Search Results

In times of unprecedented change and uncertainty, we need to ask ourselves what are we certain about?

The last fifty years have seen a series of apocalyptic predictions, and not just of the Mayan Calendar variety. But human action should be motivated by present conditions, not doom and gloom. 

I’d like to get the Freakonomics guys to explain this paradox of K-12 education:  The more money you spend for your children’s education, the fewer days they’ll actually be educated. […]

So you want to be Henry Rollins, kid? Bad news. The job’s already taken. The good news is that following Henry’s three golden rules gives you strong odds of success on your own, unique path as an artist/entrepreneur – the one that only you can carve out.  

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory take on claims about the Mayan calendar and the end of the world, explaining away all the scenarios for a post-2012 apocalypse. 

In November, I wrote about Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, the Egyptian student and atheist who posted nude photos of herself as a protest against Islamist suppression of women’s bodies and voices. […]

Competition among international film festivals is heating up, with Sundance lending its name to a new festival in London. What festivals cater to your kinds of films (and celebrities)? 

As a Director for the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), I am often asked, what are some must-have tools for school administrators? Well, here […]

With bookstores vanishing, the Pulitzer committee skimping on Pulitzers, and the Amazon dragon twining its bright yellow coils around every publisher on Earth, the book industry finds itself in dire peril. But lo! What […]

An astrophysicist and an economist have created a calendar in which each new 12-month period is identical to the one which came before, and remains that way from one year to the next in perpetuity.

With the launch of its augmented reality glasses last week, Google is now at the forefront of a new technological movement that is blurring the line between our digital and […]

My Tuesday post examined parents’ limited options in the age of the standardized test. But what is a teacher to do who is fed up with the testing regime? “I’d […]

The Being Human Conference, which took place at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts this weekend, was designed to explore the science of human experience. The speakers ranged from neuroscientists, […]

If you are in the throes of a metaphysical hangover, we offer you the cure: a whimper over the Mayan prophecy of apocalypse in the year 2012, followed by a shattering meditation upon the various ways the world might end.  

After all the media  drama and the newspaper headlines and the cable news show hoopla over Newt Gingrich’s massive win in the South Carolina GOP primary last week has finally […]

This essay was previously published on AlterNet. In the summer of 2010, I saw him several times a week: a portly, dark-skinned gentleman, leaning against a pillar in Penn Station […]

What’s the Big Idea? A door to solving several public-policy challenges opens if health insurance is separated from employment. It’s an approach with features attractive to both major parties- and […]

2012 started with off with a $5 million funding round for Coursekit, a New York based startup founded by Joe Cohen, Dan Getelman, and Jim Grandpre. The three University of […]

2012 started with off with a $5 million funding round for Coursekit, a New York based startup founded by Joe Cohen, Dan Getelman, and Jim Grandpre. The three University of […]

It’s dangerous business calling any tech innovation idiotic these days. The next thing you know, the company’s worth $50 billion. But it is hard to imagine many (hearing) people beyond […]

Even though AI systems are no substitute for interactions with a real human, they do have the potential to improve our quality of life.

Here is a post for commenters who like to write, “Repeat after me people, correlation does not imply causality!” whenever they read an empirical result they do not want to […]

If you’re like most people, you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions. No worries. Here’s a different promise to yourself that should be easier, more enjoyable, and more educational to […]

The urge to predict is understandable. We forecast the future, and continue to do so even after repeated mistakes, because of the deep psychological need for a sense of control, to keep ourselves safe.

Have you had days that you would just like to erase out of existence? Or maybe burn away, collect the ashes and let the wind carry them as far away […]

The first total lunar eclipse of 2011 took place less than a week ago although people residing in North America weren’t able to enjoy it. This time around, people in […]

I briefly wrote about digital dementia in my post about demand driven education. The term deals with the fact that people tend to outsource information to digital devices we had […]

It has been a while since we’ve had what I would consider a “busy” Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report – but this week, there is a ton of […]

Predicting the end of the world is a rough business. Everyone knows when you’re wrong; and when you’re right, you don’t get to take a victory lap. 

While there are currently two dozen apps on the market designed to help people quit smoking, a new study says none of this software is likely to do the job.