What’s the big idea?There is no shortage of online tools to help us research restaurants, track up-to-the-minute news and even plan out our zombie escape routes, yet there are very […]
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A Stanford genetics professor who subjected his genes to a Truman Show of medical tests, taking regular blood samples over two-and-a-half years, may pioneer personalized medicine.
What’s the Big Idea? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson believes in the power of science — so much so that he gets hate mail for it. From children. As director of […]
For most of human history creativity was something that came from the muses; it was about flashes of insight from another world. Today we know that creativity is something that […]
A group of scientists have laid out an ambitious plan to tackle one of the grand challenges facing mankind in the early 21st century–develop a supercomputer that can simulate the brain.
(Author’s Note: The following review was solicited and is written in accordance with this site’s policy for such reviews.) Summary: A surprising, welcome reminder that atheism has a long and […]
A new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology finds that in comparison to young Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, today’s high school seniors and college freshmen are […]
Two parallel technologies are providing a glimpse of the future: Digital database of all the knowledge you have and android technology that could mimic your behavior and speech.
Given that the brain’s synaptic components last but a short time, it has been a mystery to scientists how the brain stores memories, which can last nearly an entire lifetime.
As Silicon Valley startups race to develop the next generation of sophisticated, algorithmic marketing software, it’s instructive to note the success of Thinkmodo – a viral marketing firm that films all its videos on iphones, does no market testing, and doesn’t even mention the name of the product in its campaigns.
What’s the Big Idea? Long-time political activist and self-proclaimed “party crasher”Richard Tafel believes that American democracy is under threat. The environmental, economic, healthcare, and political systems we’ve relied on for decades are […]
We are rapidly turning into a nation of drone enthusiasts. According to a recent Freedom of Information Act request from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), there are now 63 drone […]
Rumors and, according to 9to5Google, even evidence is surfacing that Google is testing out a new physical product on its campus, Google Glasses. 9to5Google already wrote about this project back […]
The digital age is transforming medicine, making more data available to more people. The risk is that too much information can result in over-correcting health problems which don’t exist in the first place.
Today we are remembering less information than ever and our memories are online for all our friends to see. But remembering is a personal event—do we want to experience it collectively?
Modern communication technology could be harnessed to give the very best teachers to every classroom. Though teleconferencing, we could become a nation of life-long learners.
I do not want everyone to have the same opinion I have on, basically, anything: from gay marriage to drugs.
Tribalism is pervasive, and it controls a lot of our behavior, readily overriding reason.
A new mobile service uses location data, i.e. where you are, to create a social network with like-minded people in your immediate vicinity. Would you be willing to meet a stranger this way?
For the past few days I’ve been thinking out loud about the importance of narrative form to the mind—that way we have of being much more impressed by information in […]
— Guest post by Emma Waldman, American University student. Scientist-turned filmmaker Randy Olson argues that it takes more than literal-minded facts and information to communicate about topics like climate change to […]
Sometimes, when a comment thread bogs down in a long and protracted debate, highly enlightening comments can get lost in the heap. In the cause of preventing one such comment […]
So I’ve been getting a lot of articles and essays and rants emailed to me on higher education. Based on my previous posts, the impression seems to be that I’m […]
What is the Big Idea? It’s late May and the year is 1989. Among the chaos in Tiananmen Square is 20-year-old David Tian, who is one of millions bravely chanting […]
If your school is planning to implement a one-to-one computer or tablet initiative, chances are a committee has been formed to plan, refine and ultimately kick off the initiative. Sometimes […]
Today, Apple announced its new e-book software. Stanford and MIT are offering its courses online—and for free. It looks like the information revolution is about to change education as we know it.
Scandinavia is ground zero for heavy metal, but the genre crops up in less obvious places as well…
Why don’t more leaders in the U.S. have science backgrounds?
Facebook and Twitter enable us to share ideas and discoveries with incredible speed and efficiency. At the same time, there’s a growing awareness that our identities in these virtual spaces are being constrained in ways we’re only beginning to understand.
Using standard chip making parts, IBM has created a super-fast optical processing chip by drilling a series of holes through the back which allow light to pass into the core of the chip.