That’s just what we don’t need

It is bad enough to have Donald Trump wallowing in military grandiosity, talking about his ‘big button’ and military parades, now Russian president Vladimir Putin is making grandiose claims about having an ‘invincible nuclear weapon’.

Mr Putin made the claims as he laid out his key policies for a fourth presidential term, ahead of an election he is expected to win in 17 days’ time.

The weapons he boasted of included a cruise missile that he said could “reach anywhere in the world”.

He said of the West: “They need to take account of a new reality and understand … [this]… is not a bluff.”
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Shaolin monk pierces glass with a needle

The Shaolin order of monks in China is noted for its rigorous training that enables them to perform quite incredible feats of strength and endurance. They are also known for being fierce kung fu warriors, strange for Buddhist monks who are supposed to be pacifist. So how did that happen? Kallie Szczepanski provides a brief summary of the turbulent 1,500 year old history of the order that mixes legend with facts.
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The dawn of the universe

Following the initial Big Bang, the universe was at incredibly high temperatures but then underwent a period of rapid expansion and cooling and largely became a cold gas of hydrogen. The universe could be considered to be dark at this time since there was no source of light. But at some point, matter started to clump together under the force of gravity and form embryonic stars and the hydrogen atoms started to fuse into helium, releasing energy, some of it in the form of visible light. This moment is referred to as the ‘cosmic dawn’ of the universe.
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