Few maximize. Most muddle. So why do economists mainly model the happy few? It makes the math easier, but risks misusing the massive power of markets. Perhaps, like the muddling masses, they should use less math and more logic.
All Articles
College textbooks are a racket. Financial aid infrequently covers their cost. A significant percentage of students are forced to use credit cards to purchase them. This is one of the unseen contributors to student debt.
Look for the bow shock, but not just in visible light! “Most people don’t know what’s happening around them because they’re just speeding through life. And before they know it, they’re […]
Earth may have suffered a violent impact from a “planetary embryo” called Theia 4.5 billion years ago. This impact allowed the moon to form. But new research suggests Theia also became a part of Earth.
Advocates masquerading as scientists to try and establish credibility for biased claims do the public, and science, serious harm. And journalists who fail to call them out and report biased studies as fact compound the damage.
Two Virginia Tech students, David Eisenhauer, 18, and Natalie Keepers, 19, are at the center of a murder investigation. So is the social media app Kik.
People who prevail in competitions have an unfortunate tendency to swindle others to keep up their winning streaks. Even a small win against an unfamiliar foe in a game with very low stakes seems to light a fire that makes it easier to swindle and defraud our fellow human beings.
Is there an alternate Universe with a different version of you, and all the outcomes you didn’t choose? “Go then, there are other worlds than these.” –Stephen King, The Dark […]
France has introduced a law banning supermarkets from disposing of quality, unsold food approaching its best-before date. It will help reduce the amount of food waste the country produces while also helping feed the country’s poor.
Google has been testing a new kind of Internet-delivery system out in New Mexico. Project Skybender would not only beam down Internet from the skies through solar-powered drones, but also provide speeds 40 times faster than 4G LTE.
In 30 million years, we’ll undergo star formation unlike anything else since before there were mammals on Earth. “Think about it this way — a boomerang goes out and comes back to you […]
A record number of American convicts were exonerated in 2015. Most of them were minorities, many mentally handicapped. A new report presents data that suggests there are hundreds (potentially thousands) of other innocent people behind bars in the United States.
How do you map a half-discovered country? You make up the other half!
SuitX, a robotics company out of California, is making it possible for the injured to walk again. Exoskeletons are the next step in health care technology, advancing medical science beyond wheelchairs.
How the biggest NASA mission of the decade will solve some of the Universe’s greatest mysteries. “Now the world has gone to bed,Darkness won’t engulf my head,I can see by […]
What’s the probability the moon landing was all one big hoax? David Robert Grimes has done the math, applying it to some of the most controversial conspiracy theories.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists worries technological advancements are going unchecked. The group asks that regulatory bodies be established to help assess and prevent risks.
European metropolises in the Netherlands and Denmark dominate the annual rankings of top bicycling cities, due mostly to major investment in cycling infrastructure. These cities’ dedication to bicycling leads to major environmental, economic, and health benefits. American cities such as Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon, have made major infrastructure improvements in recent years.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has decided to keep the Doomsday Clock’s hands at three minutes to midnight. It cites the impending climate change and risk of nuclear war as the primary reasons for keeping the clock where it is.
Artists such as Glenn Ligon still look to comedian Richard Pryor to make sense of the African-American experience.
The first of the three great NASA disasters — Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia — happened 49 years ago. Look back. “If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, […]
This year’s Winter X Games awarded medals to Halo 5: Guardians competitors and some professional athletes aren’t happy about it.
A report from the National Council on Teacher Quality has found teacher-training textbooks aren’t based in evidence.
Rural states dominate the list of those most dependent on the $43 billion firearm industry for jobs, tax revenue, political contributions, and gun ownership, a fact that could prove decisive for Bernie Sanders this month.
The Orion Nebula demonstrates the answer. “So numerous are the objects which meet our view in the heavens, that we cannot imagine a point of space where some light would not […]
Professional women are at a disadvantage due to what’s called “the confidence gap,” an idea popularized by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay. Shine is a new company that seeks to close that gap one text message at a time.
Democracy is happening like never before, and it’s exploiting our deepest fears and failures.
“If the election for U.S. president were held today, who would you vote for?” Response options included all of the Republican and Democratic candidates in the race at the time, along with options for “Other” and “I would not vote.”
Wading into the gun control debate, Facebook has announced it will restrict person-to-person sales of firearms on its platform.
On the map, the changing fortunes of French baby boys’ names look like battles in a weird, unreported war.