Politics & Current Affairs — April 26, 2010

Palin’s Take

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has amassed a $12 million fortune in the past year. She is “a singular national industry,” writes Gabriel Sherman.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has amassed a $12 million fortune in the past year. She is “a singular national industry,” writes Gabriel Sherman. “No one else has rolled politics and entertainment into the same scintillating, infuriating, spectacularly lucrative package the way Palin has or marketed herself over multiple platforms with the sophistication and sheer ambitiousness that Palin has shown, all while maintaining a viable presence as a prospective presidential candidate in 2012.”

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

A wooden box filled with assorted old black-and-white photographs and postcards.

Neuropsych

What makes a memory real?

Changing the narrative on false memories might be surprisingly simple.

A large telescope is housed inside an observatory dome, surrounded by people.

Starts With A Bang

Starts With A Bang podcast #110 – Optical Interferometry

Interferometry gave us a black hole’s event horizon, but that was in the radio. What can we accomplish with a new optical interferometer?

Two Guy Fawkes masks in a pixelated, digital art style with one mask smiling and the other frowning, set against a dark background with faint green patterns.

The Future

Will AI supercharge hacking — if it hasn’t already?

Hackers are in an arms race with cyber defenders. Will AI tip the balance?

Collaged image of text and a black-and-white scene with a dinosaur and mountainous backdrop. The year "1950" is visible in the bottom left corner.

The Past

How the search for dinosaurs on Venus exposed a warning for Earth

Dinosaurs and other beasts were once thought to be the “undisputed masters” of Venus.

Three versions of a buttercup flower: left is yellow in visible light, middle is pinkish in ultraviolet, and right is colorless in infrared—a glimpse into the diverse sensory umwelt surrounding us.

Business

How “umwelt” can make you more creative and productive

If you’re out on a walk, you will see a different world than your dog, a bee, or an ant. Here are three reasons why that matters.

Up Next

Technology & Innovation

Racking Up I.O.U.s

“Too much debt is always dangerous,” write Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. It’s dangerous when the government is borrowing from foreign governments, as well as when it does from its own citizens.