Technology & Innovation — September 9, 2010

Suing the Weimar Republic

"American investors have filed several lawsuits to pressure Germany to honor bonds issued by the Weimar Republic. Berlin says a deadline for registering the bonds passed decades ago."

bigthinkeditor

“Their age and provenance are clear enough: The bonds were issued by the Weimar Republic some 80 years ago to raise cash. Just how much they might be worth today is open for debate. But six investors in the US are taking Germany to court to find out — and to force the country to pay up. The certificates were issued by the Weimar Republic in the 1920s as a way to help pay debts and reparations demanded after World War I. They are still, in fact, being traded with investors hoping they can eventually be redeemed.”

Starts With A Bang

The idea that matter is mostly empty space is mostly wrong

Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?

Strange Maps

America’s news deserts are growing

Most counties in the U.S. have only one local newspaper, often one that publishes weekly instead of daily.

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The Present

Are smart cities a wise idea?

When Google runs a smart city, who owns the data?

Illustration of a young woman with closed eyes, smiling, next to a large, detailed eye and surrounded by vibrant, abstract elements and smiley faces.

Neuropsych

Eyes wide shut: Why closing your eyes intensifies psychedelic trips

A recent study suggests that exposure to visual stimuli can diminish the effects of psychedelic drugs.

Starts With A Bang

The big idea of Grand Unified Theories of physics

If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at higher energies, something even grander happens?

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Culture & Religion

Essays of Milan Kundera

"We have entered the post-art era, Kundera declares in Encounter—'a world where art is dying because the need for art, the sensitivity and the love for it, is dying.'”