Science is often awkward and frustratingly uncertain and mindbogglingly complicated. It is also what enriches our lives.
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If you thought the Internet of Things was a big idea, what about an Internet that connects humans with apes, elephants and dolphins? In what has to be one of the most […]
This according to a Carnegie Mellon University study, which is one of the first to document the evolution of information sharing over an extended time period.
If you’re a tennis fan, and a fan of Rafa Nadal in particular, the last seven months probably felt like the period in rock n’ roll history in which Elvis was in the Army.
A map compiled by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance shows about 340 communities with publicly-owned Internet service networks. Interestingly, the largest of those is Chattanooga, TN.
New data shows Americans haven’t a clue how stunningly massive the wealth gap in their country really is.
Those who use smartphones and tablets are still expected to pay the tax — which is mandatory for all TV owners — if they’re accessing content normally found on TV.
Over at “Mind Matters”, my fellow blogger David Berreby offers an intriguing post Is Individual Liberty Over-Rated about some some new discussion of an old theme that I also […]
It was only a matter of time, really: Security specialists say criminals are getting closer to large-scale distribution of viruses and other bad code onto mobile devices.
There are many things we can criticise the US for, but freedom of speech is not (at present) one of them. The US not only have the valuable First Amendment rights […]
1. Every Big Idea Was First A Crazy Idea Fred Guterl, executive editor of Scientific American, does a nice job of highlighting some of the crazy ideas presented at this year’s TED […]
Santiago’s Espacio Siestario is the first business of its kind in a country where the traditional afternoon nap has gone the way of the rotary telephone.
One of the biggest misconceptions about post-rational behavioral research is that its effects on society are small. From the news you get the impression “behavioral economics” is all about changing […]
Since 2010, when a local man became his country’s first competitive Olympic skier, more young people in the snowy Naltar Valley are taking advantage of training provided by the military.
The video below is a new public service announcement from the US FDA on the risks of drinking grapefruit juice when taking medication. We’ve known for over a couple of […]
According to Celebrity Apprentice star Penn Jillette, Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow could double as a producer’s handbook for reality television.
The country’s electoral commission distributed over 9 million copies of a popular comic book containing pledge forms for parents to sign.
1. Are Intelligent Machines a Threat to ‘Human Exceptionalism’? “Is it time to take seriously the prospect of artificial intelligence emulating human abilities?” Yes, says Ray Kurzweil in his book How to Create a […]
I was reading about “the nasty effect” that Internet comments have on an original article. A summary at Gawker (in case you don’t have a New York Times subscription) details […]
Many years later it dawned on me that what I wanted to be when I was 14 was “erudite.” I should have known the word back then, as I had […]
“The latest fashion… is absolutely necessary for a painting,” artist Édouard Manet announced in 1881. “It’s what matters most.” When most people think of Impressionism, they may think of flowers, […]
In the past 18 months, the country has added an extra tax to certain packaged foods in an attempt to curb what some see as a public health crisis.
In addition to limiting how much executives and directors can make, the new referendum includes prison time and fines for “golden parachutes” and similar bonuses.
Far from the aloof practitioner of new-age feel-good solutions, viewing dilemmas as opportunities rather than life-crushing problems—in a word, being optimistic—has real benefits.
The tongue-in-cheek phrase “There’s an app for that” is symptomatic of a more worrying social trend, says author and critic of philanthropic technology, Evgeny Morozov.
Researchers were surprised to find that fruit flies were given to impulsive eating patterns, similar to humans who will eat more of a food if it contains large amounts of sugar and fat.
Psychologists have observed that children who have a realistic—not inflated—understanding of how they are seen by others tend to be more resilient and less crest-fallen later on.
Engineers have improved on the original and groundbreaking brain-computer interface by creating a wireless device that has successfully been implanted into the brains of monkeys and pigs.
One of cartography’s most persistent myths: mapmakers of yore, frustrated by the world beyond their ken, marked the blank spaces on their maps with the legend Here be monsters. It’s […]
The state of Colorado, one of the first in the country to legalize the general use of marijuana, is now facing a dilemma over how, and whether, to criminalize driving under its influence.