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Private Waters
February 25, 2009The tsunami of privatization in the 90’s and 00’s did not leave the fresh water supply sector untouched. In this sector people talk about the ‘Blue Gold’ and call it the top monetary investment of the future which makes people immediately suspicious about the integrity of these companies that...
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Vitruvius Killed by Water on Mars
December 09, 2008With the discovery of water on Mars it turns out to be feasible to erect human settlements on the Red Planet. But where, what and how? Old rules like the ones formulated by Vitruvius more than 2000 years ago won’t work here anymore.
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Water Better Than Wine
December 09, 2008Every bottle of water is a luxury product itself. Nevertheless global per capita consumption is on a sharp rise from 12.6 liters per person per year in 1996 to over 24.0 liters in 2004. In all of the countries with a high rate of bottled water consumption, the tap...
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Work Around the World
December 09, 2008Working 9 to 5, the global workforce is generating a day-night rhythm, as if the whole world would be a city. Adopting a 9 to 5 working habit (9:00 am 5:00 pm) all around the world and a global sleeping rhythm from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am, the following “daily...
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Avoid The Center
September 29, 2008The investigation into the relationship between the size of a country and its prosperity shows that extreme dimensions are an advantage. By reorganizing the countries of the world according to their physical size, an interesting phenomenon emerges that shows prosperity at the edges and meagerness in the middle of...
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Building up Space
August 06, 200850 years ago the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union, inaugurating the rage to occupy outer space. Currently, the U.S. Strategic Command monitors 12.771 satellites and other large objects with about 10cm in diameter orbiting the earth.
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China vs. Worldbank in Vrij Nederland
May 28, 2008Vrij Nederland issue Nr. 17/18; 2008 features a world map, which compares the top ten money streams of the Worldbank versus the top ten foreign direct investments of China. Underlying one can see the expected GDP growth per country for the year 2007.
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Eutopia
May 07, 2008While in 1950 10 of the world’s 30 largest cities were European, by 2015 only one – Paris – will remain. The metropolises of the earth’s most densely populated continent will soon cease to be of central importance to the global discourse on the city.
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Budget Airlines
May 07, 2008Low-cost airlines have revolutionized the air travel industry. In twenty years time air travel has become twenty times cheaper. More than hundred low-cost airlines are serving thousands of destinations worldwide. Traveling is no longer preserved for wealthy pleasure seekers and business travelers alone, but has become within reach of...