If you remember, I’ve decided to “celebrate” the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War by remembering failures of Southern and Confederate statesmanship. My first post affirmed the […]
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[cross-posted at the TechLearning blog] [Law students learn to argue both sides of any issue because as attorneys they may be hired for either side of a case. Knowledge of […]
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of what astronomers believe may be the oldest galaxy ever seen—over 13 billion years old!
[cross-posted at the TechLearning blog] nn I’m going to do something I’ve never done before as a blogger: resurrect an old post. Over the past few months I’ve read all […]
Dear Will, In less than two weeks you’ll be here in Iowa. We’re excited to have you visit. We’ve got an eager bunch of state leaders awaiting your insights. Just […]
1. The study of great books is usually contrasted with the use of textbooks and other technical books. It is contrasted, in other words, with study of the studies that […]
Released just yesterday, Physics of the Future is my most ambitious book to date. Based on interviews with over three hundred of the world’s top scientists, who are already inventing the […]
[This is a guest post from Doug Green. If you’re interested in being a guest blogger, drop me a note. Happy reading!] Update: see also Don Watkins’ response to this […]
It’s plain to see that I’m an optimist, sometimes more than is socially comfortable. The ease with which I dismiss the disastrous economic decline above serves as one example of that. I wrote that the recession will benefit our political system, and, before I cut this line, as having “rewarded our company for methodical execution and ruthless efficiency by removing competitors from the landscape.” I make no mention of the disastrous effects on millions of people, and the great uncertainty that grips any well-briefed mind, because it truly doesn’t stand in the foreground of my mind (despite suffering personal loss of wealth).
Our species is running towards a precipice with looming dangers like economic decline, political unrest, climate crisis, and more threatening to grip us as we jump off the edge, but my optimism is stronger now than ever before. On the other side of that looming gap are extraordinary breakthroughs in healthcare, communications technology, access to space, human productivity, artistic creation and literally hundreds of fields. With the right execution and a little bit of luck we’ll all live to see these breakthroughs — and members of my generation will live to see dramatically lengthened life-spans, exploration and colonization of space, and more opportunity than ever to work for passion instead of simply working for pay.
Instead of taking this space to regale you with the many personal and focused changes I intend to make in 2009, let me rather encourage you to spend time this year thinking, as I’m going to, more about what we can do in 2009 to positively affect the future our culture will face in 2020, 2050, 3000 and beyond.
The bottle of wine you and your partner shared last night didn’t kill a single neuron in your head and, contrary to what you’ve been told, you are always using […]
Because of their biochemical makeup, women are better than men are at managing risk. As a result, female equity managers yield higher returns for their clients and are better at navigating downturns.
nn I have never had to leave my home in an evacuation from a natural disaster. I’ll put that out there right now. So, I might not fully understand the […]
My quick summary reaction to Bill Broad’s provocativeNY Timesarticle surveying a few scientists and social scientists’ opinions on Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth:1) Just like in politics generally, science-related blogs can […]
Tuesday marks the 30th anniversary of the historic eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington – and Eruptions readers share their memories on the blast that captivated the world.
Alan Boyle, the science editor for MSNBC.com, answers our questions about science, the mainstream media and the fallout of the Chilean earthquake coverage.
When I was a child and decided to become a physicist, I never dreamed that I would be traveling all over the world with a TV film crew, or lecturing […]
Do you frequent porn sites? If you do, you’ll be pleased to know that you are a customer of one of the most tech-savvy industries in the world. It’s a […]
On Slate’s XX Factor blog, Hanna Rosin argues that “Jihad Jane” (aka Colleen LaRose) is a feminist because she’s part of a cohort of female terrorist wannabes who have been […]
Preter-Natural Leadership Success Tenets By Andres Agostini (Andy)
The economic pinch making it harder to make ends meet and you know what that means. Crime is back in vogue! And while bad people are doing bad things all […]