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We Are Closed. Australia has become corrupted by a corrosive mix of nihilism and embraced a radical liberal ideology that celebrates the rejection of anything from the past that could stabilise society including any inheritance of previous forms of culture. You just have to look at the abuse thrown towards our staff in the past few years to realise this, what is old is no longer deemed necessary & indeed something that must be replaced. We had no choice but to close.

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Top 40 countries by UNESCO World Heritage recognition, showcasing humanity’s most significant cultural landmarks & natural wonders

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

1,199 Sites Worldwide

Top 40 countries by UNESCO World Heritage recognition, showcasing humanity’s most significant cultural landmarks, natural wonders, and mixed heritage sites.

Visual Key

◆
Each diamond = 5 Sites
Country Map Highlight (Purple)

Categories

Cultural: Human monuments, cities
Natural: Ecosystems, geology
Mixed: Cultural & Natural

Top 40 Countries

Ranked by Total Heritage Sites

A Milestone Passes: Australia’s Big Tesla Battery No Longer Among the Top 20

📰 A Milestone Passes: Australia’s Big Tesla Battery No Longer Among the Top 20

For years, the Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR) in South Australia, famously dubbed the “Tesla Big Battery,” was the global benchmark for grid-scale energy storage. Commissioned in 2017, its 150 MW / 193.5 MWh capacity was a world-leading demonstration of battery technology’s potential. However, the relentless march of technological advancement in Australia means that for the first time, the pioneering Hornsdale site is noticeably **absent from the nation’s Top 20** largest battery sites when ranked only by Operational or Under Construction capacity.

The change signals a fundamental shift in Australia’s energy strategy. The initial generation of batteries often focused on shorter, high-power bursts. Today’s projects are built for longer duration storage, enabling true energy shifting. They must store vast amounts of renewable energy generated during the day and discharge it continuously for four, six, or even eight hours to replace retiring coal power stations.

This new focus is clearly reflected in the colossal projects now dominating the operational and construction pipeline. The Limondale BESS has quietly become the first fully operational 8-hour battery (50 MW / 400 MWh), while the under-construction Eraring battery is set to deliver a massive 3,160 MWh. Similarly, sites in Western Australia (like the 4-hour Collie BESS), Queensland (like Western Downs), and projects in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley are predominantly 4-hour duration, a dramatic increase in energy storage compared to Hornsdale’s original 1.3-hour capacity.

Hornsdale’s legacy is undeniable—it proved the concept and accelerated the energy transition. But the current pace of development demands facilities with multi-gigawatt-hour capacity. The true measure of Australia’s battery revolution is the sheer scale and duration of these new giants, which have pushed the pioneering HPR out of the national capacity rankings.

🏗️ Top 20 Operational or Under Construction BESS
Rank Project Name (State) Status Max Duration (Hours) Power (MW) Energy (MWh) State
1Limondale BESSOperational8.0 hrs50400NSW
2Richmond Valley BESSUnder Construction8.0 hrs2752,200NSW
3Eraring BESS (Stage 1-4)Under Construction4.5 hrs7003,160NSW
4South Pine SupernodeUnder Construction4.1 hrs7603,096QLD
5Western Downs BESSOperational/Expanding4.0 hrs8452,300QLD
6Collie BESS (Neoen)Operational4.0 hrs5602,240WA
7Lilyvale BESSUnder Construction4.0 hrs4401,760QLD
8Wooreen Energy Storage SystemUnder Construction4.0 hrs3501,400VIC
9Kwinana BESS Stage 2Operational4.0 hrs200800WA
10Melbourne Renewable Energy HubOperational2.5 hrs6001,600VIC
11Goyder South BESSUnder Construction2.0 hrs9001,800SA
12Waratah Super BatteryCommissioning2.0 hrs8501,680NSW
13Riverina BESSUnder Construction2.0 hrs250500NSW
14Victorian Big Battery (VBB)Operational1.5 hrs300450VIC
15Vena Energy Tailem Bend BESS 3Under Construction2.0 hrs204408SA
16Pelican Point BESSUnder Construction2.0 hrs200400SA
17Rangebank BESSOperational2.0 hrs200400VIC
18VBB (Grid Forming)Operational1.5 hrs300450VIC
19New England BESS (Phase 2)Under Construction2.0 hrs150300NSW
20Kwinana BESS Stage 1Operational2.0 hrs100200WA

