When the news hit that the U.S. had killed Osama bin Laden in northern Pakistan, analysts everywhere pointed out that he was no longer involved in Al Qaeda’s operations. Indeed, […]
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When it comes to greenhouse gases, it’s not what we make, it’s what we consume. The Economist recently published the results of a paper that was in The Proceedings of […]
As a die-hard chocolate lover, allow me to bring to your attention this great piece of pacakaging by typography creator and graphic designer from Budapest – Lilla Tóth. And if I […]
The divide between sleep and wakefulness may not be as clearcut as we thought. Recent research shows that in visibly awake rats, some areas of the brain’s cortex go “offline”.
Why does more education lead to less accurate beliefs? The answer returns us to the difference between rational voters (what we think we are) and rationalizing voters (what we really are).
Seniors who lose their jobs or retire voluntarily are likely to gain weight, become hypertensive and even develop depression, says professor of medicine at U.S.C., Katherine Schlaerth.
In a new study, U.C.L.A. life scientists report that veterans of war, rape victims and other witnesses to horrific crimes could have the traumatic memories that haunt them weakened in their brains.
Officials in one Boston suburb are the first to move beyond the traditional measure of success—economic growth—and track their citizens’ happiness as a measure of wellbeing.
The main thing I try to remember whenever I write a piece for this blog is to stay in control of the narrative. The narrative is not just an academic […]
One of the biggest debates inside the world of art criticism and scholarship is whether art, especially world art, can be understood without the idea of culture. In the debut […]
“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks”, says Jeff Hammerbacher, the researcher who laid the foundation for facebook’s precision advertising model. […]
Yuval Levin, the most astute and imaginative of the Republican public intellectuals, has noticed that Democrats have stopped being progressive. That means, from one view, they no longer believe that History (with […]
Spring has sprung in here in New York City, stripping off our layers of winter clothes. The eye falls with pleasure on a pair of pretty feminine legs in a […]
Spring has sprung in here in New York City, stripping off our layers of winter clothes. The eye falls with pleasure on a pair of pretty feminine legs in a […]
Here’s the trailer for The Bully Project, a new documentary on school bullying. This and Race to Nowhere are the two films for which I wish my school district would […]
Biochemist Dr. Simon Easterbrook-Smith says there is no difference between eating a tomato containing a GM protein from fish, for example, and eating an unmodified tomato with a piece of fish.
Scientists have found that certain fish with complex brain functions are evolving at a relatively quick rate—will humans’ similarly complex brains inspire new species to evolve?
An anticircumcision group in San Francisco is the latest to join the fray over the alleged health benefits of the practice by pushing for a ban—is it simply a barbaric procedure?
The Federal Trade Commission has finally released rules about how foods can (and can’t) be marketed to children—but some questions remain, such as how effective the voluntary regulations will be.
When Catherine Middleton walked down the aisle of Westminster Abbey on Friday—a willowy vision in white—her noticeably thinner frame sparked rumors that she was on the Dukan diet.
As a result of the economic downturn and the cancellation of the Constellation program, it’s now Shuttle Endeavor’s turn to take it’s last voyage into space. After a postponement of […]
At Miller-McCune magazine, Emily Badger discusses several key themes of the Climate Shift report, focusing on how the reaction from several bloggers connects to the findings of Chapter 4. The full article is worth a […]
Are teenagers easily distracted? Gary Stager weighs in: I reject the assumption that adolescents are easily distracted. Given the right project, topic and environment, young people have a remarkable capacity […]
Driving or walking down the street to a supermarket is not a problem for the majority of the United States. With this one action, most households are able to purchase […]
A new model for understanding human decision-making, called Deep Rationality, acknowledges the irrationality of human decision-making but suggests that it might be rooted in evolution.
It has been a busy week for me – mostly thanks to it being the last week of teaching the semester (ah yes, but there is still plenty exam-giving and […]
The co-founder of the web application firm discusses common pitfalls of starting a new business and the need to be flexible with your business model.
You’re about to hand laptops over to their 12– and 13–year-old children. What do you tell your school’s parents? Here are some excerpts from what Rob McCrae, ICT Director for the […]
The sixty four thousand dollar question this week is, “how long do we have to wait before Donald Trump and the rest of the inhabitants of Pale Nation, that stubborn […]
A positive outcome of global economic meltdown is that corporations are increasingly working together for social change, and many are harnessing social networks to do so.