by Cynthia Chung I know of only one secret to guarding man against depravity, and that is: to arm his heart against weakness. – Friedrich Schiller’s Theater Considered as a Moral Institution As within any period of time, the question is repeatedly asked “What is the Role of the Artist?” That is, what is the…
Alma Deutscher’s Plea for Harmony Strikes a Universal Chord
An incredible speech was given by the 14 year old composer Alma Deutscher upon receiving the European Culture Prize at the Vienna State Opera on October 20, 2019. At this prestigious ceremony, the young musician, whose works have sent shock waves through the musical world since she began composing at young age of 6 made…
The New Silk Road Ushers in a Potential Renaissance for the Middle East
By Matthew Ehret With the transformation of the rules of the “Great Game” in the Middle East since 2015, a sweeping set of development/reconstruction programs led by China now have a chance to become hegemonic across the formerly hopeless, terrorist-infested region. This new positive dynamic is returning the Middle East to its historic role as…
Brunelleschi, Cusa and Kepler: The Makings of the Italian Renaissance
In this symposium, we look into how Brunelleschi, Cusa and Kepler played primary roles in shaping the Italian Renaissance. In the first class, given by Cynthia Chung, we investigate why the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore is so special. How did a dome spark a Renaissance? Why did the Florentines work on such…
India and Other Asian Nations Join the Polar Silk Road
By Matthew Ehret The best partnerships occur when all participants have special talents to bring to the relationship which makes a whole more powerful than the sum of its parts. This is the beauty of the multi-polar alliance formed by Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and a growing array of Asian, African and South American statesmen…
Russia and the United States: The Forgotten History of a Brotherhood
by Cynthia Chung “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it”. – Frederick Douglass (former slave who would later become a great American statesman and diplomat) It has always been an utmost necessity to exercise…
In Memory of Alexei Lenov: A Life Dedicated to Art and Scientific Progress
On October 11, 2019, the world mourned the passing of the great Russian cosmonaut Alexei Lenov, whose life exemplified the greatest expression of mankind’s aspiration to advance beyond the limits of our knowledge through science and artistic inspiration. Making history with the first spacewalk on March 18, 1965, Lenov was scheduled to be the first…
Will Arctic Science Cities Transition Humanity into a Space-Faring Species?
The creation of the Polar Silk Road as an Arctic extension of China’s Belt and Road Initiative means that this neglected, and last unexplored domain of the Earth’s surface is opening up to a serious policy of development for the first time in many decades. The opening up of the Arctic as the new frontier…
Optical Biophysics, Galaxy Formation and You (RTF Lecture)
Is the universe living or dead? Is living matter just an isolated cased of anti-entropy within an otherwise entropic universe, slowly dying a heat death? Is space empty or saturated with an animating principle? Are the laws of the macro domain truly separate from the atomic domain or are there unifying principles that unite both…
V.I. Vernadsky and the American System in Russia
As the dust settled on the American Civil war in 1865, Russia took pride in the fact that this Eurasian nation turned the tide in favor of Lincoln’s cause of preserving the union and abolishing the institution of slavery. Czar Alexander II was also known as “The Great Liberator” for liberating the serfs in 1861…