Military Command & Control: US vs China in the Age of AI

Military Command & Control: US vs China in the Age of AI

An apples-to-apples comparison of the Command and Control (C2) ecosystems powering the US military versus the Chinese military. In the Age of AI, the side with the cleanest data pipeline wins. AI models cannot easily traverse fractured ecosystems. These charts visualize why fragmentation is an expensive “tax” for the US military, while integration is a force multiplier for the Chinese military.
⚠️ The Fragmented Military (USA)
AI punishes fragmentation. The US military’s Command & Control ecosystem is a “Best of Breed” tangle of incompatible vendors (Microsoft vs AWS, SAP vs Oracle). Data is trapped in silos across Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. To make AI work, the US military must pay a massive “Integration Tax” ($10B) just to stitch the C2 nervous system together.
🚀 The Integrated Military (China)
AI rewards uniformity. The Chinese military’s Command & Control ecosystem is built on a “Unified Stack” mandate that removes data friction by design. With one OS, one cloud, and one chip architecture across all PLA branches, there are no silos to bridge. The result is a native AI nervous system that scales instantly for a fraction of the cost.
US MILITARY The “Best of Breed” Tangle
Fragmentation Everywhere: Lines cross at every layer. Army on SAP/Windows/DISA/Custom ESB; Navy on AWS/Linux/SIPRNet/MuleSoft; Air Force split between Azure & AWS. Then Palantir sits on top trying to unify the chaos—for $10B.
Layer Costs (Annual)
Total: ~$26B+
BRANCH
CLOUD
CHIPS
OS
DATABASE
NETWORK
MIDDLEWARE
API
ANALYTICS
The US Military’s AI Problem
Palantir is a symptom of fragmentation in the US military’s command and control nervous system. The US military needs a $10B “integration layer” because:
  • Army: SAP on Windows, custom ESB, routed through DISA
  • Navy: SAP on Linux, MuleSoft, flowing over SIPRNet
  • Air Force: Split across Azure and AWS, using IBM MQ and multiple incompatible middleware stacks
  • Cloud $9B
  • Network $2B+
  • Chips $3.5B
  • Middleware $300M+
  • Database $500M+
  • API $100M+
  • OS $200M+
  • Analytics (Palantir)$10B+
CHINESE MILITARY The “Xinchuang” Pipeline
Perfect Vertical Integration: Straight lines all the way down. JLSF mandates one stack: Inspur Cloud → Huawei/Hygon → Kylin → Dameng → Military Backbone → Unified Integration → Built-in Analytics. No translation layers. No Palantir needed.
Unified Stack Costs
Total: ~$8-12B
💰
Result: ~$10B+ saved
(Palantir Saving)
BRANCH
CLOUD
CHIPS
OS
DATABASE
NETWORK
MIDDLEWARE
API
ANALYTICS
Chinese Military’s Advantage
The PLA baked analytics into a single, unified tech stack from day one. No fragmentation. No cross-branch middleware zoo. No Palantir-equivalent required—because there’s nothing to integrate.
  • Everything state-subsidized via military-civil fusion
  • Cloud, Chips, OS, DB, Network, Middleware: Vertically integrated domestic stack
  • Analytics: Built-in (no $10B integration layer needed)

Full Stack Layer Comparison with Technology Details

BranchCloudChipsOSDatabaseNetworkMiddlewareAPIAnalytics

The “Seven Sons” of China’s Engineering PhD Pipeline who rose to crush Western bottlenecks

The “Seven Sons” Pipeline

MIIT Universities & Defense Industrial Base

The Strategic “Pipeline” Explained

The “Seven Sons of National Defense” (国防七子) are a cluster of universities administered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) rather than the Ministry of Education. This administrative distinction creates a direct pipeline from the classroom to the factory floor of China’s defense industry.

The Aviation Pipeline (AVIC): This is the most robust network. Beihang University (Beijing) provides high-level aerodynamic research, while NPU (Xi’an) specializes in drone swarms and stealth structures. NUAA (Nanjing) supplements this with helicopter and transport expertise. This triad feeds the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

The Space & Missile Pipeline (CASC/CASIC): HIT (Harbin) serves as the primary engineering engine for China’s space program, focusing on welding, robotics, and materials for vacuum environments. Combined with Beihang’s rocketry departments, they supply the talent for the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The Naval Pipeline (CSSC): Harbin Engineering University (HEU)—formerly the Military Engineering Institute—is the singular giant for naval power. It feeds the China State Shipbuilding Corporation with specialists in nuclear propulsion, underwater acoustics (sonar), and deep-sea submersibles.

