Our 10-day visit to Japan coincided with China surpassingJapan in the global economic rankings, a story which seemed to make a splash everywhere but in Japan. According to Waseda University […]
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I noted the moment when sales of Amazon’s Kindle outpaced the site’s hardcover sales. Now, only a short time later, two new significant events signal the end of book publishing […]
Quality news media inspire constructive debate and diffuse innovations. An example came yesterday as the New York Times spotlighted the trend toward open-review publishing, reinvigorating conversations about the topic across […]
There’s hardly anything more symbolic of an outdoor party or picnic than the red disposable plastic cup. But neither the aesthetic appearance nor the environmental impact of such disposable tableware […]
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lambert ruled that all federally funded research on human embryonic stem cells (hESC) is illegal. He reasoned as follows: If a human embryo […]
I guess the New Yorker is still trying to redeem itself for the notorious “The Politics Of Fear” cartoon cover during the 2008 presidential primary that depicted Barack Obama in […]
What happens to a child when Atlas Shrugged becomes a bedtime story? New satire at McSweeney’s: ‘Our daughter isn’t a selfish brat; your son just hasn’t read Atlas Shrugged’.
It’s not all about talent, says Jonah Lehrer at the Frontal Cortex. Log 10,000 hours of practice, get started at an early age, diversify your interests and live in a small population center.
“A study released Tuesday suggests that a new species of microbe is consuming the undersea plumes in the Gulf oil spill—perhaps more quickly than scientists anticipated.”
“Scientists have reacted with anger at a court ruling that strikes down Barack Obama’s decision to greatly expand medical research using stem cells taken from human embryos.”
Praise for Edward Hopper at the Whitney: “Hopper, if provincial, is powerfully so. He sets today’s conventions, in art and elsewhere, into relief. He enriches the American darkness.”
“Let us by all means make the ‘Ground Zero’ debate a test of tolerance. But this will be a one-way street unless it is to be a test of Muslim tolerance as well,” Hitchens says.
WEIRD stands for western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic. Though WEIRD people are a minority in global terms, they constitute the field of study for most psychological research.
How can government protect you from your own harmful desires like gambling and drinking? New ‘self-exclusion’ policies allow people to plan ahead for those moment of impulse.
Bill Gates says the government should do more R&D in the energy sector, that a Manhattan Project for sustainable energy won’t work and that a carbon tax is necessary.
Twenty inventions will compete for a prize of $30,000 at the design competition sponsored by British inventor James Dyson. A life raft that makes saltwater potable is in the running.
The specter of $10 is lurking in the corners of the startup industry. The figure is common to two aspects of the website business. As I wrote about earlier, blog […]
When I wrote last week about the fact that all California state employees have to sign a loyalty oath, a reader took issue with the picture I posted of school […]
Power in politics turns on being able to simultaneously control attention to an issue while also defining the terms of debate. A golden rule is to define yourself and your […]
Let them build it. Is this what the rationalists want us to say? Let them build it. These four words counter the one, more emotional one—never—echoing across anger from the […]
The perils of plastic are nothing new to most of us. A lesser-known fact, however, is that plastic has a higher energy value than just about any other type of […]
The other shoe has dropped in Harvard’s investigation into allegations of scientific misconduct by Marc Hauser, the cognitive psychologist. Harvard announced last week that it had found Hauser responsible for […]
The rate of change in our culture is increasing—and in order to compete, businesses need to increase their rate of change as well, says management guru John Kotter. In his […]
I am proud to announce that the second season of “Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible,” debuts next Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 9 pm, on the Science Channel (check […]
We are currently in the midst of earth’s “sixth great extinction.” For the past 10,000 years, existing species have been dying out faster than new species have been evolving, say […]
In a series of posts over at Scientific American’s blog CrossCheck, John Horgan describes how several recent articles and books have prompted him to re-evaluate his views on nuclear energy. […]
Amid questions over U.K. taxpayer money spent on sex services for the disabled, Naomi Jacobs rejects the “myth” that the disabled need to exploit prostitutes to have sex.
New research once again shows that the poor are not only more generous than those wealthier and they are also more charitable, trusting and helpful.
“Disney has a long history of dress policies and is within its rights in restricting where a restaurant worker can wear a hijab,” says the L. A. Times in an editorial.
“There’s a reason we’re fighting to keep this unretouched image of Aniston on our website. And it’s not just because we like her freckles.” Jezebel on the impact of for retouching.