10 video games to help kids think big

We found 10 video games that kids will love (and they'll secretly be learning, too).

  • Educational video games endure a gimcrack reputation for being boring.
  • We list 10 games that can help players learn and may improve their cognitive skills.
  • The American Psychological Association recognizes other benefits to playing video games, including social and motivational.
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Charles Koch Foundation
Charles Koch Foundation

How does academic freedom change society for good?

Even the most controversial research conducted by scholars can impact cultures and drive progress.

Videos
  • Academic freedom is, at the same time, absolutely critical and underappreciated.
  • This protection drives innovation and progress, but do we take it for granted? Scholars' ability to conduct controversial research impacts culture and society in a positive way.
  • The opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the Charles Koch Foundation, which encourages the expression of diverse viewpoints within a culture of civil discourse and mutual respect.
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Want to improve your office? Stop being so bossy.

A variety of structures exist to both treat employees with more respect and increase productivity.

  • People love freedom but spend most of their day in a place where they are devoid of power, at work.
  • There are a variety of ways to organize an enterprise that give workers influence over the workplace.
  • Studies have found time and again that giving workers dignity, influence, and decent conditions pays off.
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Defining values is one thing, living them is another

This is how companies can better align with the values they claim to uphold.

  • Defining corporate values is increasingly important to organizations and society—which is why consulting firms are making millions of dollars helping organizations define their values. What we're seeing consistently, says social innovator Aaron Hurst, is this is not working.
  • You can print values on posters and talk about them at conferences, but these values often fail to become part of the fabric of the organization. They remain upper-management-speak.
  • You could start to fix that problem in one hour, says Hurst. Try his recommended exercise: Connect your employees in pairs and ask them to talk about how a given value has shown up in their career, what does it mean to them? Values are only legitimate if everyone in your company can tell genuine stories about how those values have shown up in their daily jobs.
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Androids that offer "digital immortality" begin mass production in Russia

A company claims to make the world's first humanoid android and offers 'digital immortality".

Promobot
Technology & Innovation
  • Promobot, a Russian company, makes the world's first humanoid android.
  • The model Robo-C robot can't walk but has a sophisticated personality AI.
  • The android can be made to look like any human.
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Top 4 candidates in our solar system for terraforming

When it comes time for humanity to pick a new home, where will we go?

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Surprising Science
  • Regardless of whether you think the Earth will suffer some catastrophe or not, most individuals believe that humanity will eventually have to live on another planet.
  • There is no nearby planet that can support human life, however; we'll have to pick a good candidate and terraform it.
  • Each celestial body presents its own unique challenges and requirements. Some need more carbon dioxide, others need less; some would become water worlds, others more Earth-like; and so on.
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Detecting breast cancer 5 years before clinical signs

The possibility of an easy, non-invasive detection method arises.

Image source: Shutter_M/Shutterstock/Big Think
Technology & Innovation
  • A blood test that spots breast cancer five years ahead of clinical signs could give new meaning to "early detection."
  • Auto-antibodies for tumor antigens predict the presence of the disease.
  • Researchers say the blood test could be clinic-ready in 4-5 years.
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