Children are born curious about the world and their playtime reflects the empirical way they investigate nature. But their curiosity is a fragile thing and stolid teaching can uproot it.
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Renewable energies like solar and wind should not be the government’s top energy priority, says the Department of Energy. The nation must reduce its dependence on foreign oil.
Brian O’Neill, co-founder of Waq al-waq, remembers Chris: As most people reading this today already know, Chris Boucek- suddenly, unexpectedly, tragically, passed away this morning, at the shockingly young age […]
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have given a rat an artificial brain part—the cerebellum—thereby ushering in the era of true brain-to-computer communication for humans.
Ray Kurzweil is an expert at predicting the future. In tracking our progress in the technological-evolutionary journey, Kurzweil has identified six epochs, each of which is characterized by a major paradigm shift.
My August 20th blog entry, “MARS Updates Including The Curiosity Rover, The Flow of Liquid Water and Possible Manned Missions” mentioned that NASA was preparing to launch its latest Mars […]
Note: This blog was co-written by Asher Edelman and Stewart Waltzer. Yea for Europe (we hope)! On October 27 the European community announced the “solution” to sovereign debt and European […]
Since, at its heart, Occupy Wall Street is a conversation about values that is leading to direct action — a beta test for a better society — people should not despair that it is a “leaderless movement.”
So the New York Times has a predictably pointless or just randomly condescending article on America’s leading diner. The long and diverse thread is a lot more interesting than the article. […]
Using publicly accessible databases, researchers have developed a method to predict how existing drugs might be repurposed to treat seemingly unrelated diseases.
In the 21st century, biology will usher in advances in regenerative medicine. Stem cells will be at the center of discovery and application in that new field.
Who’s right? Digital optimists who view the internet and social media as democratizing political forces, or pessimists who claim that they dumb down political discourse and polarize the electorate?
From an evolutionary perspective, our quickness to judge faces certainly makes sense. We need to know if someone is friend or foe, if he is strong or weak, if we can trust him or not. And we need to know quickly, before something bad happens. But is that quickness still as good when it determines national political outcomes?
In the information age, there is power in being able to reduce a complex problem into simple steps and take decisive action to make it happen. Seizing opportunity is simpler than it seems, says Mark Cenedella, founder of the TheLadders.
Former Prime Minister, Tony Blair and former UK Foreign Secretaries Jack Straw and David Miliband, now face some extremely tough questions as to how much they knew about the extraordinary […]
In response to our paper examining how scientists view the public, the media, and the political process, Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado offers several considerations worth noting. […]
For all our talk of living in a globalized world, there is far less international exchange of people, goods and information than we would expect. How can we encourage globalization?
Benetton’s controversial new “Unhate” ad campaign, which features pictures of world leaders like Barack Obama and China’s Hu Jintao caught in a liplock, actually raises a thought-provoking question: Is it […]
Do you have the ethical obligation to inform a friend if their spouse is cheating? Is love even ethical at all? The Ethicist Randy Cohen weighs in.
Digital fitness–the ability to adapt to changes in the digital environment—is lacking in the PR sector though it was an early adopter of social media. Time to rethink traditional PR tactics.
Most scientists in the US and UK blame public ignorance of science for flawed policy preferences and political choices. They tend to be critical of media coverage, yet rate favorably […]
Watson will soon be diagnosing medical cases – and not just the everyday cases, either.
The start of the semester always surprises me. No matter how much I think I might be prepared for it, the first day of class ends up being a maelstrom. […]
I’ve written in the past about the phenomenon of people who think that their religious beliefs excuse them from doing their job. The correct solution, of course, is to not […]
–Guest post by Luis Hestres, Doctoral student at American University. Petitioning the government for policy changes is a practice as old as the republic, and doing so online is a […]
So a professor of philosophy—Gary Gutting—opinionating for the NYT invites us to think about the relationship between politicians and intellectuals. He says that politicians, to be credible, don’t have to […]
A November Pew survey reveals a slight upward shift in public belief in climate change. A number of factors likely account for the rise in belief but the most parsimonious explanation […]
A new microchip made by researchers at I.B.M. is a landmark. Unlike an ordinary chip, it mimics the functioning of a biological brain, which could open new possibilities in computation.
This column (flagged by one of our eagle-eyed editors) by Kenneth Rogoff on “rethinking the growth imperative” is incredibly puzzling. Rogoff, a Harvard economics professor and former IMF chief economist, […]
Robin Chin Roemer, assistant librarian at American University, has launched a new blog focused on library resources related to communication and the media. Given the strong focus among AU communication […]