For clients willing to pay large sums, Videogame Adventure Services will construct “adventure games” which blurs real life with fictitious romances and car chases.
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As wealth increases, the choices of adults play a much smaller role in determining the mental ability of their children. Parents may think they’re sculptors, but the clay is mostly set.
In the information age, brainy people are rewarded with wealth and influence, says The Economist. But what does this mean for everyone else?
On Wednesday, Republicans and a handful of Democrats in the House voted to repeal last year’s health care reform bill. Repeal won’t get pass the Senate—although Republicans insist the vote […]
Is evidence of shorter sentences—or no sentences at all—evidence of shallower emotions? “A kind of death of the sentence by collective neglect,” is how Adam Haslett puts it.
Ronald Reagan would have been 100 on February 6. If they had a cure for Alzheimer’s, you know he would have made it. Health-obsessed Americans today (disproportionally sophisticated liberals) should at least look to Reagan for longevity tips.
Gabrielle Giffords reminds me of Phineas Gage, a nineteenth century railroad worker who survived being pierced cleanly through the brain by a thirteen pound iron bar. In both cases, the victim’s core brain functions remained relatively unscathed.
For many in the Labour Party, the promotion of Ed Balls to Shadow Chancellor was as inevitable as it was long overdue. I was among many party members who argued […]
New research finds that lifting weights can augment brain functions. Imagine what someone like Einstein might have accomplished if he had occasionally gone to the gym.
The Supreme Court should reject AT&T’s claim that it should be shielded in a case involving the FCC and the Freedom of Information Act, says an L.A. Times editorial.
A long-term retreat in snow and ice cover in the Northern Hemisphere is weakening the ability of these seasonal cloaks of white to reflect sunlight back into space and cool global climate.
Patti Smith became a rock star by accident—it made her an icon. She wrote a book—it won a major award. Now, with an album on the way and a U.K. tour, she’s as driven as ever.
From Viagra and saccharine to penicillin and x-rays, science and serendipity often go hand in hand. Here are seven accidental discoveries that changed the world.
Some researchers have explored whether warfare might be explained in part by swings in climate. But what about the opposite effect? Can humanity’s skirmishes change the climate?
The act of writing helps you clarify your thoughts, remember things better, and reach your goals more surely than typing on a computer. Is the pen truly mightier than the keyboard?
The evidence is all around us that Americans are struggling—and often failing—to uphold their preferred desires. New precommitment devices oblige you to protect your long-term interests.
Environmental protection often comes at the expense of the world’s poorest people, who struggle to meet their subsistence needs. Can we expect to find a balance?
A new two-part study published in the journal Energy Policy claims it’s possible and affordable for the world to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.
To borrow a phrase fromBilly Idol, Dijkstra presents “flesh for fantasy” first as the nightmare of Puritanism and, more hopefully, as the perhaps impossible dream of a mature, open society.
President Obama’s numbers are up. After averaging less than 47% percent approval for his second year in office, Obama’s approval is now up to 50% again. By an 8 point […]
Many kids are vaccinated at age two; some kids start displaying autistic behavior at the same age. “Evidence” that there’s a connection has turned out to be bogus.
The miraculous recovery of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has focused attention on the advances in treatment for brain injuries previously thought to be non-survivable. Tack one up for military medicine.
Engineers at Cornell University have developed a form of turbine-free wind power called Vibro-Wind.
Collaborative Fund is a new kind of investment fund that bridges the disconnect between doing good and doing well in business, providing the financial foundation for creativity and innovation that will shape our shared future.
The modern world may have been inaugurated with the thought that we can and should make ourselves happy in this world. No longer should we be, as St. Augustine wrote, […]
A few weeks ago when I blogged about a social-psych study that found people have more empathy when they feel low in status, I wasn’t aware how much work is being done on the rich-asshole problem in social science.
Is the search industry locked in a race to the bottom or are conditions ripe for a breakthrough? This question will take center stage at a gathering in San Francisco on February 1, to be webcast on BigThink.com.
We all know people who have remarkable self-control. How do they do it? What’s the secret? It’s partly genetic, but to control yourself you must also control your environment.
Now, more than at any time, Americans need to be reminded what a great country America has been and still is.
A year ago this week, the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to limit in any way the amount of money corporations can spend on attack ads. What’s happened since?