WSC 2025 - Raw Merged Complete Set

Rip Van Winkle

• A character entitled by Washington Irving in 1819

• A Dutch-American villager in colonial America

• Meets a mysterious Dutchmen

• Falls into a coma in the Catskill Mountains

• Wakes up 20 years later after the American Revolution

Washington Irving

• An American author

• Wrote “Rip Van Winkle” in 1819

Steve Rogers

• A character in the Marvel Comics Universe

• An American soldier injected with super-serum

• Crash lands a plane into ice

• Wakes up seventy years later

Aang

• A character in Avatar: The Last Airbender

• Cryopreserved in ice for 100 years, waking up biologically 12 but chronologically 112

Slice of life

• A genre of art and theatre

• Refers to the depiction of mundane experiences

• Often lacks plot development, conflict, and exposition

• Usually has an open ending

Ezra Klein

• An American journalist

• Interviewed Sam Altman in 2021

• Does not believe that Donald Trump’s problem is his age, but his lack of behavioural inhibition

• Sees the 2020 election drama as hindering Trump’s credibility

Sam Altman

• An American businessman

• CEO of OpenAI

• Wrote “Moore’s Law for Everything”

• Describes the proposal as a conversation starter

Moore’s Law for Everything

• An essay by Sam Altman

• Covers five parts: The AI Revolution, the concept of Moore’s Law applied for everything, a model of Capitalism for everyone where income tax becomes ineffective, and rather capital and land are taxed, how this model would be implemented, and a gradual approach to this model

Donald Trump

• An American president

• Known for a campaign style where he would speak in a manner announcing divisive statements that he sees as something everyone is thinking but not saying

• Questioned for his age

Doomerism

• A pessimistic belief that humanity is doomed

Hannah Ritchie

• A Scottish data scientist

• Coined the term “changeable optimism”

Changeable optimism

• A term referring to the realistic hope for a better future

• Coined by Hannah Ritchie as a response to doomerism

Camille Parmesan

• A French climate scientist

• Decided against having children due to the current predicaments of climate change

Shobha Maharaj

• A Trinidadian climatologist

• Chose to have one child in the wake of the climate crisis

• Cites insular vulnerability as an influence of her decision

Paul Ehrlich

• An American author

• Published “The Population Bomb” in 1968

The Population Bomb

• A publication by Paul Ehrlich in 1968

• Divisively proposed compulsory population control, particularly in areas like Africa and Asia

Regina Rodrigues

• A Brazilian oceanographer

• Chose not to have children

• Influenced by the environmental destruction she saw near Sao Paulo

Lisa Schipper

• A German climatologist

• Chose to have one child

• Notes her place in the global north with a larger carbon footprint

• Began to feel guilty as the climate worsens

A Tale of Two Cities

• A novel by Charles Dickens in 1859

• Follows Alexandre Manette, his 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie

• Has a famous poetic opening paragraph

Charles Dickens

• An English author

• Wrote “A Tale of Two Cities” in 1859

Alexandre Manette

• A character in Charles Dickens’s “A Tale of Two Cities”

• A French physician

• Imprisoned for 18 years during the French Revolution in the Bastille

• Is released and travels to London to live with his daughter Lucie whom he had nev

National broadband network

• An open-access data network in Australia

• Said to be complete by minister Paul Fletcher in 2020

• Had 35,000 premises unable to connect

• Connects over 11.86 million premises

• Over 230,000 premises cannot connect at broadband speeds

• Constructed by NBN Co

• Critics state that the speeds are inadequate to compete with other nations

• Costs ballooned and the deadlines were pushed back

• The project increased the cost of access compared to other countries

• Utility may be eroded by 5G

Paul Fletcher

• An Australian minister for communications, cyber safety and the arts

• Declared the national broadband network complete

• Admitted 35,000 premises remained unable to connect to the network

• Also announced new laws that would require digital platforms to take down adult material

Broadband

• A term referring to high-speed internet access

• Defined in Australia as over 25Mbps

Telstra

• An Australian telecommunications company

• First proposed to build a high-speed network in Australia

• Proposal rejected

Australian Labor Party

• An Australian political party

• Elected in 2007 partially due to its plans to built a national broadband network

