bigthinkeditor
“Collaboration yields so much of what is novel, useful, and beautiful that it’s natural to try to understand it. Yet looking at achievement through relationships is a new, and even radical, idea.”
“How do you get your hands on power? And how do you keep hold of it once you’ve got it?” The Economist says that management gurus are surprisingly disappointing on this subject.
“Many vital crops capture the sun’s energy in a surprisingly inefficient way. A borrowed trick or two could make them far more productive.” The New Scientist on improving photosynthesis.
“Some robots can already sustain damage and reconfigure themselves, like how our bones heal after we break them. Now others can deceive other intelligent machines and even humans.”
“Women who go through early menopause and cannot have children were offered new hope today after scientists found a way of getting ovaries working again.”
“Can we, and should we, do without foreign correspondents?” What is the difference between a local blogger and a ‘parachute journalist’? Newspaper economics may provide the answer.
The mysterious Jonathan Franzen is unraveled in an imagined conversation between himself, Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf. The author’s new book ‘Freedom’ is the talk of the town.
While we consider the ability to ignore distraction crucial to a productive life, recent research shows that creativity is aided by the intervention of seemingly irrelevant occurrences.
What’s going on chemically in your brain as you feel the pierce of cupid’s arrow? Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher explains the cocktail of neurotransmitters that cause you to fall in (and out of) love.
Almost two years ago global brewing powerhouse InBev bought U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch for a staggering $52 billion, creating AB InBev, which now controls about a quarter of the world’s beer market. […]
Spanning over 69 years, and taking him from vaudeville theater to feature films to Broadway to television series, Joel Grey has had a storied career as an actor and entertainer. […]
Britain’s two most celebrated scientists have teamed up to discuss all of life’s big issues: the unity of life, ethics, energy, Handel—and the joy of riding a snowmobile.
“The worst of times for politics and media has been the best of times for The Daily Show’s host—and unfortunately things are getting even funnier.” New York Magazine profiles the comedian.
In a dramatic attempt by Cuba to shift its nearly bankrupt economy toward a more market-oriented system, the government will lay off more than five-hundred thousand workers.
“What, then, is the problem in people with ADHD? The disorder is really about the allocation of attention, being able to control our mental spotlight.” The Frontal Cortex redefines ADHD.
“Video-games players develop an enhanced sensitivity to what is going on around them and that this may help with activities such as multitasking, driving and reading small print.”
“Football tells us that violence can be beautiful when performed for the sake of a greater good.” The Atlantic’s Hampton Steven’s offers an ‘intellectual’s defense of football’.
“Recent research points to a smarter way to tackle climate change.” Bjørn Lomborg says governments should increase energy R&D efforts and invest in climate engineering.
“How does religious ritual preserve humanity from chaos and entropy?” Yale professor of computer science David Gelernter says religious ceremony makes life beautiful.
“As we get older we lose the ability to focus on isolated pieces of sensory information. This means adults perceive certain events far more accurately than children can—and vice versa.”
“Are We Heading for a Space Bubble? The supply of new spacecraft, launchers, and spaceports may soon exceed the demand.” Technology Review on the booming private space business.
When you smell a ripe strawberry or your morning coffee, what you’re really smelling are hundreds of molecules, says fine fragrance perfumer Chistophe Laudamiel. But that doesn’t mean the brain […]
“For the most part, a lot of those early users were actually Steve and me with aliases. We had silly user names that we just generated in order to make […]
“The tools used by the commercial industry to detect our thoughts and brain states are very different, and somewhat limited, compared to those used in the research lab.”
“While eating a varied and balanced diet is the best way to get the micronutrients the body requires, some essential vitamins are difficult to come into contact with naturally.”
“Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his college dorm room six years ago. Five hundred million people have joined since.” The New Yorker profiles the young Internet entrepreneur.
“New antenna made of carbon nanotubes could make photovoltaic cells more efficient by concentrating solar energy.” MIT News on where renewable energy and nanotechnology intersect.
“The world’s humanitarian aid organizations may do more harm than good, argues Linda Polman.” The writer has a new book on the unintended consequences of humanitarian aid.
“It is a very American thing, that we don’t believe too much in obeying the rules. We are not a nation of Hall Monitors; we are a nation that tortures Hall Monitors. We are people who push the rules.”
“Reach distils what made Halo such a trailblazer in the first place: the combat is extraordinarily good fun. … Halo remembers that, above all else, the art of battle is what counts the most.”