Silicon for microchips; manganese for batteries; titanium for missiles.
The moon contains a wealth of natural resources. So, as the Earth's supplies have begun to dwindle, it is no surprise that the world's superpowers and wealthiest corporations have turned their eyes to the stars. As this new Space Race begins, A.C. Grayling asks: who, if anyone, owns the moon? Or Mars? Or other bodies in near space? And what do those superpowers and corporations owe to Planet Earth and its inhabitants as a whole?
From feudal common land, through the rules of the sea, to the vast, nationless expanse of Antarctica, Grayling explores the history of the places which no one, and therefore everyone, owns. Examining the many ways this so-called terra nullius has fallen victim to ‘the tragedy of the commons' – the tendency for communal resources to be exploited by a few individuals for personal gain at the expense of everyone else – Who Owns the Moon? puts forward a compelling argument for a bold new global consensus, one which recognises and defends the rights of everyone who lives on this planet.
Starting with leaflet drops in 1940, the aerial offensive against the Nazis' homeland grew into a huge armada that pulverised much of Germany, seriously damaging her ability to make war and killing hundreds of thousands. By day, the Flying Fortresses of the Mighty Eighth US Airforce confronted the day fighters of Luftflotte Reich, and then it was the turn of Bomber Command's Lancasters to fight off the deadly predators of the Nachtjagd (night hunters). The tactics and technology of Allied escort fighters evolved quickly though the war years, as they did for the defending German fighters. For the Allied airmen who fought this war the price was frighteningly high, for those who opposed them – in the air and on the ground – it was even higher.
As the bombing increased, Nazi high command was forced to devote more and more resources to try and defeat the Allied campaign, just when those same resources were desperately needed elsewhere, both on the Russian Front and, after D-Day on 6 June 1944, on the new Western Front. Written from the ‘other side' and told as much as possible through the words of the veterans, this is an important book on one of the most controversial campaigns of the Second World War.
Berlin, 1945. Following the fall of the Third Reich, drug use - long kept under control by the Nazis' strict anti-drug laws - is rampant throughout the city. In the American sector, Arthur J. Giuliani of the nascent Federal Bureau of Narcotics is tasked with learning about the Nazis' drug policies and bringing home anything that might prove 'useful'.
Five years later, Harvard professor Dr Henry Beecher begins work with the US government to uncover the research behind the Nazis' psychedelics programme. Originally created for medical purposes by Dr Albert Hofmann, the Nazis coopted LSD to experiment with mind control and find a 'truth serum' - research that the US, particularly the CIA, is desperate to acquire.
Based on extensive archival research, Tripped is a wild, unconventional post-war history, a spiritual sequel to Norman Ohler's bestselling Blitzed. Revealing the hidden connections between the Nazis and the CIA's notorious brainwashing experimentation programme, MKUltra, Ohler shares how this secret history held back the therapeutic research of psychedelic drugs for decades as the West sought to turn LSD into a weapon.
Over 50 years ago, astronomers launched the world's first orbiting telescope. This allowed them to gaze further into outer space and examine anything that appears in the sky above our heads, from comets and planets to galaxy clusters and stars. Since then, almost 100 space telescopes have been launched from Earth and are orbiting our planet, with 26 still active and relaying information back to us.
As a result of these space-based instruments, such as NASA's iconic Hubble Space Telescope, we know much more about the universe than we did half a century ago. But why is Hubble, orbiting just 540 kilometres above the Earth, so much more effective than a ground-based telescope? How can a glorified camera tell us not only what distant objects look like, but their detailed chemical composition and three-dimensional structure as well?
In Eyes in the Sky, science writer Andrew May takes us on a journey into space to answer these questions and more. Looking at the development of revolutionary instruments, such as Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, May explores how such technology has helped us understand the evolution of the Universe.
'Will open your mind to your own future and show you a new world of adventure.' - ARTHUR C. BROOKS
For the first time in human history, eight defined generations live together side by side, from Alphas to the Greatest Generation by way of Boomers, Xennials, Millennials and more. However, these definitions have so often been used to pigeonhole us into rigid categories, all underpinned by the restrictive 'four stages of life' model - of play, study, work, retirement. This means that potential is left untapped on a societal level; also individuals are tied into a trajectory that minimises opportunity and fulfilment.
In The Perennials, Mauro Guillén unpacks the megatrends - such as increasing longevity and the explosion of technology, among others - that are transforming life as we know it. How, within this milieu, a new group of 'perennials' must emerge: individuals who cannot be so easily defined by the pervasive metrics of age and experience or by simple inter-generational conflict. These post-generational perennials offer the promise of liberating us from the constraints of the accepted four stages of life model, therefore allowing everyone the chance of living a much more rewarding and fulfilling life. Guillén proceeds to unveil how this revolution will impact young people just entering the world of work, as well as those who are living and working longer.
This multigenerational revolution is already happening and Mauro Guillén identifies how we can usher in a new era of innovation in almost every facet of life and work - powered by the perennials.
A refreshingly simple, accessible guide to getting started in business
If you've ever dreamed of starting your own business, this book will give you the information, inspiration, and reassurance you need to get started. It encourages budding entrepreneurs to take the leap into the dark, while shining a bright light on the first six months of a successful start-up. It breaks down what appears to be an Everest-size challenge into a series of small hills for you to conquer. Written by successful entrepreneur Jeremy Harbour, Go Do! argues that the skills and tactics of successful entrepreneurship can't be learnt except by doing. So this book offers the guidance and the confidence you need to just go do it.
