National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year 2024

Open Culture: free cultural and educational resources on the internet | "Manifest" is Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024

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Ismael Nafría & Clara Nafría
November 25, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Good morning!

Welcome to "On the Net Today". Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we bring you a handpicked selection of three valuable and interesting online resources to help you get the most out of the internet and optimize your browsing time.

Here are the three resources we've prepared for today:

  • National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year 2024

  • Open Culture: free cultural and educational resources on the internet

  • "Manifest" is Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024

National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year 2024

The National Geographic magazine has published, once again, its selection of the best images of 2024, in the special "Pictures of the Year 2024".

Each selected photo comes with its explanation and a link to the information where it appeared. For example, the first one shown is an incredible photo of emperor penguins jumping for the first time into the water from an icy cliff in Antarctica. The linked piece includes a spectacular video of the moment.

As a complement to the selection of images, the National Geographic team also explains the stories behind these magnificent photos and the photographers who took them.

Links:

Open Culture: free cultural and educational resources on the internet

Open Culture is a digital project founded in 2006 that collects high-quality educational and cultural resources, available on the internet, for users interested in continuously learning new things.

All recommended resources are free. The website administrators dedicate themselves to identifying, categorizing, and presenting these references on Open Culture, which are sometimes difficult to locate.

Open Culture is structured in seven main sections:

  • Online Courses

  • Audiobooks

  • Movies

  • Podcasts

  • K-12 (Education up to 12 years)

  • Electronic Books

  • Languages

These are some of the main collections offered by Open Culture:

The project was launched by Dan Colman, who is currently the dean of Continuing Studies & Summer Session Programs at Stanford University.

Link:

"Manifest" is Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024

The Cambridge Dictionary has chosen the verb "manifest" as the word of the year 2024.

On the website dedicated to this annual award, the dictionary's editors explain that "manifest" has been searched more than 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website this year, making it one of the most viewed words.

They argue that this formal word, which is already 600 years old and means "to show something clearly," has seen a new meaning gain popularity recently.

"When famous artists, star athletes, and influential entrepreneurs claim they achieved something because they manifested it, they are using this verb in a more recent sense: using specific practices to focus your mind on something you desire, in an attempt to make it become reality."

They also point out that throughout 2024, the word "manifest" went from being primarily used in the self-help community and on social media to being widely mentioned in mainstream media.

The website shows examples of the use of "manifest" throughout this year, analyzes the historical evolution of the word, and also mentions other terms that were candidates for Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year, such as "brat," "ecotarian," or "resilience," among other interesting data.

Link:

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