It is a dirty little secret that even great companies have to fire the people who do not work out. It does not seem gracious or nice. But that can leave a false impression.
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In embracing a victims-and-villains explanation of the recession, Americans are missing important lessons about the future of the U.S. economy, says Robert Samuelson.
The continental game of bumper cars known as plate tectonics is part of a global recycling system crucial to maintaining long-term temperature constancy—and giving rise to life.
Last week Seth Mnookin, author of the Panic Virus, kicked off the inaugural event in the new Science in Society Film and Lecture series at American University, sponsored by the […]
The massive droughts in China underscore the fact that we’re simply running out of the freshwater needed to sustain the earth’s nearly 7 billion people. How can we fix this problem?
Theoretically, there could be people and planets made out of antimatter rather than matter, but where are they?
With federal judges retiring at the rate of one a week—and being replaced nowhere near that fast—101 of the 854 seats on district and circuit courts are currently vacant. Can democrats and republicans make nice and fill this gap?
As I read the news today of an alleged US drone crashing and members of AQAP making off with the wreckage, I was reminded of the part in Lawrence Wright’s […]
As WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appears in court in London today in connection with sexual assault charges, Nobel prize-winning economist Michael Spence discusses the real costs that WikiLeaks could inflict on society.
“My beard points to heaven, and I feel the nape of my neck on my hump,” Michelangelo wrote in a poem about his experience painting the ceiling of the Sistine […]
While there are currently two dozen apps on the market designed to help people quit smoking, a new study says none of this software is likely to do the job.
Some news for today: Taiwan: Most people don’t realize that the island of Taiwan has potentially active volcanoes. One such volcanic center is the Datun (as known as Tatun) Group, […]
Physics are nothing but the laws of harmonies on a string, and the universe is a symphony.
My fellow BIG THINK blogger, Mark Seddon, has written that Glenn Beck is “Goebbels” or a Fascist or Nazi rousing the masses up in a dangerous, murderous way. Palin and the Tea […]
Though they may not admit it explicitly, most string theorists have given up on the idea of a Unified Theory of Everything.
Are the revelations promised by string theory’s quest for the “Theory of Everything” leading physics in the wrong direction?
The competitiveness pact put forward by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy to end the crisis is ambitious, but threatens the social traditions of most European countries, warns El País.
How and why the Pentagon embraced the once-dreaded business of nation-building, and the “tectonic shift” that this new mission portends for American foreign policy.
Official groups and allied militia, frequently attack dissidents. It has now happened in Egypt. The most important Facebook page for the protests is being flooded with abusive comments.
Reality is discouraging, unproductive, disconnected, and broken in about a dozen other ways. Meanwhile, electronic games are already “fulfilling genuine human needs.”
What happens to those chimps? Major ad agencies have pledged not to use great apes. Why won’t CareerBuilder?
This incredible culture that seemed to be able to control the senses in a way through the architecture, through the features of Chavín, and these Strombus shell trumpets.
The matriarch of modern cancer genetics doubts her career would be possible today: “I was doing observationally driven research. That’s a kiss of death if you’re looking for funding today.”
Why AOL’s purchase of the Huffington Post is causing such intense media interest. Part of Huffington Post’s success was its position outside the establishment.
So what do you do? Do you respond to their bizarre, inane and frequently offensive attention seeking bombast, or do you deny them the oxygen of publicity? In Britain last […]
“I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t.”rnIn this profile, film director Paul Haggis talks about his departure from Scientology.
Researchers discovered that levels of a molecule called neuropeptide Y (NPY) directly relate to whether we have a “glass half empty” or “glass half full” attitude towards life.
Around 2012, the sun’s magnetic cycle will reach its peak, increasing the chances of massive magnetic storms that could wipe out the satellites that govern GPS, television streams, and even the Internet.