Words of Wisdom — April 23, 2014

Lennon on the Possibilities

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.” – John Lennon

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Is antigravity even possible?

Humans, when we consider space travel, recognize the need for gravity. Without our planet, is artificial or antigravity even possible?

A Rubik's cube with a red X floats in space, next to a planet and moon—each marked with green checkmarks—that boast their perfect round shape.

Starts With A Bang

Is “round” the only allowable shape for planets?

All the stars, stellar corpses, planets, and other large, massive objects take on spherical or spheroidal shapes. Why is that universal?

A robotic prosthetic arm with visible internal mechanisms, wires, and a mechanical hand. Labels such as "SFU" and "BESOM" are visible on the arm casing.

The Present

The Cybathlon: Bionic athletes compete for the gold — and push assistive technologies forward

In the international competition, people with physical disabilities put state-of-the-art devices to the test as they race to complete the tasks of everyday life.

A yellow road sign reading "SLOW NOW" stands before a breathtaking mountainous landscape under a clear blue sky, reminding travelers of the art of slow productivity.

Business

Why “slow productivity” is the key to great work and happy teams

Cal Newport explains how you and your teams can accomplish more while improving quality and supercharging workplace morale.

A robotic hand and a human hand reach towards each other, with a glowing DNA helix in the background, symbolizing humanity's last exam in the intersection of technology and biology.

Starts With A Bang

Why “humanity’s last exam” will ultimately fail humanity

A crowdsourced “final exam” for AI promises to test LLMs like never before. Here’s how the idea, and its implementation, dooms us to fail.

Up Next

Surprising Science

The El Gordo Massive Galaxy Cluster

The galaxy cluster “El Gordo” has a funny name, but it certainly fits its description. From NASA: It is bigger than a bread box. In fact, it is much bigger […]