Harvard economics professor Martin Feldstein says the U.S. dollar will remain a strong reserve currency, but that our national debt makes the Euro a competitive alternative.
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“A new study recently published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that we should all stop smirking and start rubbing our rabbit’s foot.”
University of Texas researches want to use tiny solar cells as vehicles to deliver treatment to cancer patients, more targeted treatment than is possible with chemotherapy.
“I’m the plainest kind of fellow you can find,” painter Grant Wood told an interviewer in the 1930s, the height of his fame. “There isn’t a single thing I’ve done, […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is wrong. At a meeting in Potsdam, Merkel told young members of her own party, the Christian Democratic Union, that attempts to build a multicultural society […]
Environmental groups–backed by clean energy investors and Hollywood moguls– have raised $26 million to defeat California’s Proposition 23, a measure that would rollback the state’s laws limiting greenhouse gas emissions. […]
A few weeks back, the old-school anti-fertility group Optimum Population Trust issued its index of “overpopulated” nations. It names 77 countries which, it says, are “consuming more resources than they […]
This today is the scene from battle ground Britain, as the Government announces the biggest austerity and cuts programme in living memory. The Markets reacted well, but then they would. […]
New research indicates that rising inequality between the rich and poor—and the need to keep up with one’s neighbors—is driving up the divorce rate.
We’ve previously featured innovative ways in which designers are addressing the blind with Braille-inspired design. This direction of creativity was validated at the National Design Awards gala last week, when […]
Blogging has changed the art of non-fiction writing, says Andrew Sullivan, one of the first political commentators to embrace the form in 2000. When you blog “everything you write is […]
The answer to this question is at the cutting edge of science, but one theory states that dark matter is nothing but ordinary matter in another dimension hovering right above us.
Busy as I get back from Fall Break – and only a week and change until the Geological Society of America Meeting in Denver. If you haven’t check already, commenting […]
One powerful woman picks up the phone. Thomas v. Hill, 2010. We now know that the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has called Anita Hill, after twenty years, […]
I’m still hot about this Joe Miller handcuff incident. Maybe it’s because the hair stands up on the back of my neck whenever I hear about people who decide to […]
“Panic among policymakers about the high level of government debt is misplaced. The real economic menace is budget-slashing,” say two economists for The Guardian.
The artist Martin Creed is performing a rock gig tonight, and a soundscape is a contender for Britain’s infamous Turner prize. The Independent on where art and music collide.
The dispute created by the Obama administration’s challenge to China over subsidies given to its renewable energy industries can be avoided with clear rules.
“Physicians say presentations they make are educational, but critics say the practice puts financial rewards ahead of patient care.” The L.A. Times on doctors who moonlight as drug reps.
“Can the innovative ‘do-it-yourself’ education movement really replace the dying university model?” Alan Jacobs says universities are decadent outposts in austere times.
“The emotional roller coaster captured on Twitter can predict the ups and downs of the stock market, a new study finds.” Wired Science on the unexpected correlation.
Princeton professor of bioethics Peter Singer says emotional and rational evaluations of ethical dilemmas are distinct and that they produce different outcomes.
“If you are green or broke, as many people are these days, buying seems wasteful.” The Economist says people are growing impatient with ‘idle capacity’, i.e. waste.
“Genetically engineering crops and trees could enhance the process of carbon sequestration, trapping gigatons of the greenhouse gas as well as increasing bioenergy production.”
“Why does a melancholy mood turn us into a better artist? The answer returns us to the intertwined nature of emotion and cognition.” The Frontal Cortex on creativity.
Art is good for the soul, but sometimes it can be bad for your health. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds installation at the Tate Modern in London aroused curiosity […]
So, the folks here at Bigthink have been working on improving commenting for Eruptions (and all the BT blogs). I am happy to say that we’ve had a number of […]
I’ve just run into brief reports about a new “eruption” in Colombia – but not the normal kind of eruption. Now, the one of the articles in English that I […]
With all its inefficiencies, waste and contradictions, democracy may not be equal to our social problems. But it sure is a great model of the human psyche, as writers keep […]
On Thursday, the National Academies will be holding the second in a series of roundtable events on climate change education. Registration is open to the public. In a white paper […]