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Andreas Schleicher, the Acting Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on how education can help students meet the challenges of today.

The universal question around what I do is (not surprisingly): What does it take to make a successful crowdfunding campaign? The question comes up at panels; during dinner parties; within […]

Jen Sky is a very pretty woman. She’s a former Maxim covergirl, and starred on the Sci-Fi drama Cleopatra 2525. She’s also a very smart woman, who is dedicating her […]

If a human hovered close to the giant ringed planet, she would see Saturn as partly blue. In March 2006, the robot Cassini spacecraft, still orbiting Saturn, snapped this image […]

From the Beatles to Nirvana, this artist’s imaginings make the originals even better! “I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look […]

Recently, the New Republic published an alarming piece about the stifling ageism pervasive in Silicon Valley—especially the new Valley of startups, as distinguished from more venerable firms—which raised eyebrows all 

As teachers begin using new and questionable methods, will students suffer and get left behind? “Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children.”–Dan Quayle As the first full […]

Bitcoin is the virtual currency that’s all the craze right now. It even has some powerful allies, like Overstock.com’s C.E.O. Patrick Byrne whose popular shopping site accepts Bitcoin and promotes […]

Over the past few years, government has discovered that it can accomplish a lot when it sets aside the notion that human beings are rational. Rather than giving people good […]

The mind seeks out patterns, and this can lead to some tricky mind games…played by your own mind, on you. This could happen when a song gets stuck in your […]

You’re never alone. All around you are hidden wonders of nature. Award-winning filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg brings them to life in his new 3D film Mysteries of the Unseen World.  Watch his […]

             A lot of work on climate change these days is trying to address what seems to be a major part of the problem; people don’t care all that much. […]

Did you know that hobbits were real? Well, a species that shared similar traits with hobbits existed here on Earth (not just Middle Earth) 18,000 years ago. The one-yard tall […]

A new study from Michigan State University found that the brains of optimists and pessimists are different. So the next time you tell someone to “cheer up, Charlie” or “walk […]

Changing minds often isn’t like changing light bulbs. Many bright ideas don’t fit your sockets. Wonks particularly need to grasp that incorporating new data or arguments can be closer to […]

This image shows Mars nearing opposition on April 8th. On April 11th, Mars is between opposition and closest approach, April 14th, when it will be the closest distance to Earth […]

“The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.” – Carl Sagan

“You criticize them too much. If this was 1957 they would have killed you already,” Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s worried mother tells him in a new documentary titled Ai Weiwei: […]

Ken Auletta, media critic for The New Yorker, told a wonderful tale that almost seems mythical. Netflix not only gave hit political drama “House of Cards” a green light without […]

As Stephen Hawking warned, we better move from Earth or face extinction. Where should we go shopping? Hank Green, the host of the SciShow, acts as our real-estate agent of […]

Wild adult cats don’t knead, but tamed (spoiled) adult house cats love to dig into an owner’s skin. The painful activity is often referred to as “making biscuits,” likely because […]

NASA recently announced a cool discovery: asteroids can have rings! Luckily, the one that revealed this is not headed for us.  The asteroid 10199 Chariklo, orbiting the sun between Saturn […]

When I go to recruit college seniors into our first year analyst program at New Island Capital, part of our pitch is “come learn the business of investing, without checking […]

From how they’re born to how they live to the end of their life cycle, this story is common to them all. “Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies […]

Just about everyone wants to believe that their leaders – in governments, companies, or even the local PTA – will exude benevolence. The shared hopes of constituents, shareholders, and even […]

Enter a world of tech gods and “benevolent” corporations, traversed by a naive fellowship of programmers. “Silicon Valley” has premiered, and HBO made the first episode available on YouTube.  Read […]

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through […]

Take a guess: what percentage of the world’s nuclear weapons would cause the deaths of one billion people?

This April 15th, Earth experiences a total lunar eclipse, followed by an annular solar eclipse just 14 days later. “And everything under the sun is in tuneBut the sun is eclipsed […]

This incredible video of a family stumbling on a whale trapped in a fishing net in the Sea of Cortez will put a smile on your face.  Michael Fishbach, a conservationist […]