Category: interesting
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Evaluating Decision-Making
With a hat tip to Robin Rubin’s commencement speeches at NYU (1999) and Harvard (2000), Venture Hacks implores us to evaluate decisions by the decision-making process itself, rather than the results produced. Decisions tend to be judged solely on the results they produce. But I believe the right test should focus heavily on the quality of…
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Gel Conference Videos
The Gel Conference (“Good Experience Live”) bills itself as an event “exploring good experience in all its forms — in business, technology, art, society, and life”. I hadn’t heard of Gel before but the videos of past talks are captivating and educational. Another set of videos to add to the collection (TED, Seed Salon, FORA.tv, etc.),…
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Geckos’ Toes, Wan der Waal’s and Walking on Ceilings
Only having seen one gecko in my life I’ve given them little thought. One thing I am sure of, however, is that I didn’t expect the answer to how geckos manage to navigate walls and ceilings so dextrously to be as awesome as it is. The bottoms of a gecko’s feet are […] covered with millions…
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Low-Tech Treatments Hold Most Hope for Cognitive Recovery After Brain Damage
Scientific American looks at some new research being conducted to aid cognitive recovery in victims of severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI). It appears that some of the greatest benefits will come from improvements in low-tech quick-response treatments. “We’re not bad at getting people to survive [severe TBI], but we’re worse at getting good cognitive recovery.”…
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The World in 2009
The Economist‘s annual issue collecting predictions for the coming year has been released in the form of The World in 2009. From the introduction, by editor Daniel Franklin: Anyone hoping for a period of calm after the turbulence of the past year will be disappointed. For the economy and for business, as well as for…
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Primer on Evolutionary Psychology
The evolutionary psychology theories of human behaviour are fascinating, as anyone who has read Matt Ridley’s acclaimed The Red Queen can attest. For those that haven’t, however, The Economist has created what may be the best primer on evolutionary psychology I’ve read. No one is suggesting Darwinism has all the answers to social questions. Indeed, with some,…
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That Most Precious of Metals
We all know that gold—one of the most precious metals on Earth—is scare. However, the actual dearth of gold is surprising, as Jason Kottke points out: The estimated total amount of gold mined by humans would fill a cube that’s only 25 meters [about 82 feet] on a side. Platinum is even more rare… all…
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A Look at our Sense of Touch
Primal, Acute and Easily Duped: Our Sense of Touch is a recent article from Pulitzer Prize-winning Natalie Angier (author of The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science) taking a rudimentary look at the sense of touch and some recent research in the field of haptics. Scientists have determined that the human finger is so sensitive…
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The Power of Your Smallest Finger
I completely forgot about this article on the astonishing power of your little finger until David’s post reminded me of its existence (and the most surprising fact therein). So what would you lose if you didn’t have one? “You’d lose 50 percent of your hand strength, easily…” via Seed