Search Results

Most fat cells are “white”, store excess energy and make it tough to lose weight. But mice’s white fat cells have been turned into energy burning brown fat cells. Humans could be next.

Whether there is a God or not, the universe per se cannot have a purpose in any anthropomorphic sense for which that term is usually employed, says Michael Shermer.

As I’ve said many times: If a teacher gets it, a classroom changes. If a principal gets it, the whole building begins to change. If a superintendent gets it, the […]

We’re now into the third day of the new eruption from Grímsvötn in Iceland. So far, the ash from the eruption has fallen only on Iceland and the North Atlantic […]

The tax breaks put into place by the 2009 Economic Recovery Act stimulated a sharp rise in news and consumer attention to a range of energy efficiency home improvements, providing […]

Reality is discouraging, unproductive, disconnected, and broken in about a dozen other ways. Meanwhile, electronic games are already “fulfilling genuine human needs.”

The Kentucky senator’s proposal would first roll back almost all federal spending to 2008 levels, then initiate reductions at various levels nearly across the board.

Yuval Levin, the most astute and imaginative of the Republican public intellectuals, has noticed that Democrats have stopped being progressive.  That means, from one view, they no longer believe that History (with […]

Goodbye, Mark. I don’t say this lightly. I am an extremely strong advocate for free speech and for open discussion. In 4+ years – and despite numerous wide-ranging and contentious dialogues here […]

Here are my notes from ISTE’s annual digital equity summit at NECC. There is too much information to fit in one post so I’m breaking it up… n Communications Industry: […]

So here’s a rare treat: The leading historian of our Founding (Gordon Wood) receives a thoughtful and sympathetic–but indirectly somewhat critical–review by our leading political scientific student of our Founding (James […]

GUEST POST BY JASON SILVA The spectacular think tank and apparel company The Imaginary Foundation states that “To Understand Is To Perceive Patterns”.  This seemingly simple sentence is actually utterly profound:  what it […]

Now, this may seem like I’m contradicting the opinion of the guest blogger last week. However, I’m not referring to the endless pursuit of rankings and grades. I’m meaning the […]

Forcing countries to agree to emissions caps will never work, argue Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger. Instead, they say, the focus should be on technology innovations.

Engineers at Cornell University have developed a form of turbine-free wind power called Vibro-Wind. 

n nLeave it to the New York Times to stir up the innovation pot with the provocative thesis that innovation is increasingly becoming the exclusive preserve of the techno-elite, notwithstanding […]

The 4th of July is as appropriate a time as any to reflect back on what makes America such a great nation of innovation. In many ways, it is the […]

Here are my notes from Day 1 of the World Technology Summit & Awards in New York City. My colleague at Iowa State, Dr. John Nash, and I have been […]

Stone Age people, unlike their Neandertal contemporaries, had heel bones spring-loaded for long runs, a new study suggests.

There is no single smoking gun as to what is behind the current snow storms. But, we have two theories. 

Getting over half a million hits on your very first post is every blogger’s dream. That’s what happened to Prof. William Cronon, a distinguished professor of American history at the […]

Paul Cézanne painted slowly. Very slowly. The fruit in his still lives would ripen and even rot as he worked. Hortense, first his mistress and later his wife, visibly suffers […]

The alternative energy craze is kicking into high gear. In fact, it’s starting to remind me of tales from the Middle Ages, when everyone sought to transform a substance like […]

n nIn the current issue of Portfolio magazine, former Intel CEO Andy Grove suggests that corporate behemoths – sometimes, but not always – may be better suited to disruptive innovation […]

Sometime during the next couple of years, there will likely be a fundamental shift (which) could lead to food and water shortages — and test our personal and community preparedness.

In their acclaimed book, Built to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras note that visionary companies set Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGs), bold mission statements that act as powerful mechanisms […]

A renewable energy startup is making deals that are attracting business. The company helps its clients to get photovoltaics on the roof without putting them on the books.

Creating clean energy jobs is the wrong way to undo the recession, says Forbes’ Mark Mills. Today’s energy infrastructure represents a minor section of the American economy.

Chris Guillebeau says: Many people believe that the key to an improved lifestyle is less work. I think it’s better work. I believe that most of us want to work hard, […]

This Friday, GE and the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will be hosting an event in New York City to explore how design thinking can help solve some of the world’s greatest […]