Despite all the advice that author Bruce Feiler was given about ‘switching off’ and ‘unplugging’ during summer vacation, he found staying connected to the Web was a boon.
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Over the past week, Jonathan’s Card became one of the more fascinating online social experiments ever conducted in full public view. The basic premise was simple – a single individual […]
For the past several weeks I’ve had severely limited internet access thanks to Itisalat and TE Data (two of Cairo’s least helpful internet providers), which has been responsible for the […]
It turns out that the phrase “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” did not originate with Gloria Steinem, but rather was inspired by another phrase: […]
Two straight lines connect Glastonbury to Armageddon
What better topic at a conference full of carnivores than how to deal with people who think you’re completely off base, if not criminally insane?
The fires have been dampened, the tottering ruins of wrecked buildings have been demolished. Gradually people have begun going about their business. Touchingly many of those who took the brunt […]
It’s been raining and gloomy since Saturday night. I think the change of weather is nice. I don’t mind. But my brain does. And whether or not I know it, […]
There was some news over the weekend about steaming hills on the Pacific coast of California near Santa Barbara. Now, that might seem very surprising to many as there aren’t […]
The September issue of the American Journal of Public Health is now available online featuring 8 studies and articles by an interdisciplinary set of experts, each examining the health risks […]
Just like mechanical innovation in the 19th century, the still-evolving computing and communication innovations of the 21st century will profoundly impact the world’s economy.
It seems that the volcanoes of Indonesia are restless this August – and this weekend was no exception. Two volcanoes made the news as unrest reached levels high enough for […]
The global economy is heading into ‘a new danger zone’ that will require strong policy action to restore confidence says Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank.
Palestinian leaders will push ahead with a bid for statehood at the United Nations next month despite U.S. opposition and warnings that the move will endanger future peace talks.
The other day, the commercial where a cartoon turtle wondered how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop crossed my mind. Maybe this popped […]
In a multinational race to seize the potential riches of the formerly icebound Arctic being laid bare by global warming, Russia is soon expected to claim about 380,000 square miles.
China’s oil trade with Africa is dominated by an opaque syndicate. Ordinary Africans appear to do badly out of its hugely lucrative deals with governments in Angola and Zimbabwe.
After winning the Iowa straw poll and becoming the early leader for the GOP nod for the 2012 presidential race, Michele Bachmann (shown above, on the left) might be looking […]
There is an interesting discussion going on the in tech scene right now. Jeff Jarvis got the ball rolling by writing a post at Buzzmachine about the Jobless Future we […]
Of 271 people exonerated by D.N.A. evidence since 1992, around a quarter of people had confessed or pleaded guilty to the offences of which they were accused.
Creativity has recently decreased among American schoolchildren, says a recent study. Since 1990, children have become less able to produce unique and unusual ideas.
People who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows.
The whole of human behavior is often seen through the singular lens of the brain. We think the brain controls every aspect of life, which is a dangerous illusion says one neuroscientist.
With all of modern computing’s storage capacity, we are forgetting how to remember. We instead remember how to access information but is something uniquely human being lost?
ROBERT DE NEUFVILLE, my fellow BIG THINKER, has said I said I think raising taxes is never the right thing to do. His rhetorical strategy is to show all Republicans […]
Genome sequencing now costs less than $10,000, but some experts predict the price soon will drop below $1,000. How will this change medicine and how will it affect you?
Scientists have provided the first direct biological evidence for a genetic contribution to intelligence in humans. It will also enhance learning on how to maintain intellectual abilities.
A skin cancer group and advertising firm have used a spoof tanning product to trick 14,000 sun-worshippers into learning about the life-threatening effects of excess sun exposure.
Researchers have stumbled on a potential new treatment for ‘late’ asthma, which can occur several hours after exposure to allergens. Sensory nerve-blocking drugs are the key.
Scientists believe the discovery of fully-formed building blocks of DNA in meteorites suggests an extraterrestrial origin for some of the chemicals deemed necessary for organic life.