Rick Field left a successful career in television to become a pickle entrepreneur. Seven years later, his Rick’s Picks are carving out a mini cultural niche of their own in the American culinary landscape.
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Does a wandering mind make you less happy than a present mind? This question formed the basis of an important study by psychologists from Harvard University. The answer, I wasn’t surprised to find, is yes. Absolutely.
If families who make $250,000 a year are not considered to be rich, then how the hell can a teacher who makes less than $60,000 a year to educate our […]
Two new studies propose potential spacecraft missions that would collide with asteroids in an attempt to deflect them away from our planet. Such missions may be our best hope.
Reflecting N.A.S.A.’s shift from lunar exploration to an asteroid visit, astronauts, engineers and scientists are testing four landing scenarios this week in Arizona’s northern desert.
Unless engineers understand why a Russian rocket meant to carry supplies to the International Space Station crashed last week, the station will be empty come November.
Mexico’s Popocatépetl always gets people’s attention – this is thanks to its proximity to Mexico City. Whenever you juxtapose an active volcano with one of the world’s most populous cities, […]
Scientists say our galaxy would have burned out long ago if it depended exclusively on its own resources to generate new stars. So what keeps the lights on across the universe?
After building a simulation, N.A.S.A. scientists think they understand how solar eruptions can trigger other explosions thousands of kilometres away on the other side of the Sun.
Far too many people are walking around with their heads immersed in their tiny mobile devices, or communicating affectionately with their tiny smart phones while out in public with perfectly […]
The Social Security program, Rick Petty reiterated the other day, is “a Ponzi scheme for these young people.” The notion that Social Security pensions will be available for today’s younger […]
Carl Scott is probably the blogworld’s leading expert on the content of rock music (both words and music). He calls that content, once in a while, its ideological dimension. Carl both is […]
I’m hungry. I head to the fridge—but first, I shake my head and say mournfully to myself, there’s nothing to eat. I’m not looking forward to the process of choosing […]
Amanda Marcotte, Matt Yglesias, and Atrios are debating the concept of “guilty pleasures” in pop culture. Here’s my theory of what guilty pleasures are. For people my age, taste is […]
On September 18, Jane Goodall will be hosting a town meeting on international peace at American University in Washington, D.C. Details are below from a web story at the School […]
The use of social networks has became increasingly complicated over time. In the beginning, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were all basically closed networks of early adopters and therefore filters were […]
The few items I’ve seen in the last couple of days about a possible national refinance stimulus plan look an awful lot like the other trial balloons the Obama Administration […]
Probably not. But the virtual currency bitcoin could be a real alternative to government-issued money—only if it survives hoarding by speculators, says James Surowiecki.
Mark Gorton, perhaps best known for founding the peer-to-peer service LimeWire, wants to use technology to create bicycle sharing programs and make cities more livable places.
At the year’s biggest annual television conference, Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was invited as the keynote speaker. He explained his vision for a hybrid TV-Internet industry of the future.
I originally had this information in today’s first post, but it likely deserves it’s own post, so here it is. Eruptions reader Martin pointed out an new report (Indonesian) from […]
The start of the semester always surprises me. No matter how much I think I might be prepared for it, the first day of class ends up being a maelstrom. […]
A new project organized by search-engine providers Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo promises to improve Semantic Web adoption by building a standard set of data specifications.
In a study of recent protests across the Arab world, Yale researcher Navid Hassanpour found that crowds became more active when access to social media was cut by the government.
The economic crisis is proving useful for those who want to see the European Union make the final and logical leap to becoming a unitary state, with a single currency […]
While satellites and infrastructure crumble, we are also witnessing an explosion in space tourism that is exposing the gap between the Haves and Have-Nots in space.
“[This is] really a most imaginative way not just to map, but also to empower,” writes Thomas Theis Nielsen of the HarassMap, which plots the incidence of various types of […]
In the wake of the Dr. King Memorial kerfuffle, I’ve been thinking more and more of how public art is a state of mind as much as a physical thing […]
Interesting fact about Alan Krueger, Obama’s pick to head the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan B. Krueger. His research showed that raising the minimum wage doesn’t destroy minimum wage jobs, […]
What’s the Big Idea? Larry Summers, Eric Schmidt, Skip Gates, Dean Kamen, Rahm Emanuel, Craig Venter and many other thought-leaders and innovators will convene on Nantucket this Fall. Those are […]