Tomorrow, February 21, will mark the last day of President Ali Abdullah Salih’s nearly 34 years in power, at least officially. In his place, Yemenis will head to the polls […]
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First, a big and heartfelt thanks to all of you who have continued to check Waq al-waq over the past few months as I’ve struggled to overcome several technical issues. […]
Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year, reports the Associated Press. At $3.53 a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say […]
This lovely Hanif Kureishi piece on the often misguided drive to tame the wandering mind struck a chord with me. This is familiar: My son, who can skip and sing, […]
Dr. Craig Bowron has done as much as anyone to explain why we’re all about exaggerating what medical science and the coming biotechnology can possibly do to extend particular lives. […]
Internships and mid-career opportunities are increasingly present in Latin-America as the region’s economic growth has proven stable throughout the global recession.
The constant tug-of-war between governmental bodies over environmental policy, and industry’s endless stream of legal challenges, create substantial economic waste.
Despite the homogenizing effect of globalization, many large cities retain their unique character. Indeed, cities can enact meaningful change when national governments will not.
A new study says that children acquire a sense of fairness before they reach the age of two. An equal distribution of resources according to effort is innate and universal, say researchers.
New research published in a scientific journal which measures the psychological and behavioral effects of social media suggests that Facebook makes us happier and more creative individuals.
Neuroscientists have used quantum dots—light-sensitive, semiconducting particles just a few nanometers in diameter—to stimulate neurons which have been damaged by disease or age.
Scientists at UCLA have found that running a mild electric current through the brain’s hippocampus improves memory function. The finding could contribute to Alzheimer’s research.
This week I came across an interesting study by Latitude Research via the MindShift Blog. In collaboration with LEGO® Learning Institute and Project Synthesis, Latitude asked children from across the […]
The insistence of parents, teachers and physicians that children be concentrated fully and absolutely on their school work is a corruption of values, says playwright Hanif Kureishi.
Twin Brothers in Almost Lifelong Relationship Though I don’t read “Dear Prudence” letters, I was struck by a recent headline on Slate (which I do read). ‘Brotherly Love: My twin […]
It was pretty big of the Houston family to let the world, via television camera, into Whitney Houston’s home going celebration, one of the most personal, most heartrending processes any […]
There’s been an alarming spike in lethal shark attacks on sea otters by sharks off California’s Central Coast, and no one seems to know why. While attacks by sharks — […]
In the past month, the debate over whether to legalize gay marriage has become front page news due to legislative battles in Washington, New Hampshire, New Jersey and now Maryland. The issue only promises to […]
The way we diagnose depression is changing, in the laboratory and the clinic. New blood tests measure depression’s biomarkers while new diagnostic guidelines say grief is the same as depression.
Proteins which form part of the immune system change according to the time of day. Our 24-hour body-clock may soon become an important factor in administering medical treatments.
This week, NOAA’s Climate Service and Climate Watch magazine launched a video short course and lecture series featuring a diversity of world class experts explaining the major scientific, social, and […]
Inspired by the body’s own immune system, Harvard researchers have engineered a nanorobotic device that can deliver molecular instructions to cancer cells, ordering suicide.
There is a prevailing conception that students must learn facts and procedural knowledge BEFORE they can then engage in so-called ‘higher-order’ thinking skills. Educators, parents, policymakers, online commentators, and others […]
A British company has announced it will release a small gene sequencing device the size of a USB stick which plugs into a laptop computer to deliver its sequencing results.
A new microchip implanted under the skin has shown promise in treating diseases which require regular injections of medication. Doctors are calling the achievement the dawn of ‘telemedicine’.
In an interview last year,Focus on the Family head Jim Daly seemed toconcede that same-sex marriage would be legal sooner or later. As Iwrote earlier this week, that’s because younger […]
Some of the world’s most innovative organizations gathered this week in Washington to discuss the new paradigm of innovation and why it is no longer an ethereal pursuit.
In a new book, John Horgan argues that humans didn’t begin to fight with each other until 10-12,000 years ago. Horgan seeks a scientific explanation for how humans became lethal through culture, not biology, and how we can choose to end it.
Many thoughtful, sensitive people are mature enough to have pierced the romantic illusion and seen through its “promise of perfection” for themselves. The question is, are we spiritually mature enough yet to accept the implications of what we have already seen?
Creating a good team of employees requires more than treating them like worker bees. The best businesses are learning to engage their employees just like they engage their best customers.