【推荐3】A Russian natural gas tanker has completed an experimental round trip along the Northern Sea Route (NSR)— the first time the path across the Arctic has been made at this time of year. It returned to the Russian gas station at Sabetta on February 19. The voyage by the Christophe de Margerie tanker through the ice is the latest visual indicator of climate change in the cold region.

The tanker set out from a Chinese port on January 27 after delivering its cargo. It entered the Northern Sea Route, which traverses(横越) Russia's north coast. A few days later near Cape Dezhnev, it was met by the Russian nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory). Together they completed the 2, 500-nautical-mile voyage through the ice in l I days and 10 hours.

The ship managed-to complete the first leg of the trip from Russia to China without an icebreaker. Both of the journeys broke records for winter navigation(航行) due to the changing climate in the Arctic allowing passage through thinner ice. Using the Northern Sea Route lets shippers in Russia and other countries avoid a much longer southern journey around Europe, the Middle East and all of southern Asia, saving millions of dollars.

The ships encountered no multi-year buildup of old ice on the route, and the deepest ice was about 5 feet thick. However, meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus called that a clear indicator of "a climate emergency".

Last May, Christophe de Margerie became the first large-capacity cargo ship to complete an eastbound transit of the Northern Sea Route, two months earlier in the year than the journey traditionally made.

"As a result of the early Northern Sea Route voyage completed by Christophe de Margerie in May 2020, as well as the current NSR voyage, the navigation in the Eastern part of the Arctic was practically doubled," Eric Holthaus said. He noted that for decades the transit route along that part of the NSR had typically remained closed by ice from November until July.

【推荐1】About 20 years ago, Daniel Hoffman, a classically trained violinist met a young musician playing in the town square in Marrakech, an ancient city in Morocco. They communicated in the little French they both knew, but their main common language was music. On the back of a motorbike of the fellow violinist, Hoffman weaved through the back streets of the city and then learned his first lessons in Andalusian music, the classical music of North Africa.

That experience gave birth to an idea: What would it be like to try to learn how to play different violin styles around the world in just one week? Oh. yes, and at the end of that week, play a concert. He even got a name for the concept “musical extreme sports”.

It took him almost two decades to launch that dream with a friend, who introduced him to the wonders of Kickstarter, a funding platform for creative projects. Up to now, the dream has taken the form of a new documentary currently airing on American public television stations called “Otherwise, It’s Just Firewood.”

In the documentary, Hoffman travels to County Clare, Ireland, where he takes lessons with James Kelly, a master Irish violin player, for less than a week and then performs together with him in front of an audience, many of whom are star Irish musicians.

The film is what Hoffman hopes will be the first of an eventual series of short documentaries, showing him learning to play the violin in a variety of styles, including the folk music of south India, Sweden, Greece, Romania, and West Virginia.

That would add to his extensive repertoire (全部曲目), which already includes Balkan, Middle Eastern, and Turkish styles. “The big joke is what’s the difference between the fiddle and the violin? It’s the person who plays it,” says Niall Keegan, a traditional flute player. “It’s the music you make on it that makes it Irish or English or French or classical or jazz or whatever else. It’s how we imagine it and how we create through it that make it and give it character.”

“Otherwise, it’s just firewood,” he says, words that became the film’s title.

【推荐3】Intelligence is not enough to create extraordinary work. The most creative people in history you admire approached problems differently. IQ alone cannot explain creative spark. “Creativity isn’t a talent. It’s a way of operating,” says John Cleese. It’s a central source of meaning in our lives. Creative geniuses are able to bring seemingly contradictor y element s together in unusual and unexpected ways. While there’s no “typical” creative type, Einstein, Picasso and Mozart shared common traits.

You can be insanely talented but if you can’t consistently hone your craft (打磨技能), you can’t be great. The ability to stick with and pursue anything that means a lot to you over a long period of time is an important indicator (指标) of achieving anything worthwhile in life.

Einstein had extremely high intelligence but he genuinely loved his pursuit of Relativity. He committed a greater percentage of his productive years pursuing the Theory of Relativity. And it meant everything to him. Creative people have a strong desire to work hard and long on what they love doing.

The willingness to take risks, to break with the safety of tradition, and step outside the comfort zone is necessary for creativity. History’s creative geniuses risked more to get results. Unless you aim for comfort and stagnation (停滞), taking risks is imperative to every creative process. They valued the process of their work as much as the destination. They enjoyed the process as much as the ultimate outcome. They viewed obstacles as opportunities to explore and make progress.

Picasso was once asked if he knew what a painting was going to look like when he started it. He answered, “No, of course not. If I knew, I wouldn’t bother doing it.”

Curiosity is fundamental to your success. Einstein, Picasso and Mozart embraced curiosity, were open to new ideas, and persistent despite career setbacks.

Mozart once wrote to a friend about his commitment to music and said, “People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to compositions as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”