James Watson on how he discovered DNA

Translated into Chinese by Zachary Zhao
Reviewed by Tony Yet

Sergey Brin and Larry Page on Google

Translated into Chinese by Yali Dai
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Bono’s call to action for Africa

In that moment, I became the worst thing of all: I became a rock star with a cause. Except this isn’t the cause, is it? Six and a half thousand Africans dying every single day from AIDS — a preventable, treatable disease — for lack of drugs we can get in any pharmacy. That’s not a cause. That’s an emergency. 11 million AIDS orphans in Africa, 20 million by the end of the decade. That’s not a cause. That’s an emergency. Today, every day, 9,000 more Africans will catch HIV because of stigmatization and lack of education. That’s not a cause. That’s an emergency. So what we’re talking about here is human rights. The right to live like a human. The right to live, period. And what we’re facing in Africa is an unprecedented threat to human dignity and equality.

The next thing I’d like to be clear about is what this problem is, and what this problem isn’t. Because this is not all about charity. This is about justice. Really. This is not about charity. This is about justice. That’s right. And that’s too bad, because we’re very good at charity. Americans, like Irish people, are good at it. Even the poorest neighborhoods give more than they can afford. We like to give, and we give a lot. Look at the response to the tsunami, it’s inspiring. But justice is a tougher standard than charity. You see, Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice. It makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties. It doubts our concern. It questions our commitment. Because there is no way we can look at what’s happening in Africa, and if we’re honest, conclude that it would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else.

Translated into Chinese by Leesiah Ng
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Seth Godin on standing out

Translated into Chinese by Aprces Chen
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Freeman Dyson says: let’s look for life in the outer solar system

Translated into Chinese by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Dave Eggers’ wish: Once Upon a School

Translated into Chinese by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Genocide?

An excerpt from a commentary on a Chinese website in response to Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s accusation that China was committing “genocide” against Uyghurs during the July 2009 Ürümqi riots:
(Original commentary was published in Chinese. Translation into English was done by me.)

China is a multi-ethnic country. Promoting prosperity among all ethnic groups is a principle written in the Constitution. In China, ethnic minorities including Uyghurs are not discriminated against or repressed. On the contrary, many policies are favorable to the minorities. For example, ethnic minorities are allowed to have more children than Han Chinese. Ethnic minorities also receive additional points on the college entrance examination. In ethnic autonomous regions in China, ethnic languages are studied and used in government and schools, whereas in Turkey, the Constitution does not allow the teaching and learning of any language other than Turkish. The use of other languages is also banned in public space. As a result, the Kurds, which made up 15% of the Turkish population, cannot study their mother tongue in school. Neither can they use Kurdish in public space. In the past 50 years, the Uyghur population in China has increased from 3 million to 9.41 million, while in less than 100 years’ time, the Armenian population in Turkey has dropped from 2 million to less than 100 thousand. Mr. Erdogan, what would be your comments on these facts?

Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy

Translated into Chinese by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Alan Kay shares a powerful idea about ideas

Translated into Chinese by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao

Alex Steffen sees a sustainable future

Translated into Chinese by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Zhao