How President Woodrow Wilson tried to end all wars once and for all

Following World War I, President Woodrow Wilson nearly died trying to ensure world peace.

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  • President Wilson proposed "Fourteen Points" at the end of World War I.
  • He wanted an organization created – the League of Nations – to settle international disputes.
  • The League was a precursor to the United Nations, but the U.S. never actually joined it.
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Experiments by China and Russia to heat up the atmosphere cause concern

Superpowers team up to heat up the ionosphere by over 200 degrees.

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  • Russian scientists emitted a large amount of high-frequency radio waves into the ionosphere.
  • A Chinese satellite studied the data from orbit.
  • Potential military applications of this tech raise alarms.
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Why this 2015 NASA study is beloved by climate change skeptics

The findings of the controversial study flew in the face of past research on ice gains in Antarctica.

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  • A 2015 NASA study caused major controversy by claiming that Antarctica was gaining more ice than it was losing.
  • The study said that ice gains in East Antarctica were effectively canceling out ice losses in the western region of the continent.
  • Since 2015, multiple studies have shown that Antarctica is losing more ice than it's gaining, though the 2015 study remains a favorite of climate change doubters to this day.
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"Hi-tech" Russian robot turns out to be a man in a suit

The Russian robot named "Boris", promoted as hi-tech by state tv, was revealed to be an actor.

  • A state-owned channel showed a report on a "robot" which turned out to be an actor in a suit.
  • The robot "Boris" was supposed to be good at math and dancing.
  • Russian journalists who raised questions ultimately found out the truth.
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The silent Chinese propaganda in Hollywood films

China's rise has necessitated a global PR push. It includes influencing how the movies you watch depict China.

President Xi Jinping and Brad Pitt in World War Z. (Image: Big Think/Getty)
  • China will soon overtake the U.S. as the world's largest market for films, and it is using that fact to influence how it is depicted by Hollywood.
  • While Chinese investors have been interested in buying shares of studios for a while, the real power lies in deciding which movies get into China at all.
  • The influence is often subtle, but may have already derailed a few careers in the name of politics.
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