EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Science Of Dragons Key Takeaway: In the fantasy world of Westeros, dragons are depicted in the popular series of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. The images of dragons igniting fire evoke scientific curiosity about real-world biological mechanisms and chemical reactions. To ignite and sustain a flame, three components are needed: a fuel, an oxidising agent […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK Is Free Trade A Myth? Key Takeaway: US President Joe Biden has raised tariffs on Chinese-made goods, claiming the Chinese government has cheated by pouring money into Chinese companies. The tariffs are 25% on steel and aluminium, 50% on semiconductors and solar panels, and 100% on electric vehicles. Under Biden’s presidency, the US has embarked on an ambitious strategy to […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Threat Of Solar Storms Key Takeaway: The recent geomagnetic storm in May 2024 caused the aurora borealis and aurora australis, which are the northern and southern lights. These storms, caused by high energy particles from the Sun hitting the Earth’s atmosphere, can cause havoc with human-made infrastructure, such as electrical grids and satellites. The storm caused auroral activity in […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Is There Life On Europa? Key Takeaway: The Juno mission has sampled Jupiter’s atmosphere for the first time, revealing that Europa’s icy surface produces less oxygen than previously thought. Europa has an ocean below its icy surface with twice the amount of water as Earth’s oceans and an ocean floor in contact with rock, enabling chemical water-rock interactions that produce […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK How China Is Revolutionising Shopping Malls Key Takeaway: From 1990 to 2020, China’s malls reflected its economic growth, catering to the emerging middle class. These malls were built by US architectural firms and are now being reimagined as civic spaces for communities to meet and interact. The COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of online shopping have devastated foot traffic, leaving the […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK The Significance Of The Cybertruck Key Takeaway: Tesla, a high-volume, premium-priced leader in the global electric vehicle (EV) market, experienced a 50% growth in deliveries in 2019. The company announced the Cybertruck in 2019, marking its first move into light/pickup trucks. However, delays in deliveries and the cost of bulletproof glass have hindered its development. Tesla now faces challenges in […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK ENTREPRENEURSHIP The Paradoxical Life Of Elon Musk Key Takeaway: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has a diverse career in space exploration, electric cars, AI, and social media. His biography, written by Walter Isaacson, covers events up to Space X’s unsuccessful Starship rocket launch in April 2023. Isaacson interviews Musk and uncovered newsworthy information, such as his Starlink satellite network’s crucial role […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY Quantum Computing In 2023 In June, an IBM computing executive claimed quantum computers were entering the “utility” phase, in which high-tech experimental devices become useful. In September, Australia’s Chief Scientist Cathy Foley went so far as to declare “the dawn of the quantum era”. This week, Australian physicist Michelle Simmons won the nation’s top science award for her work on developing silicon-based […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Secret Functions Of Dopamine Key Takeaway: Recent neuroscience research suggests that popular strategies to control dopamine are based on an overly narrow view of its function. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that tracks reactions to rewards, such as food, sex, money, or answering a question correctly. There are many types of dopamine neurons located in the uppermost […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS The Age Of Resource Nationalism Key Takeaway: China’s new export regime is reportedly in response to western restrictions on equipment essential for semiconductor devices, such as the US CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. This could affect Beijing’s capacity for high-performance computing in areas like defense. Both germanium and gallium are crucial to technological advancement, with germanium being particularly useful […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Cosmology About to Rewrite Everything We Know? Key Takeaway: Cosmology is facing a series of uncertainties due to inconsistent predictions of the standard model, which posits the universe is composed of 68.3% dark energy, 26.8% dark matter, and 4.9% ordinary matter. The Hubble constant, which describes the rate of the universe’s expansion, has been a significant issue, with some scientists using different […] Written by Empirics Asia September 23, 2024September 23, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Comeback Of China’s Tech Billionaires: A New Dawn Or Controlled Market? Key Takeaway: Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, has regained the title of China’s richest individual with a net worth of over A$65 billion. His rise reflects Beijing’s control over its private sector, which aligns with the state’s goals in China’s unique “socialist market economy.” Tencent’s success, including the AAA video game “Black Myth: Wukong,” […] Written by Empirics Asia September 20, 2024September 20, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Rethinking Wealth: Why GDP Isn’t Enough Key Takeaway: Inclusive wealth, a concept that includes not just economic output but also natural resources, human skills, and social networks, is gaining traction among international institutions like the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This broader measure of a nation’s well-being aims to address the limitations of GDP, which focuses only […] Written by Empirics Asia September 12, 2024September 12, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Dark Side Of No Sleep Key Takeaway: The “no-sleep challenge” has become a dangerous trend on social media, with some individuals trying to break world records for consecutive days without sleep. Sleep is essential for survival, as it helps the body repair itself and prevents health problems like depression, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and a shortened lifespan. Chronic sleep deprivation […] Written by Empirics Asia September 11, 2024September 11, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Volcanoes On The Moon? Key Takeaway: China’s Chang’e 5 mission has challenged long-held assumptions about the Moon’s volcanic past, suggesting eruptions occurred far more recently than expected. The lunar landscape might not have been as dormant as once believed, with volcanic activity on the Moon potentially being active as recently as 120 million years ago. The findings suggest that […] Written by Empirics Asia September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Freud’s Forgotten Theory: The Hidden Desires Behind Creativity and Genius Key Takeaway: Sigmund Freud’s theory of sublimation aimed to explain why some people display extraordinary talent by transforming repressed sexual desires into creative or intellectual prowess. He believed that Leonardo da Vinci’s life and work exemplified this process, as he left many of his paintings unfinished and engaged in scientific experiments that derailed his artistic […] Written by Empirics Asia September 9, 2024September 9, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Upcoming Revolution For Global Internet Access Key Takeaway: High-altitude platform stations (HAPS) are emerging as a new frontier in communications technology, offering a unique blend of accessibility and affordability. Positioned between 4 and 30 miles above Earth, these stations bring telecommunications equipment closer to the surface than satellites, resulting in stronger, higher-capacity signals. Researchers have demonstrated that HAPS could provide high-speed […] Written by Empirics Asia September 6, 2024September 6, 2024 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