years War and established England in its succession of victories between King Henry V and the Constable of France Charles d'Albret, Comte de Dreux. Via Joy Kinley
Joy Kinley's curator insight,
March 14, 2014 1:54 PM
The Battle of Aginourt is one of the more important battles of the Middle Ages
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Two mapmakers made the place up. It wasn't real. Then, oddly, it popped into being. I am not making this up. It happened. Then it un-happened. Via Joy Kinley
Joy Kinley's curator insight,
March 19, 2014 11:50 AM
There are many towns on maps that do not exist. For some of the towns there was once a village or community that existed there but for others like Agloe - they never existed. It is even more interesting when there are nonesixtant roads and bridges - GPS frequently shows them.
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From North America to the Middle East, here are some of the coolest pictures of international borders. Check out the full thread by Quora that this list was inspired by. Via Mr. David Burton
Joy Kinley's curator insight,
March 24, 2014 9:57 AM
It is interesting to see how the borders look between different countries - some of the borders are natural and others are man-made but I have no desire to cross that bridge between Panama and Costa Rica, it is scary looking.
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A historical problem.
The world is urbanising rapidly (World Urbanization Prospects, the 2011 Revision). Some of its rapidly growing cities, however, seem to be misplaced. They are located in places hampered by poor access to world markets, shortages of water, or vulnerability to flooding, earthquakes, and volcanoes. This outcome – cities being stuck in the wrong places – has dire economic and social consequences. When thinking about policy responses, a key research question is whether historical events can leave towns trapped in suboptimal places. New research on a historical ‘experiment’ Our recent research looks at this issue by comparing the evolution of two initially similar urban networks following a historical calamity that wiped out one, while leaving the other largely intact (Michaels and Rauch 2013). The specific setting in which we examine this is northwestern Europe, where we trace out the effects of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire more than 1500 years ago, through to the present day. Via Seth Dixon
Tracy Klug's curator insight,
December 20, 2013 9:38 AM
This combined with climate change, where will our biggest city centers be relocated to?
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Wow. I guess it's true when they say not everything is as it appears...
Kristen McDaniel's curator insight,
March 21, 2014 11:34 AM
I think it's awesome to see the past mixed with the present, and realizing how our imagination adds to the "mystery" of places. However, seeing things in context truly changes perception - how could this be brought to your students? Fascinating. 
Jessica Rieman's curator insight,
April 2, 2014 5:33 PM
By looking at these images it is apparent that heir is a clear distincition between how one may view the monument from upclose andd then when you take asep back you can really appreciate it by seeing others appreciate it as well. As an observer you can also identify the different persepectives by looking at it in a different light by either taking a step back or viewing it from a different vanage point. Knowing the history of the monument also helps with a background story in order for better appreciation of the monument and the History that goes along with it. |
