Mary Queen of Scots Letters Decrypted

This is a neat piece of historical research.

The team of computer scientist George Lasry, pianist Norbert Biermann and astrophysicist Satoshi Tomokiyo—all keen cryptographers—initially thought the batch of encoded documents related to Italy, because that was how they were filed at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

However, they quickly realised the letters were in French. Many verb and adjectival forms being feminine, regular mention of captivity, and recurring names—such as Walsingham—all put them on the trail of Mary. Sir Francis Walsingham was Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster…

February 9, 2023
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Announcing the TIME100 Impact Award Honorees

What began as a list of the world’s most influential people is now an expansive community of global change-makers. Across every industry, TIME100 leaders—scientists and CEOs, artists and activists, pop stars and politicians—are moving our world forward. Just as TIME’s annual list recognizes achievement in one year, we also know influence endures. The TIME100 Impact…

February 9, 2023
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Farwiza Farhan Is Fighting to Protect Rainforests—And Winning

When Farwiza Farhan first visited the Leuser Ecosystem on the Indonesian island of Sumatra in late 2010, she expected to see plantations slicing across the terrain as she flew in; the Southeast Asian nation is the world’s largest producer of palm oil, and a major player in the pulp and paper industry. Instead, “there were…

February 9, 2023
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Graça Machel: Women’s Rights Will Determine Africa’s Future

It’s become something of a cliche to attribute some of the greatness of a man to the woman standing at his side. With Graça Machel that would apply twice, first as the widow of Mozambique’s revolutionary first President, Samora Machel, then as the third wife of South African leader Nelson Mandela. But the impact of…

February 9, 2023
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