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This semester, as part of the course on Science, the Environment and the Media at American University, four graduate students in the class have focused their group project on the […]
The first thing you hear from him is a complaint: He’s talking, but the other guy isn’t listening. The last thing he does is announce he’s not going to talk […]
The theory of “motivated reasoning” explains that our quick-fire emotions can set us on a course of thinking that’s highly biased, especially on topics we care a great deal about.
How about a lamp that provides you with free and environmentally friendly energy.. forever! All you have to do is water it. Literally. Soil Lamp is an invention of the […]
It is impossible for me to think about Easter without thinking about estrus – the peak of female sexuality that takes place when a woman is most fertile. It should […]
A month ago I wrote an article expressing my concern over whether the U.S. has a clear, achievable plan in Libya. I knew at the time that President Obama would […]
If you think about any of the most popular Internet start-ups that have appeared on the public radar within the past year, they all share one unique characteristic: they are […]
My favorite lines of Shakespeare have no poetry about them, and no style. They’re simple words, uttered in desperate circumstances. They remind that life is not, for the most part, […]
He calls himself a climate pragmatist and so therefore is less visible in the national media, yet Jonathan Foley is a rising star and important leader in the U.S. environmental […]
“Taxation without representation,” as James Otis said, “is tyranny.” But taxation with representation is just democratic government.
Over on Ryan Bretag’s blog, Matt Landahl said: I watch principals or superintendents who tweet or blog a lot, and often I wonder what they could be doing in their […]
It has been a couple weeks since I posted the USGS and Smithsonian Institute’s Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report – being busy with work every day for the […]
So the third suggestion of Hacker and Dreifus in HIGHER EDUCATION concerns avoiding PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism is easier than ever these days–thanks to the abundant resources on the web. And the ingenuity […]
When Moses came down from the mountain, he carried along stone tablets bearing The Ten Commandments—the definitive law of God. An equally definitive word has been passed down in the […]
People without a conscience don’t need to satisfy the drive to bond and can focus entirely on the drive to acquire, making them more likely to seek leadership positions.
Well the question becomes you know, do these people without conscience, let’s call them PWOC’s is a rather shorthand way for that. Talking about them getting into leadership positions and they probably get into them out of all proportion to a percentage often population, we estimate they maybe 2% to 4% of the population are such people. And we think they get into the leadership positions maybe 8% or 10% of the time, but you know, any percent is a mess because they can wreak havoc in exploiting other people. They probably get there more than others because it’s the only thing they’re looking for in life. You know we got normal people ha
People have been thinking strategically forever, but game theory as a real science dates back less than 100 years to the mathematician Joseph von Neumann.
“You put super in front of eruption and I don’t imagine it makes it better.” – FEMA Sec. Wendy Reiss in Supervolcano. This week in my Freshman Volcanoes class here […]
English Lessons is a new blog celebrating writing we love, and illuminating why we love it—and what we can learn from it. Poetry, fiction, editorials; Presidential speeches, classic texts, popular […]
With some training, good will and modern technology I think it is pretty safe to state that anyone of us can become really good at learning facts and therefore basically […]
Managing large numbers of personal computers represents a significant dollar amount on a company’s budget. Cloud computing may change all that as employees bring their own computer to work.
Yesterday, we passed the birthday of Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889). So let’s take a moment to reflect, something that becomes increasingly important as the memory of his infamous reign […]
We are living in an unprecedented era in which personal data about our digital identity, our online activity, our financial dealings, our geo-location and even our Social Graph – is widely available […]
The journal Nature ran a lead editorial today on the Climate Shift report: In just over six months’ time, officials from the world’s nations will meet under the auspices of […]
A brief update today on the activity at Taal in the Philippines. There has not been a significant change in the behavior of the caldera, with the latest PHIVOLCS update […]
With tuition spiraling upwards as the cost of learning paradoxically plummets, higher education is on an unsustainable course.
Like most people, I hate paying taxes. I’d love to keep all the money I earn, and receive government services for free. But I nevertheless have argued that if anything […]
UPDATE: Read the Nature editorial which dubs Climate Shift “essential reading for anyone with a passing interest in the climate debate.” Nature magazine has posted a news story about the […]
In a country referred to as “the worst place to be a child”, for five years now, Abraham “Abramz” Tekya has been using hip hop and breakdance to empower, rehabilitate, […]
Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Some of the most enthusiastic about the upcoming Royal Wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William are American friends of mine. We have already despatched […]
So the most honest and penetrating book I’ve read about American higher education in a long time is HIGHER EDUCATION: HOW COLLEGES ARE WASTING OUR MONEY AND FAILING OUR KIDS–AND […]