The release of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation program documents the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) against terrorism…
Creativity is almost always viewed as an asset to individuals and organizations. But it can also lead to negative behaviors.
Kraigsta/Wikimedia Commons
Creativity – the generation of novel and useful ideas, products, or solutions – is seen as a valuable trait for people and organizations to possess. Organizations harness it to develop innovative products…
Why are hospitals running out of critical drugs?
IV drip via Bhakpong/Shutterstock
Hospitals and pharmacies around the country are facing severe shortages of essential drugs. These shortages can limit access to critical medications and compromise patient safety, resulting in serious…
This tee shirt cuts to the chase
Reuters/Jason Reed
The Senate report on torture found that the “enhanced techniques” used by the CIA were ineffective as a mechanism for gathering intelligence. In fact, the report stated there was no actionable intelligence…
Alexander von Humboldt – sometimes called the last Renaissance man – was born in Berlin 250 years ago. His influence on science is still felt today.
The Guardians of the Galaxy – whose protagonists are a morally-gray motley crew – could be seen as a satire of the classic hero tradition.
BagoGames/Flickr
A. David Lewis, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
A beautiful assassin. A superstrong thug. A star-lost child of the ‘80s. A sentient tree. A gun-toting raccoon. Meet the morally gray protagonists of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the film that raked…
Past your bedtime?
Image of boy with laptop via Mikael Damkier/Shutterstock
About three years ago, a teenage girl was talking with me and other students about using her cell phone late at night. She told us how she waited until her parents were asleep, then spent at least four…
Oil prices have dropped to levels not seen in years. It’s not all good news.
Reuters
The recent drop in crude oil and gasoline prices in the United States is a nice stocking stuffer for consumers this holiday season, but it could turn into a lump of coal. A global oil glut has caused the…
The STEM fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics supposedly suffer from a shortage of graduates. Conventional wisdom says there’s no one for employers to hire for science and engineering…
There is no such thing as an ideal flu shot. But that doesn’t mean you should skip it.
Sherry Yates Young/Shutterstock
On December 3, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network advisory indicating a possible strain mismatch in this year’s vaccine. After the usual brief flurry…
A trade spat between India and the US was the most serious threat to the WTO in years.
Reuters
Despite sluggishness in the world economy, global trade reached an astonishing US$23 trillion last year. The World Trade Organization has been the primary guarantor of this extraordinary growth in global…
Will small video cams like this keep police honest?
Michael Brown’s recent shooting death by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson illustrates the pressing importance of digitally documenting police activity, while Eric Garner’s case illustrates the limits…
You’re a vegetarian? But your subconscious ordered the Meat Lover’s!
BrokenSphere
If you prefer to order your pizza without going through all the trouble of actually speaking, Pizza Hut has just the thing for you — “the world’s first subconscious menu.” You sit down, glance through…
The recent discovery of a First Folio in St. Omer, France brings the total number of known copies to 233.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, National Art Library
The Shakespeare First Folio (1623), the first collected edition of his plays and the sole source for half of them (including Macbeth, Antony & Cleopatra, All’s Well, As You Like It, and The Tempest…
Activists dressed as musicians and wearing masks depicting leaders of the members of the G7 protest against wealth inequality in Brussels in June.
Reuters
Wealth and income inequality have many causes, and it’s pretty much beyond dispute that any well-functioning capitalist society will have some degree of disparity between the richest and the poorest. It’s…
Ebola isn’t the only disease we need to worry about.
Jason Reed/Reuters
Some experts worry that the Ebola crisis is diverting attention and resources away from neglected diseases with a substantially larger disease incidence.
Wind farms like this one probably wouldn’t exist if the government didn’t provide a hefty subsidy.
Shutterstock
Congress passed the wind production tax credit (PTC) more than two decades ago to spur development in an industry still in its infancy. The wind sector has since matured into adulthood, prompting thousands…
Disclosing mental illness in the office can be difficult. But it doesn’t need to be.
Image of office worker via KieferPix/Shutterstock
Deciding to disclose information about a non-obvious disability at work is complicated and potentially risky, no matter what you do for a living. For people with a mental health issue, like bipolar disorder…
A properly designed cap and trade scheme could lift Illinois out of the fog.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Don Fullerton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
So-called cap and trade may be a solution to a problem it was not intended to solve: state budget crises. Cap-and-trade policy was designed to address climate change by putting a “cap” on carbon dioxide…
Will the feds raid this Christmas tree?
Rick Wilking/Reuters
Abraham Lincoln said that those who shape public opinion exert an even greater influence than judges and lawmakers. In recent years popular sentiment – on issues like marriage equality and legalization…
Housing First is a program that offers housing to homeless drug users – regardless of whether or not they’re drug free – with a goal of social recovery.
Bryan Guilas/Flickr
Over the past decade, drug use in the US has risen dramatically, with heroin use reaching epidemic proportions. The country’s policy for combating abuse has involved incarceration, abstinence-only treatment…
‘Premium assistance’ at premium prices.
Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
Upon the signing of the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, the public was promised that all US citizens would receive health care coverage. As Vice President Joe Biden put it at the signing of the…
Rhinoceros, with horn still firmly attached.
Efraimstochter
Poaching rhinos for their horns is one of the most publicized conservation issues worldwide. From global trade bans and surveillance drones, to the involvement of celebrities such as British royal Prince…
This crowd wants their president out
David W Cerny/Reuters
The United States had just gone through a bruising election, but in Congress Democratic and Republican leaders gathered to unveil the bust of Vaclav Havel, the playwright and first post-Communist Czech…
Frederic Bazille’s Studio 9 Rue de la Condamine (left) and Norman Rockwell’s Shuffleton’s Barber Shop (right). The computer was able to detect similarities in the composition of both paintings. Yellow circles indicate similar objects, red lines indicate composition, and the blue square represents similar structural elements.
I was the lead of a team of computer scientists at Rutgers that published a paper this past August titled, “Toward Automated Discovery of Artistic Influence.” In that paper we reported on our research…