• Promise evolved to an FTTP network

• Stuggled to meet the promise

• Pushed out of power in 2013

Fibre-to-the-premises network

• A broadband network architecture where fibre-optic cables are run directly to individual homes or businesses

NBN Co

• An Australian telecommunications company

• Formed in 2009

• Tasked with building an FTTP network across Australia by the Labor Party

• Struggled with the project in early years

• Shifted to an FTTN network

Fibre-to-the-node network

• A broadband network architecture where fibre-optic cables are run to cabinet nodes where the signal is then carried by pre-existing metal wires

Via Rail

• A Canadian rail service company

• Operates train service across Canada

• In the third quarter of 2023, over half of their departures were late

• Only owns around 3 percent of the tracks that it operates on

High Frequency Rail project

• A project proposed by the Liberal Party of Canada in 2023

• The government would build new tracks along the existing lines owned by Via Rail and supply faster electric trains

• Proposed instead of the more daunting proposal of high-speed train service across Canada

• Projected to cost between 6 and 12 billion CAD

Bertha

• A boring machine

• The world’s largest tunnel-boring machine

• Meant to dig out a two-mile-long stretch of underground highway

• Overheated and shut down after four months

• Recovered after being stuck below the streets of Seattle

• Project delayed two years

• A lot of water had to be pumped out of the hole dug, sinking the land above by an inch or more

• The earth around the tunnel was variable and complex (not ideal for the boring machine)

Bent Flyvbjerg

• A Danish-British management professor at Oxford

• Notes that megaprojects have come to constitute 8 percent of global GDP (mostly China)

• Highlights how common it is for megaprojects to be poorly executed (over budget, over time), leading to the most unrealistically optimistic projects to be built

• Compares megaprojects to the American military campaign in Vietnam

• Mentions that megaproject planners are often dishonest (overestimating benefits and underestimating costs)

• Have shifted towards being more of a byproduct of globalization

Megaproject

• A construction project costing at least a billion dollars

• Over budget nine out of ten times

• Take much longer to build than projections usually

• Proposed with superlatives

• May be embraced as an icon

• Seem to be recession-proof (countries want to invest in infrastructure during these times)

• Tend to be chosen if they symbolize the area’s social, cultural, or technological developments, rather than if they are economical or environmentally-friendly

London Crossrail

• A megaproject in London

• Consists of twenty-six miles of tunnels under London

• An example of a properly conceived and implemented megaproject

Tarbela Dam

• A dam in Pakistan

• Projected 7.5 percent inflation during construction

• Project took 8 years longer than expected

• Delayed further by unprojected inflation (380%)

Black-swan theory

• A metaphor

• Describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often rationalized by hindsight

Transbay Transit Center

• A megaproject in San Francisco

• Costed 4.5 billion USD

• Mayor Willie Brown admitted that the initial estimate for the cost was way under the real cost (if the public knew, it would not have been approved)

Willie Brown

• A former mayor of San Francisco

• Admitted that the initial estimate for the cost of the Transbay Transit Center was way below the real cost, justifying public outcry if it were to be public originally

Mike McGinn

• A former mayor of Seattle

• Campaigned against the use of Bertha and the Seattle project

Planning stage

• A stage in the megaproject development process

• To be successful, needs to address the challenge of multilevel appraisal

• Information tends to be biased and unreliable

Construction stage

• A stage in the megaproject development process

• Will show temporary negative and positive effects

• May be negative to locals due to pollution or displacement, or positive by offering job opportunities

Usage stage

• A stage in the megaproject development process

• Will show direct effects (tend to be positive)

• Can attract businesses and investors, and provide symbolic meaning to locals

Big Dig

• A megaproject in Boston

• Conceived by the Boston Transportation Planning Review in the 1970s

• Planning began in 1982

• Carried out between 1991 and 2006

• Originally scheduled to be completed in 1998 at 2.8 billion USD in 1982

• Costed over 8 billion USD in 1982

• Developed in response to traffic in Boston’s tangled streets

• Rerouted the Central Artery of I93 into the O’Neill Tunnel

• Built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend I90 to Logan International Airport

