Who's the most commanding of them all?ReutersAbout 14 million people, including me, watched the top Republican presidential contenders spar in their third debate Wednesday night. And while most pundits and viewers were attuned to their words, I noted the importance of what they wore – dark business suits, crisp button-down shirts and formal...
On the rebound: a number of cities, including Chicago, are becoming magnets for a growing number of professionals.
Jamie McCaffrey/flickr, CC BY-SAThis year and this day – the United Nations' World Cities Day – we should remember that the city is back. Across the globe there is an urban resurgence. In fact,...
Read more: Cities are booming but progress is uneven and, to some, too costly
Did you hear that?Rob and Stephanie Levy, CC BYNontrivial numbers of Americans believe in the paranormal. These beliefs have spawned thousands of groups dedicated to investigating paranormal phenomena and a proliferation of ghost-hunting entries in the reality television market. Anecdotal evidence even suggests that ghost-hunting reality shows...
Read more: Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human perception
Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village border the FDR Drive in Lower Manhattan.NBC New YorkIt’s easy to overlook the brick residential towers of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village on Manhattan’s East Side.
Designed to be uniform and rather bland, the 80-acre development gives little outward sign of the fierce conflicts over housing...
Los Angeles looks abroad. Cesarexpo, CC BY-SAWhen our dear colleague and cofounder of the Initiative on Cities program at Boston University, former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, passed away one year ago, letters poured in to our offices at Boston University.
The intimate condolences from Boston’s many neighborhoods – Hyde Park, Roslindale,...
Read more: Why mayors are looking for ideas outside the city limits
Bicycles fueling change in KenyaThomas Mukoya/ReutersToday – October 30 – MIT’s Media Lab celebrates its 30th anniversary.
The Media Lab is a place that takes very seriously the idea that we can invent a better future and have it spread around the globe. It’s a place that’s helped invent things that are very serious,...
Read more: Can innovators build a future that's both disruptive and just?
Four rat tapeworms harvested from a single laboratory rat are shown in a six-well plate. The worms don’t harm the rats. Each worm, between two and three feet long, can produce more than 1,000 eggs per day. William Parker, CC BY-NC-SAIntestinal worms have an incredibly bad reputation. The thought of them sneaking around inside our bodies and...
Read more: They might sound gross, but intestinal worms can actually be good for you
What motivates kids?woodleywonderworks, CC BYRewarding teachers financially for student achievement is an increasingly common practice, despite mixed evidence as to whether it improves results. Some scholars have instead suggested paying students.
But giving kids cash for grades and scores hasn’t proved straightforward either. So maybe the...
Read more: What gets students motivated to work harder? Not money
Ryan wields brand new speaker's gavel, October 29 2015. Gary Cameron/REUTERSRepublicans voted overwhelmingly to make Paul Ryan the new speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday, but the Wisconsin congressman has no reason to celebrate. He just got the worst job in American politics.
In theory, the House speaker is an immensely powerful...
Read more: Paul Ryan just accepted the worst job in politics
Former New York Governor George Pataki: "I think part of the problem is the...way Republicans think about climate change."Rick Wilking/ReutersThe tide is finally turning. In last night’s third Republican debates, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and former New York Governor George Pataki both acknowledged the scientific consensus that...
Read more: Breaking the link between a conservative worldview and climate skepticism
