Have you ever looked out of the window of a passenger plane from 30,000 feet at the vast expanses of empty ocean and uninhabited land, and wondered how people can have any major effect on the Earth?
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The Nobels are the originals, of course. Alfred Nobel, the man who invented deadly explosives, decided to try and do something good with all the money he earned, and gave prizes to people who made progress in literature, science, economics and – perhaps most importantly – peace.
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We are often told that the age of the “information economy” has arrived. The idea is that intellectual work is becoming a more important source of wealth than manufacturing. There are already too many factories for the number of people who want to buy stuff, so the winners in the marketplace need to have a lead in terms of fashion, or technology to beat the competition.
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What are the advantages of learning several languages from an early age? What are the dangers? What’s the best way to teach your child two or more languages simultaneously?
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It is difficult to think about this word without first considering the enormity of it’s meaning.
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All families have their stories, their dramas, their private jokes, nicknames and phrases. They’re the place where our personalities were made
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To the first people it was obvious that time went in circles.
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Creepy crawlies are those little bugs which provoke feelings such as apprehension, anxiety or aversion – they make your skin crawl. Flies aren’t creepy crawlies but spiders are. Ladybirds are rather sweet but centipedes are scary. Guess which is a creepy crawly?
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Why are there so many people in the world without food, water, schools and doctors?
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Nowadays, many of us try to live in a way that will damage the environment as little as possible and we want to take these attitudes on holiday with us. This is why alternative forms of tourism are becoming more popular all over the world.
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Facts about the state of the global environment read like quotes on a poster for an epic Hollywood movie.
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A good circus has always built its reputation on its ability to amaze and entertain and what could be more amazing than a flea circus? But does such a thing really exist and can fleas really be taught to perform circus tricks?.
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According to the dictionary I have, folklore is the study of ancient customs, beliefs, traditions and superstitions of the common people. Who are these 'common people'
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England is a garden, and such gardens are not made, By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade. Rudyard Kipling, 'The Glory of the Garden'
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If we are looking for one single action which will enable the poor to overcome their poverty, I would focus on credit”. (Dr Muhammad Yunus)
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Once upon a time societies were organised around religion, farming, trade or industry.
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Recently a competition was held in Kenya to design a “national dress”. This, however, proved to be more difficult than foreseen - the simple reason being that Kenya is so diverse, and there are so many different tribes, each with their own language, customs and, of course, way of dressing.
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Is geography important? Here’s a question for you to answer. What have the following countries got in common: Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Iceland and Madagascar?
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When I was a child I read a science fiction story that made me think about trees in a new way. In the story, visitors from an advanced civilisation come to our planet and their spaceship lands in the middle of a forest. The aliens have a long conversation with the trees of the forest, and then leave again, happy to think that the inhabitants of earth are noble, intelligent and peaceful.
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Martial arts have never been more popular. Recent Hollywood action blockbusters featuring acrobatic fight scenes like The Matrix and Charlie’s Angels have been hugely successful, and the popularity of martial arts films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan have turned actors like Jet Li and Jackie Chan into international superstars.
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The most famous nurse of all time must be Florence Nightingale, but have you heard of Mary Seacole?
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A look at three popular mountain sports and some serious environmental problems facing mountains and the people who live on them.
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“We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” (Shakespeare). Does this sentence make you think? What does it make you think about? Shakespeare was a dreamer, and some say he was a philosopher too. In this sentence he tells us that our lives are short but we can think up big and important ideas in that short time.
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Piracy - the act of robbery from ships at sea - has existed for thousands of years. It was written about by the ancient Greeks and has been written about ever since.
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Watch a group of children playing with their toys. At first they might be happy to put the plastic animals in their cages at the zoo and take them out again, or dress the dolls in different clothes, but after a while things get a bit boring.
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“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die". Nelson Mandela
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A world like no other – perhaps this is the best way to describe the world of the rainforest.
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R. Buckminster Fuller should be a model for everybody, but not a person we should think of as special or better than us.
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Paul Hunn of north London holds the world record for the loudest burp: he can burp at a volume of over 118 decibels. John Evans of Sheffield can balance 62 books on his head. And Peter Dowedswell of Northampton can eat an entire three course meal consisting of soup, sausages, beans, mashed potatoes and prunes in only 45 seconds.
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Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about some of the Kings and Queens of England.
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It seems that the oceans of the world have become many things to many different people. For some the ocean is a source of food and income, for others a source of inspiration and fascination, for some a beautiful garden with hidden depths to explore and for others a dumping ground for their toxic waste, but of all people the ones that probably appreciate, admire and perhaps even understand the changing landscape of the ocean best are surfers.
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Technophobia is not a new term and technophobes have existed since the Industrial Revolution and probably for a lot longer in some shape or form.
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In many parts of the world, and not only in the UK, “going to the theatre” is seen as an activity which only a very few people do.
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What’s in a cigarette? What’s in a puff? Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals. Some of which are harmful, others deadly.
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More than a quarter of the working population of the USA has one. Cairo, Bologna, and Paris have been offering them the longest. And you can now supposedly get them by sitting at home at a computer. What am I talking about? A university education, of course. So who goes to university and what do they get out of their experience?
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Most countries have a unique piece of music that means something special to its people.
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The Olympic Motto is 'Citius, Altius, Fortius', (or faster, higher, stronger), and when you hear the words "The Olympics", you may see mental pictures of tanned men and women athletes in brightly coloured sportswear, trying hard to live up to the motto, while keeping to the Olympic ideals of friendship, unity, fair play and peace.
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