• Built the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge

• Created the Rose Kennedy Greenway

• Improved Boston’s public transportation

• Lead to a death, leaks and other design flaws

• Reduced travel times by 85% in one route

Boston Transportation Planning Review

• A transportation planning program

• First conceived the Big Dig project in the 1970s

Ronald Reagan

• A former United States president

• Vetoed the Big Dig in 1987 after it being passed by Congress for being too expensive

• His veto was overridden by Congress

O’Neill Tunnel

• A tunnel in Boston

• Constructed as a part of the Big Dig megaproject

• Carries the central artery of I93

Ted Williams Tunnel

• A tunnel in Boston

• Constructed as a part of the Big Dig megaproject

• Extended I90 to Logan International Airport

Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge

• A bridge in Boston

• Constructed as a part of the Big Dig

• Spans the Charles River

Rose Kennedy Greenway

• A linear park in Boston

• Constructed as a part of the Big Dig

• Took the space vacated by previously elevated roadways

Channel Tunnel

• A megaproject between Folkestone and Coquelles

• Consists of a tunnel under the English Channel at the Strait of Dover

• Opened in 1994

• First proposed by Albert Mathieu-Favier in 1802

• Allowed to proceed in 1986 with the Treaty of Canterbury

• Project organized by Eurotunnel beginning in 1988

• Estimated to cost 5.5 billion BPS in 1985

• Most expensive construction project ever proposed

• Amounted to 4.65 billion BPS

• Owned and operated by Getlink

• Carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, LeShuttle for road vehicles, and freight trains

• Originally criticized by fears of compromising national security

• Promoted in the 1920s by Winston Churchill

• Analysis shows that the British economy would have been better off if it had not been constructed

Albert Mathieu-Favier

• A French mining engineer

• Proposed a tunnel under the English Channel in 1802 with the illumination of oil lamps, horse-drawn coaches, and an artificial island for changing horses

Treaty of Canterbury

• A treaty signed by the United Kingdom and France in 1986

• Gave the “go-ahead” for the construction of the Channel Tunnel

Getlink

• A European transport company

• Owns and operates the Channel Tunnel

California High-Speed Rail

• A megaproject in California

• Constitutes a publicly-funded developing high-speed rail system

• Meant to connect San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento by high-speed rail

• Being developed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority

• Only the Initial Operating Segment has advanced to construction (connecting Merced and Bakersfield)

• Estimated to cost over 130 billion USD

• Authorized in 2008 by a ballot measure championed by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Proposition 1A)

• Would alleviate housing shortages, air traffic, and highway congestion

• Would reduce pollution and provide economic benefits to the inland regions

• Criticized for its lack of control over its cost and schedule

• First phase expected to be completed around 2045

California High-Speed Rail Authority

• An American transit operator

• Runs and develops the California High-Speed Rail network

Proposition 1A

• A law in California

• Approved by voters in 2008

• Championed by Arnold Schwarzenegger

• Allocated funds for the California High-Speed Rail Authority

Arnold Schwarzenegger

• An former governor of California

• Championed California Proposition 1A to authorize funds for the California High-Speed Rail Authority

Sejong City

• A megaproject in South Korea

• Constitutes a self-governing city acting as the de facto administrative capital of South Korea

• Founded in 2007 as a planned capital to ease congestion in Seoul and encourage investment in the country’s central region

• Expected to be completed in 2030

• Named in honour of the inventor of Hangul

• First thought of by President Roh Moo-hyun in 2003

• Meant to be the official capital, but opposition thwarted the plan

• Following President Lee Myung-bak, it would become an industrial, science and education hub instead of an administrative city

• Designed to be a smart city

• Some see it as an alternative to Seoul with sustainable tech

• Others see it as poorly designed and difficult to access

Roh Moo-hyun

• A former president of South Korea

• Sought to decongest Seoul and develop the country’s central region by constructing Sejong city as the new South Korean capital