Archaeologist Jim Leary reanimates the past with this riveting 'archaeology of movement'
All too often we think of the past as static, 'frozen in time', and indeed movement is not always easy to decipher from the archaeological record. With Jim Leary's expert eye we explore the tangible remains, from fossilised footprint tracks to prehistoric wooden trackways, ridgeways, holloways, droveways, green ways, corpse roads, and Roman roads. Isotope studies and archaeogenetics now allow us see the arduous journeys that people made across continents and oceans, proving that migration has been continuous throughout our past, an endless ebb and flow of populations.
This new story of our past shows that history was warm and full of life, and no doubt at times cold, dark and miserable - but it was never motionless. Footmarks will make you look at the landscape around you with fresh eyes.
The greatest cover-ups and unsolved mysteries in the world of celebrity
In Conspiracy: Legends, David Gardner delves into the world of celebrity to investigate legendary stories that continue to fascinate and intrigue to this day. If people famously remember where they were when JFK was assassinated, many also recall where they were and what they were doing when Elvis, Princess Diana and John Lennon died. As for Marilyn Monroe, the candle flickered out long ago, but only now can the truth be told about how and why she died.
After combing through thousands of recently declassified FBI files, interviewing key witnesses, crime analysts and forensic experts during years of research, investigative writer David Gardner has unearthed new information that will transform the way we look at these iconic tragedies as well as include new insights on the conspiracy theories that surround the deaths of Bob Marley, Kurt Cobain and even the Queen.
For the first time, Conspiracy: Legends provides many of the answers that have been so elusive for so long, while explaining what it was about these enduring legends that made them so memorable.
In early 2020, wildlife cameraman James Aldred was commissioned to film the lives of a family of Goshawks in the New Forest, his childhood home. He began to plan a treetop hide in a remote site that would allow him to film the Gos nest, the newly hatched chicks and the lives of these elusive and enchanting birds.
Then lockdown. And as the world retreated, something remarkable happened. The noise of our everyday stilled. No more cars, no more off-roaders, no more airplanes roaring in the skies, no one in the Goshawk woods - except James.
At this unique moment, James was granted a once in a lifetime opportunity to keep filming. And so, over Spring and into Summer, he began to record his experiences in a place empty of people but filled with birdsong and new life.
Amidst the fragility and the fear, there was silver moonlight, tumbling fox cubs, calling curlew and, of course, the soaring Goshawks - shining like fire through one of our darkest times. A Goshawk summer unlike any other.
'A great read: incredible adventures and a dramatic new perspective.' CHRIS PACKHAM on The Man Who Climbs Trees
Join us on a journey around the globe and meet the enthusiasts, technologies, and decision-makers that are proving that humans are indeed capable of saving us from ourselves.
The challenges may be great, but there are a number of opportunities to stall climate change – perhaps even reverse it. This book offers a glimpse of how to do just that. It will explain how we can equip ourselves with food, clothing, shelter, energy, transport and all in all live good lives without negatively impacting the planet we live on.
‘If We Act Now’ tells us about the barriers to action and how we can overcome them. About those who have led the way - and about how we can all play an important role in the great green transition desperately needed.
Written by the Danish independent media, Zetland, and supported financially by Climate Planet Foundation, this optimistic, enlightening and deeply profound book takes the reader on a journey around the world to provide insight into existing solutions to the climate crisis.
‘If We Act Now’ is the ideal read for those interested in learning more about climate change and what we can do about it. Perfect for those who were gripped by Greta Thunberg's ´The Climate Book´ and want to know more.
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The three authors from Zetland - Rasmus Thirup Beck, Mads Nyvold, and Thomas Hebsgaard - have over 20 years of combined experience writing and reporting on climate and energy issues.
Rasmus Thirup Beck (born 1978) has been covering climate since 2008, in both writing and audio and is always focusing on the human stories that lie at the centre. His work has gone through quite the evolution – from reporting on issues and their consequences to writing almost exclusively about solutions. Beck has freelanced for Zetland for four years.
Thomas Hebsgaard (born 1982) covers climate and energy for Zetland. He has wide experience in hard-hitting topics focusing on societal and global issues. Hebsgaard was practically brought up within the renewable energy industry through his father’s co-ownership of a 95 kilowatt Bonus wind turbine called Sleipner.
Mads Nyvold (born 1980) once aspired to become an analyst in the mining or oil industries, but that plan was redirected when he became aware of the movement to green energy. Nyvold has previously written for Zetland on resources and climate from the impractical to the global and political perspective.
What kind of courage does it take for an ordinary married couple to confront the Nazi regime of Hitler's vicious Third Reich?
And why did two men betray their fellow secret agents after landing on American shores with the intention of carrying out sabotage attacks on a massive scale?
Why did the Germans murder more than two hundred and sixty innocent men in retaliation for a botched Resistance attempt to steal a simple truckload of meat?
From technical wizardly that goes disastrously wrong, to underwater warfare with a sting in its tail, this new book by Tony Matthews delves into a wide range of top-secret stories, including black propaganda missions, calamitous Resistance operations and accounts of espionage activities at the very highest level.
Spies, Saboteurs and Secret Missions of World War II is a fascinating insight into some of the most astonishing clandestine activities of the Second World War.
A journey through the evolving cosmos, considering how human survival will depend on otherworldly perspectives.
In David Whitehouse's most ambitious book to date he explores how human evolution has been intertwined with the workings of the cosmos from the very beginning, and what the far-distant future may hold, both for the universe and for ourselves.
Given enough time, Whitehouse contends, we must communicate with intelligent aliens whose divergent perspective will transform our understanding of the universe. First contact may even come sooner than we think. We have already transmitted signals towards promising exoplanets. If, say, Gliese 581d harbours life, the return signal could reach us in 2051.
Drawing the thread of human consciousness from the cave to the cosmos, the acclaimed author of Apollo 11: The Inside Story charts our future journey to the end of space and time, and considers whether something of humanity could remain at the end of it all.
