Weekend Round-up, June 27

Now for a small collection of interesting stories from the past week that didn't seem to fit in elsewhere, but that are still worth a look.

First up, North Korea. While the saber-rattling continues between the North Korean government and, basically, the rest of the world, it’s good to know that there's an almost-complete map of the Hermit Kingdom's extensive railroad network. The amazing thing is that the map was compiled not by the CIA, MI-5 or any other government intelligence agency, but rather by a George Mason University doctoral student.

Curtis Melvin put the map together using Google Earth satellite images, backed up by testimonies from North Korean defectors (Melvin operates the website North Korean Economy Watch). He says that his map is "90% complete" and includes some of the private railway lines used by the North Korean elite to whisk them away to secure luxury retreats far from the crushing poverty endured by the rest of the country.

Australia. For years now, enthusiasts have pointed to crop circles (geometric patterns traced into farmers' fields by flattening crops apparently without human intervention) as evidence of intelligence life in the universe. Officials in Tasmania though have finally identified the mystic creators of at least some of the circles - stoned wallabies.

Apparently the little marsupials have been wandering into the poppy fields of Tasmania and eating the poppy heads, getting stoned in the process. The wasted wallabies are then said to stumble around in circles (creating the aforementioned crop circles), before passing out in a drug-induced stupor. And here it’s important to remember that poppies provide the raw material for heroin and other opiates.

Russia. Finally, while checking out the site EnglishRussia I came across this story about the art of book covers in Russia, with many examples of science-fiction/fantasy novel covers by artist Leo Hao. It's interesting to look at, but there was something about the one pictured here that I found really fascinating. It's obviously a scene from some post-apocalyptic future war of a Russian soldier (who looks oddly like Daniel Craig, the current James Bond) standing in front of a wrecked enemy tank. The flag on the tank though isn't the Stars and Stripes, like you'd expect, but rather it's China's.

A sign of the future of international relations perhaps?