Revisiting uncertainty: provisional electricity infrastructure and livelihoods in an African city
In this Anthropology Departmental Seminar, Idalina Baptista (Oxford), discusses the governance of electricity in urban sub-Saharan Africa, drawing on a case study focused on Maputo, Mozambique, 13 November 2015
Does 21st-century technology change the experience of early pregnancy and miscarriage?
In this Fertility and Reproduction Studies Group seminar, Ingrid Gramme (Oxford) discusses how our basic understanding of pregnancy and miscarriage has changed enormously over the last eighty years, 9 November 2015
Maternal capital and offspring development
Jonathan Wells (UCL Institute of Child Health) presents an intergenerational perspective on the development origins of health and disease. A medical anthropology seminar given on 29 February 2016.
513 GG North or Northbound. Subjunctive Verbs.
Carrie from New Orleans asked me to help her understand whether she should say "I wish I were more perceptive" or "I wish I was more perceptive." It's a great question because it's something that a lot of people don't know. (Follow along on the website: http://j.mp/subjunctive-verbs)
A listener named Cyndi works in the auto claims department at an insurance company and asked how to use directional words--for example, when should she use "north" and when should she use "northbound"? (Follow al
514 GG Brouhaha. New Words. One Fell Swoop.
Last week, ESPN fired Curt Schilling because of offensive remarks he made on social media, and in his follow-up statement, Schilling referred to the brouhaha, but he misspelled the word as brew ha ha, like the name of a beerfest in my hometown. (Follow along on the website: http://j.mp/brouhaha-origin)
Merriam-Webster added "athleisure" to the unabridged dictionary, but the editors had been watching the word for a while before they decided to add it. In a "Words We’re Watching” blog post
Special Exhibition—Eccentric Visions: The Worlds of Luo Ping (1733–1799)
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© 2000–2017 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
Special Exhibition: The Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel
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© 2000–2017 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All rights reserved.
Optimization in the Balance between the Production Effort of E-learning Tutorials and their related
This paper provides evidence on the level of media richness that may be cost effective in the development of e-learning tutorials for teaching and learning computer visualization techniques. For such a purpose the author provides an analysis of low-cost / high-impact media rich products, the effort and cost required in their development and the measurement of related learning outcomes. Circa twenty years of R&D of multimedia and hypermedia applications for instruction have demonstrated the benef
Software design of maintainable knowledge-based systems for building design
Identifying and establishing a basic structure for knowledge representation is one of the keys to successful design of knowledge-based computer systems. In Building Design and Construction, this initial knowledge structure can be achieved by utilizing a query driven approach to software engineering. As (user) queries reflect the user's demand for in/output, it is natural to link the overall user dialogue with key elements in the knowledge base direct connections between user screen and objects i
Space Emergent Field
Architecture has always been founded upon ideologies. However could the influence of human interactions create a new perspective for space form evolution? To create a spatial adaptive system, to the influence of culture and behaviour of human being? The output of this spatial system is the determination of optimised values for spatial configurations by biomolecular, self-assembly computation for emergent spatial forms.??
Using virtual reality to help teenagers with autism learn how to drive
A team of engineers and psychologists have developed a virtual reality driving simulator designed to help teenagers with autism spectrum disorder learn to drive, a key skill in allowing them to live independent and productive lives.
Reading Political Philosophy: From Machiavelli to Mill
The history and development of political philosophy has been dominated by many inspirational and radical thinkers. The tracks on this album offer both an introduction and an in-depth insight into the leading theorists in this field and their most important works. In a series of lively and invigorating discussions, leading political philosophers examine canonical texts and seminal thinkers from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Century, highlighting their intellectual and cultural impact and the
Quantitative and qualitative research in finance
What are the key features of qualitative and quantitative research in finance? What do they involve in practical terms, and what they can produce? This free course, Quantitative and qualitative research in finance, explores the underpinning methodologies, then looks at how research data are produced and how they are analysed. The course also includes case study interviews with active researchers and activities to help you understand data sources and sampling.Author(s):
Literary Festival 2016: Progress in Troubled Times: learning from "The Age of Genius" [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor AC Grayling | What happened to the European mind between 1605, when an audience watching Macbeth at the Globe might believe that regicide was such an aberration of the natural order that ghosts could burst from the ground, and 1649, when a large crowd, perhaps including some who had seen Macbeth forty-four years earlier, could stand and watch the execution of a king? Or consider the difference between a magus casting a star chart and the day in 1639, when Jonathan Horrock a
Researcher attacking Zika virus by stirring up mosquitoes’ taste buds
Summer is here, and the United States is bracing for the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus. A Vanderbilt researcher is working on one way to stop the spread of the disease – by revving up the mosquito’s taste buds.
ChemMatters - Plastics Go Green
ChemMatters is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with its second episode, which highlights how scientists are trying to make plastic, one of the world's most abundant man-made materials, more environmentally-friendly. Some key vocabulary words include bio-plastic, molecules, monomer, polymer, organic compound, polymerization, condensation reaction, addition reaction, lactic acid, methane, and polyactic acid. In this episode, find out how scientists are developing more envir
The Economist asks: Is progressive politics in decline?
Former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls joins Anne McElvoy to discuss his career in centre-left politics and asks why voters are turning to more extreme alternatives. They also delve into personal revelations in his new autobiography – his views on Labour's left wing leadership, reflections on the financial crash. Brexit and why he's risked competing in the TV show, "Strictly Come Dancing".
Crossing Borders
Celeste and John take a look at the facts and feelings surrounding one of the thorniest issues of the 2016 campaign for the White House: Immigration reform.
Journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas of Define American shares how his experiences as an undocumented immigrant from the Philippines have shaped his life, his work and his view of the race for president.
Next, former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner, now a senior fellow at the Migration Polic
The week ahead: Battling for power
With election day only two months away, we analyse the state of the race to the White House. Our public policy editor explains how to save the NHS and Ed Lucas explains the murky succession following the death of Uzbekistan's leader. Anne McElvoy hosts
Special: Liveable and Unliveable Cities
Anne McElvoy hosts a response to the Economist Intelligence Unit's recent survey of the world's cities, which ranks them by liveability. Talking to ten Economist correspondents scattered across the globe, she investigates cities in crisis, new destinations for Brexit refugees and the poisoned chalice of urban perfection