• Plans were thwarted by opposition to make the new city the official new capital

Lee Myung-bak

• A former president of South Korea

• Opposed making Sejong city an administrative city

• Instead supported making the city a hub for science, education, and industry

Sejong Government Complex

• A government building in Sejong

• Built to create a multi-functional administrative city

• Contains the world’s largest rooftop garden

Smart city

• An urban model

• Leverages technology, human capital, and governance to enhance sustainability, efficiency, and social inclusion

• Data is collected from citizens, devices, buildings, or cameras

• Criticized for being corporate-driven, and a move toward totalitarian surveillance

Hambantota

• A megaproject in Sri Lanka

• Consists of a city on the south coast

• After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a new seaport (Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port) and international airport was added

• Meant to be the second major urban hub of Sri Lanka

• A location along the maritime silk route

Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port

• A port in Hambantota

• Constructed in 2010

• Notable for its 99-year lease to China Merchant Ports in 2017

• Costed 1.12 billion USD to lease

• Had accusations of being a part of China’s String of Pearls strategy

China Merchant Ports

• A Hong Kong conglomerate

• Leasing the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port for 99 years since 2017

String of Pearls

• A geopolitical hypothesis

• Proposed by American political researchers in 2004

• Refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea line of communication to the Horn of Africa

NEOM

• A megaproject in Saudi Arabia

• Consists of a planned city in Tabuk province

• Launched by Mohammed bin Salman in 2017

• Emerged from Saudi Vision 2030

• Would include a floating industrial complex, global trade hub, tourist resorts, and a linear city powered by renewable energy sources

• Thousands of people have been forcibly moved to make way for the project

• Estimated to cost over 8.8 trillion USD

• Originally aimed to be completed in 2020 and expanded in 2025, but it has been only marginally constructed to this day (a few buildings)

• Name comes from the Greek prefix meaning “new” and the first letter or the crown prince’s name

Mohammed bin Salman

• A crown prince of Saudi Arabia

• Launched the NEOM megaproject in 2017

Saudi Vision 2030

• A government project in Saudi Arabia

• Aims to achieve the goal of increase diversification economically, socially, and culturally

• In line with the vision of Mohammed bin Salman

Khazar Islands

• A megaproject in Azerbaijan

• Consists of 41 artificial islands in the Caspian Sea

• Estimated to cost 100 billion USD originally

• First thought up by Ibrahim Ibrahimov

• Would include a city able to house 1 million residents, 150 schools, 50 hospitals and daycare centres, parks, shopping malls, cultural centres, a university campus, a Formula 1 track, and the Azerbaijan Tower

• All would be able to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake

• Construction began in 2011

• Continued until oil prices crashed in 2015

• Has not resumed construction since

Azerbaijan Tower

• A planned skyscraper

• A part of the Khazar Islands megaproject

• Projected to be the tallest building in the world (1,050m)

Ibrahim Ibrahimov

• A president of Avesta Group

• Came up with the idea for the Khazar Islands megaproject when flying between Baku and Dubai

• Arrested in 2015 due to his company’s inability to repay the debts of around 57 million USD

• Stated that construction would resume after his release

• No construction has been resumed

Three Gorges Dam

• A megaproject in Hubei province

• Consists of a hydroelectric gravity dam spanning the Yangtze River

• It is the world’s largest power station by installed capacity

• Approved in 1992

• Estimated to cost 22.5 billion USD

• Completed in 2006, operational in 2012

• Provides power and flood control

• Considered a source of national pride, but controversial domestically and abroad

• Displaced up to 1.4 million people

• Increased the risk of landslides

• Cost was overestimated, and the cost recovery was completed ten years later

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

• A megaproject in the Pearl River delta region of China

• Consists of three cable-stay bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands

• Longest sea crossing

• Longest open-sea fixed link

• Designed to last for 120 years

• Projected to cost 18.8 billion USD

• Projection to be completed in 2016

• Compeleted and opened in 2018

• Had a slow adoption rate

• Affected the population of Chinese white dolphins

New Eurasian Land Bridge

• A megaproject across Eurasia

• Consists of a rail link between China and Europe that does not pass through Russia

