I may have mentioned that, at Skepticon IV, JT Eberhard gave a fantastic talk on why the skeptical community must concern itself with mental illness. For the most part, the […]
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Tonight, I’m happy to announce that I’ll be speaking to the Secular Student Alliance at Syracuse University on December 9, one week from tomorrow. The talk will be about ethics […]
One virtue BIG THINK has not been big on is COURAGE. That might be a problem. According Aristotle, courage is not only the first of the virtues, but all the […]
The venture capital firm Acumen Fund proposes market-based solutions to aid the world’s poor rather than giving out free money. Its businesses are successful but do they help communities?
Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, author of the new book Thinking, Fast and Slow, knows more than most about how people make decisions. And we often make them badly. As a rule, Kahneman would advise people to slow down their decision-making whenever possible.
A new book argues “we and our children may be the most significant generations of humans that have yet lived,” which means we carry a far greater burden of responsibility than any previous generation.
Love is an epiphany. Maybe that’s the sweetest romantic dream of all. By the big bang theory of mate selection, our soul mate is out there somewhere, and they’re going […]
When Facebook becomes a publicly traded company, it stands to earn $24 billion. So why doesn’t Mark Zuckerberg compensate us? After all, we supply all the personal data he sells to advertisers.
–Guest post by Judy Millili, American University graduate student. In today’s technologically-driven digital age, consumers are constantly inundated with drug advertisements that encourage active engagement in making decisions related to their […]
We need to double down on collective leadership in both the public and private sectors. It’s the only way to make things work in what many would call our broken society – a society in which people (whether they’re employees or voters) desperately yearn for competence at the top.
In most workplaces, “you get promoted and promoted and promoted until you don’t perform that well,” says Ariely. But to what end? Ultimately, “if you follow this process, everybody will get to the level of incompetence.”
That Herman Cain allegedly had a long term extramarital relationship, and deluded himself into believing he could keep that secret while running for President, raises once again that ever-puzzling […]
In September, in a speech at the Corto e Fieno Film Festival in Italy, award-winning science and environmental filmmaker Larry Engel reflected on the attributes that make for a successful […]
A 3D printer is being used to create ‘bone-like’ material which researchers claim can be used to repair injuries. The material would act like scaffolding on which new cells would grow.
Department of Energy scientists have engineered the E. coli bacteria to digest switchgrass biomass, which could be used create a domestic replacement for gasoline, diesel and jet fuels.
–Guest post by Kimberly Short, American University graduate student. In a 2009 article, Hamilton Bean analyzed the communication strategy of the 9/11 families in their successful pursuit to obtain answers […]
Hundreds of thousands of curious minds have signed up for the online technology courses. Now the college will offer courses on information technology and business, also for free.
Today, December 1st, marks the 23rd observance of Day With(out) Art, the art world’s way of observing World AIDS Day. At the time of that first observance in 1989, the […]
While there are many ways to heat your home during the winter months, here’s one you probably haven’t thought of yet: using heat generated by computer servers. In a conceptual […]
Compare the covers of the different editions of the latest issue of Time. In most of the world, the cover of the magazine features a striking image of an Egyptian […]
Oh how I wish David Foster Wallace had been my English professor. The University of Texas has recently posted the syllabus from the English 102 class he taught at Pomona […]
As a general rule, I’m a fan of changing human behavior by changing the rules we live by. Given how inconsistent people are, it seems to me foolish to rely […]
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?
–Guest post by Sarah Merritt, American University doctoral student. News attention to climate change appears to follow a narrative cycle, where according to communication researchers Katherine McComas and James Shanahan […]
Economic growth is a tough thing to control if the tools you’re using only deal with one part of the economy. The problem is that when you push on one […]
Google-funded research shows America’s potential for extracting geothermal energy is huge, but that harvesting it could cost a lot and even cause small earthquakes in the process.
The rare woods used to make the world’s best guitars may be running short. Companies are experimenting with innovative ways to use their ever-dwindling supplies of prized timber.
Harnessing sunlight in space could provide effectively limitless amounts of power without the resource limitations or environmental impacts of alternatives like fossil fuels.
New climate data taken from the peak of the last ice age suggests the Earth may be more resistant to carbon dioxide than previously thought. But there remains some ambiguity.
In the midst of the economic downturn, designer Sandra Garratt wanted to do something hopeful. So she integrated solar panels into her clothing designs to make green tech fashionable.