Guest Thinkers — December 21, 2010

No April Fools For You

Gregory Johnsen

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Or so says Shaykh ‘Abd al-Muhsin al-‘Abaykan of Saudi Arabia.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

This graph shows the highest recorded temperatures in five Middle Eastern cities from 2010 to 2020. The temperatures range from 49.9°C to 53°C. An inset map highlights the locations of the cities.

Strange Maps

Earth’s hottest cities are all in this little corner of the planet

You could call this rectangle covering parts of Iran, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula the “Oven Window.”

An ornate black and white archway frames a vibrant scene of colorful, abstract vertical lines and dense, green foliage.

The Future

Why architects need philosophy to guide the AI design revolution

Architecture in the age of AI — argues professor Nayef Al-Rodhan — should embed philosophical inquiry in its transdisciplinary toolkit.

Skyline of a city with tall skyscrapers emerging above a thick layer of fog on a clear day, including one exceptionally tall building towering over the tallest buildings.

The Present

The race to be the tallest building in the world

Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower is poised to become the world’s tallest building. What’s behind the century-plus drive to build ever taller skyscrapers?

Line chart showing body mass index (BMI) trends for various countries. Lines are labeled by country, with silhouetted figures for normal, overweight, and obese categories on the left.

Strange Maps

How is France dodging the global obesity trend?

Waistlines are expanding in most countries, except for a skinny list of nations bucking the trend.

World map illustrating various countries color-coded by their happiness levels with symbols indicating the most and least happy countries in each region.

Strange Maps

Mapped: The highs and lows of the world’s happiness landscape

The Gallup World Poll reveals regional peaks and valleys of happiness across all of the continents.

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