Frank Thadeusz looks at whether the lack of copyright law — and resulting wider dissemination of scientific discoveries — laid the foundation for Germany’s industrial might.rn
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Much of excellent teaching involves intangibles but if data can show that some teachers are far better than others, the public should know, argues Op-Ed editor Sue Horton.
Mikhail Lyubansky doesn’t condone crime but feels compassion for those who rape or kill. He says being kind to the cruel does not imply cruelty for those deserving kindness.
Europe and North America may underestimate or trivialise its significance, but the emergence of an independent Latin America is helping reshape the global order.
The 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, instead it will be built on cities rather than states, predicts Parag Khanna, author of “How to Run the World”.
Promiscuity is an interesting subject. There was a time, in the United States at least, when there was a pronounced double-standard about “sleeping around”: women who had many sex partners […]
When Sting sang “Young teacher/the subject/of school-girl fantasy,” it may well have been that he was thinking about an English teacher in a certain place and time, having been one […]
On the road from Korea’s world-class Incheon airport, across the spectacular eight-mile long humpback bridge to the landmark new Songdo International Business District development, we encountered a heavy fog that reminded […]
At NPR today, writer Mia Mask argues that Eat, Pray, Love follows on the heels of Sex and the City as Hollywood’s latest return to Orientalism. Coined by the writer […]
According to the Voyager Interstellar Mission Web site, on June 28th of this year, Voyager 2 completed 12,000 days of continuous operation since its launch on August 20th, 1977. Each […]
“I don’t want to be married anymore,” writes Elizabeth Gilbert about the start of her pre-life crisis. “I don’t want to live in this big house. I don’t want to […]
“No vows for now,” read the headline in the San Francisco Chronicle. Tuesday night a three judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of […]
More signs of a shift in society towards time and space that is unplugged: Cafes are attracting customers by banning Wi-Fi access. “People come here because we don’t offer it. […]
Front-lighting technology similar to Amazon’s Kindle will eventually be standard on computers and up-coming e-devices, meaning the computer display currently burning holes in your eyes won’t last forever. The problem […]
Apple carved its way as a formidable innovator in everything from UI design to the app economy. Now, they’re taking the lead on materials innovation. The company recently acquired an […]
Erik Olin Wright, a professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, thinks providing free transportation would reduce traffic and pollution, and create more efficient labor markets.
“Software should always be free because all users of software deserve freedom,” says Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project, and a longtime activist. But […]
How ironic is it that the FOX News where Sean Hannity has been howling about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wanting “Sharia law” to replace our existing laws is the very […]
Earlier today, in response to Sheril Kirshenbaum’s query at Discover’s Intersection blog, I spotlighted the key influence of opinion-leaders on energy related behavior. As a follow up, let’s take a […]
Director of the Washington office of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Haris Tarin tells of the tolerant America his late immigrant father cherished, a tolerant America that is crumbling.
In an effort to gather data and make facilities more entertaining, some museums have deployed stealth observers to document patron reactions to how exhibitions are laid out.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt says that public figures of the future will have to contend with their own Facebook party photos. Should we expect name changes en masse as a solution?
Over at Discover magazine’s terrific Intersection blog, Sheril Kirshenbaum asks readers: “How might we shift public attitudes to be less wasteful and save energy on a massive scale?” A major […]
“A slowdown or double-dip recession could put entrepreneurs to the test.” The Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Belmont University suggests strategies for surviving.
While the Taliban’s recent proposal to form a joint human rights committee is highly suspect, it does raise questions about how to count civilian casualties and equally how to prevent them.
“That early childhood experiences mould our adult sexual preferences—specifically, what turns us on and off, however subtle or even unconscious these biases may be—could be run-of-the-mill.”
A new study exposes public myths of energy conservation, such as turning off lights and hanging clothes up to dry. In reality, making machines more efficient saves more energy.
A new book that challenges the extent to which natural selection explains evolution has been attacked by biologists even though the book’s authors do not contest evolution itself.
A new contraception pill to be marketed as ‘Ella’, which can be taken several days after intercourse to prevent pregnancy, has been called ‘completely unethical’ by one gynecologist.
“Growth is different from consumerism,” says former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Properly defined, growth is a measure of society’s well-being, not a code word for exploitation.