March 4, 2014

Invention Ideas Throughout the Ages

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How different would the world be today if flexible glass was not banned by Caesar? The idea for flexible glass was mentioned in many sources dating back to the 1st century of ancient Rome.

See what other “dangerous” inventions throughout the ages are reported in this fascinating video from Hybrid Librarian.

Image credit: Ko: (char*) hook/Flickr

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Green abstract image with floating, glowing funnel-shaped objects and spherical wireframe shapes evokes a black hole universe, all set against a misty green background with ethereal light streaks.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Could our whole Universe be a black hole’s interior?

Once you cross a black hole’s event horizon, there’s no going back. But inside, could creating a singularity give birth to a new Universe?

Union soldiers in blue uniforms escort prisoners past a burning building with a large hole in the wall while smoke and flames rise, during the American Civil War.

Books

The rise and fall of John Wilkes Booth: America’s first celebrity assassin

Before becoming America’s most infamous assassin, John Wilkes Booth was a magnetic actor who was beloved by audiences and courted by critics.

A collage featuring an open book, a light source, and images of the moon captures post-AI wisdom, with the title "The Night Crawler" at the top.

Business

Creating wisdom infrastructure for the next 100 years

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A city skyline is reflected inside a single water droplet hanging from the tip of a metallic object against a gradient sky background.

The laboratory accident that saved 500 million lives

“Invention matters, but implementation matters more.”

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10 min

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with

Derek Thompson

Starts With A Bang

Why is “F = ma” still the most important equation in physics?

From high school through the professional ranks, physicists still take incredible lessons away from Newton’s second law.

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