Seasteading: Libertarians dream of creating self-ruling floating cities. But can the many obstacles, not least the engineering ones, be overcome?
As farmers in the United States slog through the country’s largest drought in 50 years, a lot of people are asking about the connection between global warming and the arid landscape in the Midwest. Is climate change causing this drought? Didn’t the United States suffer worse droughts in the past? And what will happen if…
Scientists are keeping a close eye on a big asteroid that may pose an impact threat to Earth in a few decades. The space rock, which is called 2011 AG5, is about 460 feet wide. It may come close enough to Earth in 2040 that some researchers are calling for a discussion about how to…
The Rockefeller Foundation and the Institute for the Future have invited gamers from all walks of life to join them on the Catalysts for Change platform to help identify new solutions to global poverty. Participants will leverage 140-character messages to play a game of cards, with each card capturing an idea. Game participants will use…
You may have noticed that when you think positively, you tend to feel more relaxed and energetic. When you are upset, you are more likely to feel tired and lazy. These sensations are not coincidental. The way we think strongly affects our physical state. The endocrine system is the powerhouse that regulates our moods. The…
Health apps are hot, but until now the field has been unregulated. It is hard to know which apps actually live up to their claims or provide accurate information. Now, the FDA is laying down the law, releasing a first draft of guidelines that require developers making medical claims to apply for FDA approval. But app developers are bristling.
Scientists at Europe’s CERN research centre have found a new subatomic particle, a basic building block of the universe, which appears to be the boson imagined and named half a century ago by theoretical physicist Peter Higgs. “We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature,” CERN director general Rolf Heuer told a gathering…