Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

Kudos, Dr. Watson!

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Bill Watson, Activities Director for the Urbandale (IA) Community School District, received his doctorate this evening from Iowa State University. As his doctoral advisor, I had the pleasure of ‘hooding’ Bill at Commencement.

Please extend your heartiest congratulations to Dr. Watson for successfully completing his doctoral program. Doctorates are always difficult and challenging journeys (particularly when your advisor is me!). Nice work, Bill!

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Person holding an open, empty brown wallet with both hands, outdoors.

The Past

The deep and enduring history of universal basic income

While the concept stretches back centuries, it has garnered significant attention in recent decades.

Health

The price of Silicon Valley’s obsession with immortality

After mammoth investments and two decades of anti-aging research, what do immortality proponents have to show for it?

The Present

The previous experience of every US president since Theodore Roosevelt

What qualifies someone for the top position in American government?

Health

Vets say marijuana treats PTSD, but their doctors can’t prescribe it

PTSD develops after a person experiences, or is a witness to, a life-threatening or traumatic event — a natural disaster, for example — or is exposed to combat, or sexual […]

Chatting with your Computer: How the iPhone’s Siri Compares with IBM’S Watson

Siri’s underlying technology is designed “to solve a different, simpler variant of the human language problem” than Watson.

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Guest Thinkers

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