We missed this weekend’s LongReads (editor’s note: my fault, MRH), so instead we thought on the day everyone is playing jokes we’d bring you some articles to read while the rest of the office plays dumb pranks and gets nothing done. Knowledge is power, so when you’re reading this after Barry has super-glued your butt to the toilet seat, remember his victory is temporary. You’ll make him pay… one day.
Immigrants from the future -The Economist Rise of the Robots Special Report
The Economist – 13 min (2529 words) [Four Additional Articles in section]
The Economist examines the promises and pitfalls of contemporary robotics through the lens of the recent DARPA Robotic Challenge.
Tailored Coercion: Competition and Risk in Maritime Asia
The Center for New American Security assesses ongoing tensions in the East Asian Littorals, and suggest paths forward for US and regional policy makers.
Mr. Selden’s Map of China: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer
Timothy Brook – 9-12 hrs (240 page) [Book Review – Telegraph – 5 min (1k words)]
Timothy Brook writes a compelling work, using the story of one improbably obtained map, to help illustrate the origins of maritime law, while exploring the unlikely connections, riveting anecdotes, and intriguing characters which led the map on its journey from the South China Sea, to Oxford in 1659.
Austin Price is an Army Cadet studying at George Mason University, with a healthy interest in East Asia and an unhealthy appetite for Sichuan Hotpot.