Motivating people is hard, especially when you’re trying to convince them to join you on a perilous quest that may not succeed. So perhaps you can understand, once you stop laughing, why Mark Zuckerberg has encouraged his employees to call themselves “Metamates” instead of “colleagues” or “co-workers” or “Steve.” It’s nautical! We’re going on a swashbuckling adventure! Ahoy, Metamaties! But ...

  Think your life has been unadventurous over the past few years, as the pandemic and closed borders have kept you bottled up at home? Spare a thought for the mining sector. An industry built on the romance and horror of finding riches on the wild frontier — from the Klondike to Kimberley, Kolyma and Katanga — has for years ...

  High above the Bank of England, a weather vane tracking the wind direction connects directly to a dial in the stately building’s Court Room. In the 1800s, the bank’s directors met there, and knowing which way the wind was blowing was crucial. An easterly breeze meant that ships, loaded with commodities such as copper and wheat, would be sailing ...