• Motivated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

• Passes through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye to reach Europe

Marmaray Tunnel

• A tunnel in Istanbul

• Opened in 2013

• Beneath the Bosphorus

• A part of the New Eurasian Land Bridge

• Deepest immersed tube tunnel in the world

World Health Organization

• An agency of the United Nations

• Declared loneliness a pressing global health threat

• Developed amid the COVID-19 pandemic

• Notes that loneliness is associated with increases in rates of dementia and stroke

Vivek Murthy

• A United States surgeon general

• Led an international commission with Chido Mpemba to look into the loneliness epidemic

• Notes that the risks of social isolation are as bad as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day

Chido Mpemba

• An African Union youth envoy

• Led an international commission with Vivek Murthy to look into the loneliness epidemic

• Notes that across Africa, young people face challenges around peace, security, climate, and unemployment, contributing to social isolation

Melody Ding

• An Australian epidemiologist

• Notes the belief that around 1 in 12 people experience loneliness at a level that is problematic for their health

• Combined studies on loneliness to confirm or disprove these beliefs

• Found that among adults, Northern Europe had the lowest rates of loneliness, and Eastern Europe had the highest (only out of European countries)

• Suggest it is a result of worse health outcomes, healthcare services, and social support

• Found that adults over the age of 60 are most likely to suffer feelings of severe loneliness

Paro

• A robotic seal

• Provides residents at the Silver Wing care facility in Tokyo therapy and social interactions

• Lessened loneliness significantly

• In practice, had favourable reception, but one resident kept trying to skin it

• Did not reduce the repetitive behaviour of those with dementia

Kodokushi

• A term referring to people dying alone and remaining undiscovered for long periods of time, especially among younger generations

• On the rise in Japan

• Usually discovered in apartments much later

Masaki Ichinose

• A professor of the University of Tokyo

• Highlights that Japan’s rise in loneliness was party tied to traditional family structures falling apart (Western nuclear families were favoured over traditional multi-generational households)

Karōshi

• A term referring to death by overworking

• On the rise in Japan

Hikikomori

• A term referring to the trend for people to live in isolation for a year or more

• On the rise in Japan

Aibo

• A robotic dog

• Re-launched by Sony after being retired in 2006

Pepper

• A humanoid

• Produced by Softbank Robotics

• In charge of the midday exercise session at Silver Wing care facility

• In practice, boredom set in due to its limited song and routine list

• Discontinued

Telenoid R1

• A humanoid designed to be a companion

• Minimalistic design to make it easier for users to project faces of others when they speak with it (uncanny)

Gatebox

• A Japanese technology company

• Developed a VR companion (Hikari) tailored toward younger men

Hikari

• A VR-companion developed by Gatebox

• Acts as a virtual partner tailored for younger men

Couger

• A Japanese technology company

• Developing an AI-powered virtual assistant that can follow a user around

• Founded by Atsushi Ishii

Atsushi Ishii

• A Japanese businessman

• Founded Couger

• States the goal is to create a system that people can relate to on a personal level

Puihan Joyce Chao

• A clinical psychologist

• Agrees that technology can provide solutions to loneliness

• Stresses that a human element is necessary to combat loneliness fully

Tracey Crouch

• A British minister

• Appointed the U.K. minister of loneliness in 2017 (world’s first)

Robear

• A lifting robot

• Developed in Japan in 2015

• Never saw commercial use, discontinued

James Wright

• A researcher at the Alan Turing Institute

• Focused on the disconnect between the promise of care robots and their actual use in Japan

Hug

• A lifting robot

• Stopped being used after only a few days

• Was cumbersome and time consuming to wheel from room to room

Human Development Index

• A measurement of a country’s health, education, and standard of living

• Run by the United Nations Development Program

• Declined globally for two years in a row in 2021

Meta Crisis

• A term referring tot he interconnected harships that overlap and amplify one another in the world today

• Includes wealth inequality, economic debt, job displacement, inadequate digital infrastructure, climate change, and transition costs toward sustainability