NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations
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NB! · Archive · Architecture · Science · New York
A Nuclear-Safe Manhattan Beneath New York, Proposed by Oscar Newman in 1969
Geography · Observations · Society · Humour
The Trans-Eurasian Development Belt and experts' doubts over its multitrillion-dollar cost
Remember how, in 2015, the head of Russian Railways proposed building a super-highway from London to New York across the whole of Eurasia and North America, to include a railway, a motorway and oil pipelines? The project was called the Trans-Eurasian Belt Development, but the prospect of its
Museums · Heritage · Society · Paris
The French government has presented a bill intended to simplify the restitution to their countries of origin of works of art removed in the colonial era, reports Artguide
The French government has presented a bill intended to simplify the restitution to their countries of origin of works of art removed in the colonial era, reports Artguide. If the law is adopted, the process of returning objects from France's national collections that originate from states which lost
NB! · Books · Observations
What a fine word, and alas fallen out of circulation: “fellow-man”
NB! · The East · Geography · Maps · Observations
Relief map of Asia showing the West Siberian Plain and mountain systems
A relief map of Asia. On the one hand, one is struck by the singularity of the West Siberian Plain; on the other, by the impassable wall of mountain systems running from west to east.
NB! · Observations · Society · Humour
If we live in a society of the spectacle, show me the brilliant playwright who managed to devise wind turbines powered by diesel generators
Faith · Ethnography
Elijah's Day and the main Orthodox feasts of August in popular tradition
Today, 2 August, the Orthodox tradition marks Elijah's Day. It opens a series of significant feasts in August. Below is a brief survey with historical and cultural notes. 2 August: Elijah's Day (commemoration of the Prophet Elijah) The Prophet Elijah was an Old Testament righteous man
Cinema · Society
From 1 March 2026 a law comes into force in Russia on blocking films that, in the view of the Ministry of Culture, "discredit traditional spiritual and moral values"
The decision to ban a film will be taken by the ministry jointly with Roskomnadzor, and the owners of online platforms will be obliged to remove such content within twenty-four hours. The law also empowers the ministry to rewrite distribution certificates already issued, and now without any request from
Books · Monarchies · Heritage · Society
The Mirror of Law in the Offices of the Russian Empire and the Ritual of Its Consecration
In 1722 Peter I introduced a special mass-produced form of state insignia, the Zertsalo, which remained an obligatory attribute of the institutions of the Russian Empire until 1917. The symbol of the supremacy of law took the form of a wooden prism with three panels, crowned with the state
NB! · Cinema · People · Pop Culture
Photographs taken by Viggo Mortensen on the set of The Lord of the Rings
NB! · Art