The Ground/Arsenal Pipeline: BIT (Beijing) and NUST (Nanjing) focus on what is known as “hard kill” technologies—tanks, artillery, radar, and explosives—feeding the NORINCO group.

Strategic Locations

The Academic Arsenal

University Pipeline Target City

Domain Specialization

The “Big Three” Conglomerates

AVIC (Aviation Industry Corp)

Responsible for the J-20 Fighter and Y-20 Transport.

Feeder Schools: Beihang, NPU, NUAA

CASC / CASIC (Space & Missiles)

Responsible for the Long March Rockets and DF-41 ICBMs.

Feeder Schools: HIT, Beihang

CSSC (Shipbuilding)

Responsible for Type 003 Carriers and Nuclear Subs.

Feeder Schools: HEU (Harbin Engineering)

Geological Determinism: The Coal, Iron & Streel pipes behind the G7 Developed Nations

Geological Determinism: The Dirty Secret Behind the G7

If you look closely at the formation of the G7, you won’t find a club built on shared ideology. You’ll find a club built on geology.

There was a fundamental “entrance exam” for Great Power status in the 20th century: Domestic Coal + Domestic Iron = Steel = Military Power.

The nations that passed this exam are the ones that rule the world today. Here is the true, geological origin of the heavy industry supply chains that built the modern world.

1. The Naturals (Easy Mode)

These nations sat on the geological jackpot: massive deposits of Coal and Iron located in the same valleys.

  • UK: The pioneer. Had coal (Wales) and iron (Midlands) side-by-side. They didn’t need a navy to secure their supply chain; it was under their feet.
  • USA: The giant. The Pittsburgh Seam (Coal) and Mesabi Range (Iron) connected by the Great Lakes allowed them to out-produce the world without crossing an ocean.
  • USSR: The fortress. With the Donbas (Coal) and Krivoy Rog (Iron) in Ukraine, they achieved total autarky, capable of building 50,000 tanks without foreign trade.

2. The Aggressors (The Annexation Economy)

These nations had Coal but lacked Iron. To complete the formula, they used their armies.

  • Germany: The modern German border has no iron. But in 1871, Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine from France to capture the massive “Minette” iron fields. Their industrial might was built on a stolen supply chain.
  • Japan: Possessing coal but zero iron, Japan didn’t just “import” ore; they colonised it, seizing mines in China and Korea to feed the Yawata Steel Works.

3. The Adapters & Latecomers

  • France: Iron-rich but coal-poor, they became structurally dependent on German coal, driving the creation of the EU to secure energy access.
  • Italy: Lacking both resources, they innovated early with Electric Arc Furnaces, recycling scrap metal to fake superpower status.
  • South Korea & China: The Asian giants arrived late, proving that with massive ports and modern logistics, you could import the geology you lacked—if you had the scale.

4. Curse of the 51st State

  • Canada: The “Industrial Satellite.” It sits on the geology of a superpower but functions industrially as the 51st State—a power that is wealthy but not truly sovereign.

Summary: The Geological Lottery

Country Coal Source Iron Source The “Secret Sauce”
UK Domestic Domestic Geological proximity (Coal & Iron together).
USA Domestic Domestic Internal river/lake transport network.
Germany Domestic Annexed 1871 Border change captured the iron.
France Imported Domestic Political dependence on neighbours.
USSR Domestic Domestic Total self-sufficiency (Autarky).
Japan Domestic Imperial Military expansion secured the supply.
Italy Imported Scrap Engineering efficiency + Recycling.
S. Korea Imported Imported Maritime Efficiency (Mills on the dock).
China Domestic Imported Scale (Cheap power + Global ore).
Canada Domestic Domestic Integration (Northern wing of US industry).

Conclusion: The “G7+3” Monopoly

Hence, the world is still ruled by these “G7+3” geopolitical entities.

The list of industrialized powers is effectively frozen. The G7 (US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada) plus the three challengers (Russia, China, South Korea) represent the only nations to master the coal-steel cycle before the door closed. Because the environmental, economic, and military costs of building a heavy industrial base from scratch are now prohibitively high, this list is unlikely to grow. We live in a world permanently governed by the geological winners of the 20th century.

The Chinese Electric mobility future OS “Civil War” mapped according to Clan Groups.

The Chinese EV OS “Civil War”

While Zuck and Meta incinerated $70 billion chasing avatars & the AR/VR headset OS future, China’s automakers are quietly spending $3 billion annually to claim the actual default OS for electric mobility. Some manufacturers are pragmatically forking Android Auto to appease Western markets, but Four ambitious clans are building vertically-integrated ecosystems.

