Against the Clock: How Tech Has Changed Our Perception of Time
Alan Burdick's most recent book, "Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Investigation," chronicles his quest to understand the nature of lived time. He recently joined Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist and author of "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now," for a conversation on what we miss about the nature of time when we only think about it as a number. The conversation touches on the tension ... posted on May 23 2017, 17,340 reads

Hamlet's Blackberry: To Surf Or Not To Surf?
"Do you find yourself checking Facebook as soon as you wake up in the morning? Do you answer e-mails on your Blackberry while surfing the Web? Even as you read this article, is your right index finger twitching on the mouse, just itching to click on something new? If so, welcome to the 21st century. Without even realizing it, we've signed up for a life in which we're all connected, all the time. W... posted on Apr 20 2014, 9,007 reads

21 Technologies That Will Decentralize The World
"Across the planet new technologies and business models are decentralizing power and placing it in the hands of communities and individuals." Fred Wilson, venture capitalist and futurist speaks compellingly about this transition. Here is a list of 21 technologies that over the next ten years will spur this process of decentralization.... posted on Apr 07 2014, 182,642 reads

The Overview Effect: Insights From Astronauts
Forty years ago, the astronauts of Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first time and snapped the iconic "Blue Marble" photographs of the earth from space. It was not only an image of stunning beauty; it represented a powerful new perspective of earthly life and its place within the cosmos. It produced a radical shift in self-awareness. The earth has a unity and cohesion we understand intellectually... posted on Oct 12 2013, 6,930 reads

How the Internet Helped Us Learn How To Share
In 1996, poet and essayist John Perry Barlow created "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace." It was intended to serve as a bold announcement -- that a new era of human empowerment was near. "We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace," he offered. "May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before." And though, there were a few first rocky step... posted on Sep 04 2013, 17,668 reads

35 Scientific Concepts That Will Help You Understand Life
"In order to sharpen our reasoning skills, we must have a good grasp of our own cognitive biases, as well as the basic laws of the universe. But in a dynamic world, new laws are constantly emerging." How do we keep pace with humanity's changing understanding of ourselves and the universe? Thankfully, Edge.org has interviewed hundreds of the world's most influential thinkers, including neuroscienti... posted on Aug 05 2013, 587,973 reads

Is Technology Shaping Your Life Or Vice Versa?
"Sherry Turkle founded and directs the intriguingly titled MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. She made waves with her book Alone Together; it was widely reviewed as a call to "unplug" our digital gadgets. But as I've read her and listened to her speak, I hear Sherry Turkle saying something more thought-provoking: that we can lead examined lives with our technology. That each of us, in our ever... posted on Jul 01 2013, 27,908 reads

This Is Your Brain on the Internet
We are bombarded by information, thanks in large part to the internet and its allied technologies. But exposure to unlimited information is not the same thing as the ability to capture it as knowledge or synthesize it as understanding. "We are living in a state of perpetual distraction," says Nicholas Carr, "which crowds out the more contemplative, calmer modes of thinking." We need these quieter,... posted on May 31 2013, 8,988 reads

14 Year-Old Gets Photos of Space
A Lego man encased in a homemade weather balloon ended his journey to the edge of space on a New Hampshire driveway, bringing with him a trove of atmospheric data as well as stunning images of the curvature of the Earth. The balloon, which landed on August 25, is the brainchild of a 14-year-old student named Jack Miron from Bedford, New Hampshire. He didn't know that NASA is using this technology ... posted on Jan 08 2013, 10,809 reads

How Ignorance Fuels the Evolution of Knowledge
"In the fifth century BC, long before science as we know it existed, Socrates, the very first philosopher, famously observed, 'I know one thing, that I know nothing.' Some 21 centuries later, while inventing calculus in 1687, Sir Isaac Newton likely knew all there was to know in science at the time -- a time when it was possible for a single human brain to hold all of mankind's scientific knowledg... posted on Aug 21 2012, 17,919 reads