India’s Landmark Lunar Success
India now has a place in lunar history with its August 23, 2023, landing of a spacecraft on the Moon. This was the country’s second attempt to make a landing as a part of its Chandrayaan program. The word Chandrayaan comes from Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. In Sanskrit Chandra means moon and yāna […]
Women in Afghanistan Being Erased from Public Life
Women in Afghanistan no longer have a voice or a public presence. In the two years since the Taliban seized control in Afghanistan, women’s rights have been disappearing. The Taliban is a fundamentalist group that follows a strict conservative and religious set of Islamic principles. It has banned girls from attending school beyond the sixth […]
China’s Solar Energy Dominance
Solar power, wind power, and hydropower are examples of renewable energy sources. Did you know that China controls most of the solar energy production worldwide? Here, btw takes a closer look at the situation. Consequences of China’s Control Recently, the demand for renewable energy in Europe has skyrocketed. When Russia invaded Ukraine, many European nations […]
Turkey’s Runoff Election
On May 14, 2023, Turkey held a presidential election that ended with no candidate receiving more than fifty percent of the vote. On May 28, the country will hold a runoff election between the top two candidates. Here, btw takes a closer look at this election, the candidates, and the potential impact of this election. […]
Chilean Government Wants to Partner in Lithium Mining
In April 2023, Chile’s President Gabriel Boric introduced a plan for the government to partner with private business in the nation’s profitable lithium industry. Boric said that government involvement will ensure that profits are spread fairly to workers, environmental concerns are addressed, and indigenous and wildlife populations are protected. Critics, on the other hand, say […]
The Great Wall of China
Many people think the Great Wall of China is one continuous wall built at one time. This isn’t accurate. The Great Wall of China is a collection of numerous walls built over a span of two thousand years! It stretches across northern China and southern Mongolia. Most sections of the wall are now ruins and […]
New Theory on the Vikings’ Disappearance from Greenland
In April 2023, scientists from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania proposed a new theory for why the Vikings abandoned Greenland in the fifteenth century. The Vikings’ disappearance has puzzled scientists, historians, and archaeologists. The new research, which was published in a scientific journal, shows that sea-level rise and flooding may have contributed to […]
A History of Venice and its Flood Wall
Venice, Italy, is fighting a battle against the ocean that surrounds it. Rising sea levels and sinking land means that the city faces the constant threat of devastating floods. Luckily, Venice has developed a solution: the Experimental Electromechanical Module, or MOSE. But this system, which was fifty years in the making and cost five billion […]
Little-Known Writing System Highlights African Voices
Much of what we know about the African continent’s history has been shaped by foreign perspectives. Available records such as travel diaries and colonial archives are typically written in European languages and Arabic. However, a discovery of a little-known West African writing system, known as Ajami, is helping to bring African voices to the forefront. […]
Earth Day 2023: “Invest in Our Planet”
Saturday, April 22, 2023, is Earth Day—a day to focus on the ongoing worldwide environmental movement. Earth Day began in 1970, when thousands of colleges and communities across the United States came together to protest industrial practices that created pollution and threatened the health and safety of people and the environment. Fifty-three years later, more […]