Flow: Tech Clan → Fiefdom (Parent Co) → OS Layer → Car Brands

The Clans & Fiefdoms of Chinese Auto (Full List)

Clan Fiefdom Brands OS Name Notes

Oct ’25 Global Electricity Demand: Who uses the most power & how much of their grid relies on renewables.

Global Electricity

Sep 2025 Data

Corrected Generation Mix including Nuclear Power. (Sep 2025 for all, Pakistan Aug 2025).

Visual Key

1. Bar Length = Total Demand
China
USA
2. Bar Color = Source Mix
● Renew ● Nuclear ● Fossil
Map Color (Total Demand)
Low TWh High TWh

Top Energy Consumers

Ranked by Demand | Bar shows Mix

2025 Global Institutional Research Rankings, Powered by Nature Index Data Telemetry

2025 Research Leaders

Global Institutional Rankings based on Nature Index data telemetry

The 2025 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.

The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country’s publication output in 145 natural-science and health-science journals.

Map Legend

█ Red Stacks
Height represents total national Share.
Globe Color:
Brighter regions indicate higher research output intensity.

Top Nations

Ranked by Total Share (2024)

2025 UN Funding Shafted: America Does a $1.5B Dine-and-Dash, Leaving the World to Pay for Its Free Lunch

The UN Shafted:
US Does a Dine & Dash on UN Funding 2025

Leaving the rest of the world to pay for the American free lunch in 2025.

The 2025 Crisis: The UN is facing its worst liquidity crisis in years, forcing severe budget cuts and threatening core operations worldwide.

The Deadbeat: The US is the primary cause, withholding over $1.5 Billion in assessed dues, effectively weaponizing its contributions.

The Contrast: While Washington abstains, others step up. China paid its full ~$686M regular assessment in October 2025, filling the leadership void.

⚠️ US Arrears (Unpaid)
$1.5 Billion

Visual Key

The Deadbeat (Owing)
Paid in Full
Member State Contribution

Visualizing the Combined Valuation (Public Market Cap + Private Unicorn Value) of the world’s top City Wide technology ecosystems.

Global Tech Power 2025

Total Valuation: ~$43 Trillion

Mapping the world’s most dominant tech ecosystems by Combined Valuation (Public Market Cap + Private Unicorn Value).

Visual Key

1 Block = $1 Trillion USD
(Height = Economic Power)
Name $100B
= Private Unicorn
Name $100B
= Public Company

Dominance Tiers

TIER 1 The Giants (> $5T)
San Francisco ($25.6T) & Seattle ($6.7T). The “Cloud & AI” capitals control the vast majority of global tech value.
TIER 2 The Trillion Club
Austin, NYC, Beijing, Shenzhen. Cities with >$1T valuation, driven by EVs, Finance, and Mobile Internet.

The Top 19 List

Ranked by Combined Valuation (USD)

U.S. Troops Abroad 2025 ~171,500 Personnel, legit best Call of Duty cosplayers in history. Here’s where they are all stationed.

U.S. Troops Abroad 2025

~171,500 Personnel Overseas

End-of-year snapshot showing U.S. active-duty personnel at permanent or rotational sites outside the United States. Data from DoD June 2025 release.

Visual Key

★
= 2,000 Troops
= Deployment Intensity

Regional Distribution

Indo-Pacific: ~80,000 troops across Japan (54K), S. Korea (24K), Australia, Philippines, Singapore.

Europe: ~63,000 troops with major hubs in Germany (36K), Italy (13K), UK (10K).

Middle East: ~37,000 troops in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Iraq, Syria.

Africa: ~4,000 at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (AFRICOM’s only permanent base).

Top 29 Host Nations

Ranked by Troop Strength (≥100 personnel)

THE 🐺WOLF PACK of the South Pacific. 5000 yrs before Europeans arrived in the Pacific, someone built an outrigger canoe and set sail from Fujian/Taiwan carrying pigs & taro & conquered all the Islands.

THE 🐺WOLF PACK of the South Pacific
5000 years before Europeans arrived, on the coast of Fujian, someone built a canoe. 🌊 Mission: A handful of proto-Austronesians pushed off as WOLF scouts. 🐺 The Wolf-Pack: Every island became a new den. 🐉 The PRC: The mother wolf pack is now the People’s Republic of China. 🏗️ New Canoe: Belt-and-Road
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