EDITOR'S PICK STRATEGY The Power Of Small Changes: How Marginal Gains Lead To Extraordinary Success Key Takeaway: The British cycling team’s 2008 Beijing Olympics victory was a result of a simple strategy: the pursuit of marginal gains. The team’s coach, Sir Dave Brailsford, believed that success could be achieved by making a series of 1% improvements across every aspect of the cyclists’ gear, stamina, and physical conditioning. This principle, known […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Mysterious Science Of Riding A Bicycle Key Takeaways: The control process of a bicycle is a mystery, but it is essential for maintaining balance and preventing falls. Researchers have used mathematical equations to explain how a bicycle without a rider can balance itself and identified bicycle design features critical for that. However, the stability of a bicycle with a rider is […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS PIYASAK UKRITNUKUN, MD Abandoning his hopes of studying for an MBA, Piyasak Ukritnukun has turned a relatively small lending company into a billion dollar financial inclusion company. What’s your story? I was born in the US and came back to Thailand to study at Thammasat Business School in 1999. After college, I spent two years with Boston Consulting Group […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS ALEX NG, Founder and Director Never one to be constrained by convention, Alex Ng has created Singapore’s first unstaffed store, powered by AI. What’s your story? Since I was young, I have had the habit of choosing less popular or niche decisions. For example, instead of playing computer games during my secondary school days, I found more enjoyment in selling […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS MINESH PORE, Co-Founder and CEO Minesh Pore has used his global trade expertise to create a ‘dating’ agency where buyers can meet suppliers and BuyHive does the crucial bits in the middle. What’s your story? BuyHive wanted to solve the problem of trust and transparency in sourcing to improve buyers’ outcomes, especially with the assumptions that the growing segment of […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS SCHWIN CHIARAVANONT, Founder & Managing Partner After being educated in the USA, Schwin returned to his native Thailand and began his career into asset management What’s your story? I grew up in Thailand and was sent to the US at the age of 12, where I studied for 10 years. I have a very entrepreneurial nature and am also very passionate […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS TRISTAN HAHNER, Co-founder A commitment to knowledge and truth was the basis of Tristan Hahner’s desire to enable patients to access an online resource of medical information. What’s your story? As a firm believer in education, I’m passionate about healthcare and trying to improve the quality of people’s lives. Through DoctorxDentist, people have access to free, expert knowledge […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS MAXWELL KIMBERLEY-THOMPSON, CEO A far-sighted gift from his grandfather set Maxwell Kimberley-Thompson on a technological path which could not have been conceived of at the time. What’s your story? Ever since my grandfather handed me a pile of papers with HTML, how to build a website, I have been hooked on digital tech and marketing. Building websites gave […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS MIKE SIM, Chief Executive Officer A mid-life career change set Mike Sim on a route that led to him starting a fund management company managing high-value clients throughout Asia. What’s your story? After a mid-life career switch, I started as a banker and slowly moved up the ranks. I survived some major restructuring as my Team Manager had faith in […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
CALLUM CONNECTS ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTERVIEWS Xin Hong Tan, Youtuber – Women’s advocate Xin Hong Transforms Women’s Lives What’s your story? I came from a broken family. My father was hot-tempered and my mum was a hard headed woman. Since my youth their relationship was awful. Domestic violence often happened in my family. Sometimes we were awakened by their fighting in the middle of night and it was […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Are Animals Making Art? Key Takeaway: Animals, including birds and whales, have been questioned about their artistic abilities. Some argue that art is about emotion, representation, or intention, while others believe it comes from reinforcement. However, not all animal creations are considered art. Some, like Humpback whales and Pigcasso, are trained to express their creativity, while others, like puffer […] Written by Empirics Asia May 7, 2025May 7, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is A Space Tourist An Astronaut? Key Takeaway: The debate over who truly deserves to be called an astronaut has resurfaced with the recent all-women spaceflight aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin spacecraft. The term “astronaut” has been used to describe individuals who have travelled into space, but the definition varies widely. Some dictionaries define an astronaut as anyone who has travelled […] Written by Empirics Asia May 6, 2025May 6, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How Human Networks Planted The Seeds Of Civilisation Key Takeaway: Researchers have used mathematical models to simulate the spread of farming, focusing on human contact as the driving force. They adapted predator-prey models to simulate the overlap of farming and foraging communities. The study found that direct human contact, whether friendly or hostile, played a central role in the expansion of farming. Small-scale […] Written by Empirics Asia April 28, 2025April 28, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Great Cosmic Riddle Key Takeaways: Dark matter, an invisible substance thought to outweigh all visible matter in the universe, remains a mystery in astrophysics. The idea of dark matter began in the 1970s when astronomers Vera Rubin and Kent Ford studied the rotation of the Andromeda galaxy. However, alternative explanations exist, such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) and […] Written by Empirics Asia April 24, 2025April 24, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Big Tech Killing Free Speech or Saving It? Key Takeaway: President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” accused the previous administration of stifling free expression by working with social media companies to curb misinformation and label misleading content. However, recent research suggests that less regulation can actually make the internet a less free place for speech, […] Written by Empirics Asia April 23, 2025April 23, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How The Brain Learns Key Takeaway: Recent research published in Science has revealed that the brain uses multiple learning mechanisms simultaneously, revealing the complexity behind brain wiring. Neurons communicate through electric signals called synapses, which form complex networks of connections that transmit information. The traditional theory of synaptic plasticity assumes uniformity between neurons, but the new study found that […] Written by Empirics Asia April 22, 2025April 22, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Did We Just Discover Life On A Distant Planet? Key Takeaway: A new study published in Nature Astronomy claims that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected atmospheric signals on K2-18b, a distant world 124 light-years from Earth. The researchers found traces of molecules often associated with biological activity on Earth, including dimethyl sulphide (DMS). The scientists are 99.7% confident in the presence […] Written by Empirics Asia April 21, 2025April 21, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Education Key Takeaways: The Industrial model of education that fueled the modern era and its dizzying reach did its job incredibly well. In his writing, Flynn illustrates study after study, spanning nations and decades, in which modern educational gift of abstraction — a transcendent sign of intelligence, as we saw in Raven’s Matrices — has been […] Written by Anthony Fieldman March 2, 2022October 19, 2022 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How China Is Transforming Its Economy Through Learning I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […] Written by Enrique Dans February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why You’re Not Seeing Success With Influencer Marketing With the new year around the corner, now is a good time to re-evaluate your past marketing strategies and gear up for the year ahead. For some businesses, influencer marketing has simply not seemed to live up to its lofty promises of genuine engagement, credibility, and transparency. Some have claimed that it has been failing […] Written by Michael Tan January 14, 2021January 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A New Philosophy of Business I’m about to ask you to take a mental leap. For the next 8 minutes, suspend your notions of what a business is, and I’ll propose a new lens for you to look through. There are a lot of questions asked around what “community” means for business. “Where should community fit in my organization?” and […] Written by Empirics Asia September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked