EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY Can You Create A Question That Stumps A.I.? Key Takeaway: Humanity’s Last Exam is an initiative by Scale AI and the Center for AI Safety (CAIS) to test the limits of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The challenge is not just a tech contest, but a bold experiment in assessing the progress of AI. AI models are already outperforming humans in math, law, and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Path To Human Invisibility Key Takeaway: Researchers from Stanford University have successfully made the skin of live mice appear transparent under specific lighting conditions, paving the way for medical imaging and biological research. The researchers used a food dye called tartrazine, which alters how light interacts with biological matter. By adjusting the refractive index, they allowed light to pass […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK 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,” […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Future Of Power Generation With Black Holes Key Takeaway: Black holes, a potential energy source, have been the subject of theoretical research since the 1970s. The Zel’dovich Effect, a theory that rotating objects could amplify energy waves, was tested in 2020. The experiment confirmed that a rotating cylinder could amplify sound waves and electromagnetic waves, revealing similarities between the rotating cylinder and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE How Science Is Redefining The Boundaries Of Life And Death Key Takeaway: Scientists have discovered a “third state” that blurs the line between life and death, revealing that cells can continue functioning even after death. This concept was first explored in frog embryos, where cells reorganized into xenobots and anthrobots, which can repair damaged neuron cells. The plasticity of cellular systems is believed to drive […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK 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 […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY 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 […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Why Profit Alone Won’t Save Us Key Takeaway: A study by researchers has found that companies can make a difference without sacrificing financial performance by integrating social and environmental concerns into their business strategies. This approach, known as “social profit orientation,” places equal value on financial profits and positive social outcomes. Companies like Mastercard’s Girls4Tech initiative and World Central Kitchen’s Food […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Mysterious Discovery In The Earth’s Core Key Takeaway: Scientists have discovered a massive, donut-shaped region in the Earth’s core, located around the Equator, where seismic waves slow down significantly. This unexpected discovery could hold the key to understanding the complex processes that govern our planet’s inner workings. The study used the coda-correlation wavefield to detect minute differences in the speed at […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Quantum Physics Meets A.I. Key Takeaway: Quantum tunnelling, a phenomenon from quantum mechanics, has been applied to artificial intelligence (AI) to create a neural network that mimics human perception of optical illusions. This neural network, trained to recognize optical illusions like the Necker cube and Rubin’s vase, exhibits a state of ambiguity, mirroring human ambiguity in perception. This finding […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Why Vertical Farms Are Struggling Key Takeaway: Vertical farming, a revolutionary technology that promises fresh, locally grown food in stacked indoor environments, has faced setbacks in recent years. Despite these challenges, the fundamental principles of controlled-environment agriculture remain strong. The industry is still in its infancy, but its potential is greater in regions with less favorable growing conditions. Advances in […] Written by Empirics Asia March 11, 2025March 11, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Paradox Of Narcissism Key Takeaway: Narcissistic individuals often project self-assurance but have a deep need for external validation, revealing a fundamental insecurity. This gap between self-perception and reality affects relationships, emotional stability, and perception of reality. Narcissistic personality disorder, affecting a small percentage of the population, has far-reaching social consequences. Highly narcissistic individuals often display a pattern of […] Written by Empirics Asia March 10, 2025March 10, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Collision Course: The Doomsday Asteroid Flying Towards Earth Key Takeaway: A new asteroid, 2024 YR4, was detected in Chile at the end of 2024, with a small yet notable chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. Initially, estimates suggested a 3.1% probability of impact, but as of February 2024, calculations by the European Space Agency’s Near Earth Object Centre have revised this down […] Written by Empirics Asia February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Hidden Cost Of Cheap Furniture Key Takeaway: Fast furniture, which is mass-produced items designed for short-term use, is a growing environmental crisis. Millions of discarded pieces end up in landfills each year, contributing to a waste problem mirroring the fast fashion industry. To avoid fast furniture, consumers should identify it by noticing its price, materials, assembly methods, limited or unclear […] Written by Empirics Asia February 24, 2025February 24, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Democracy Really The Best System? Key Takeaway: Plato’s critique of democracy, particularly in his work “The Republic,” suggests that it is fundamentally flawed. Socrates, Plato’s mentor and teacher, argues that ruling a state is a skill, similar to piloting a ship or performing surgery. However, critics argue that this is not the case. Politics involves moral judgments, compromises, and social […] Written by Empirics Asia February 21, 2025February 21, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Secret Memory Of Plants Key Takeaway: Plants have a unique memory that helps them survive in a constantly changing world. They have evolved defense mechanisms, such as immune priming, which allows them to remember past infections. However, plants lack this adaptive immune memory, relying on epigenetic changes to maintain a heightened state of defense. This memory can last generations, […] Written by Empirics Asia February 20, 2025February 20, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Are We Alone In The Universe? Key Takeaway: New research challenges the hard-steps model of evolution, which suggests that human intelligence is an extremely rare event. The model suggests that intelligence takes billions of years to emerge on Earth, and that it is a result of rare and improbable evolutionary breakthroughs. Some scientists argue that the emergence of eukaryotic cells, oxygen-producing […] Written by Empirics Asia February 19, 2025February 19, 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