EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Secret Life Of Sunflowers Key Takeaway: Plants, once considered passive life forms, are now found to be dynamic and responsive. Researchers discovered that even seemingly insignificant behaviors, such as circumnutations, can have a profound impact on their survival and productivity. Sunflowers, for example, self-organize in a zigzag pattern to maximize sunlight exposure, promoting healthy growth and increased yield. This […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Are Today’s Youth Really More Narcissistic? Key Takeaway: A recent study examining narcissism in youth found that all three dimensions of the trait declined across the lifespan. The decline was attributed to changing social roles throughout life, such as assuming significant responsibilities and taking on significant responsibilities. However, some individuals may still be more narcissistic than others, and age alone doesn’t […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Do Genes Influence Our Psychology? Key Takeaway: Genetic conflict theory suggests that genes, while blending together to make us who we are, retain markers indicating whether they came from mother or father. These markers cause genes to cooperate or fight with one another as we grow and develop. Research primarily focuses on pregnancy, as it is one of the few […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE How Does Space Change Astronaut Biology? Key Takeaway: Astronauts are experiencing a new era of human spaceflight, with longer missions ranging from minutes to months. As humanity looks to return to the Moon over the coming decade, space exploration missions will be longer, with more space travelers and tourists. Researchers in space health are seeking to better understand the human health […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE The Unconventional Origins Of Artificial Limbs Key Takeaway: The idea that humans can alter patients’ bodies in difficult and invasive ways has its roots in the American Civil War, which led to the development of amputation techniques and artificial limb design. By 1700, Europeans began to believe they could use amputation along with artificial limbs to shape the body. This change […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Food On Mars? Key Takeaway: NASA plans to set up colonies on Mars in the next few decades, but these missions require astronauts to produce their own food. To do this, they need to establish self-perpetuating systems that require minimal Earth input. Aquaponics, a food production system that pairs aquaculture with hydroponics, has been tested to supply food […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK The Hidden Economics Of Avocado Key Takeaway: The consumption of avocados has tripled from 2001 to 2020, with 90% grown in the southwest Mexican state of Michoacán. However, this intensive avocado production is causing significant environmental damage. Monoculture, which introduces homogeneous, high-yielding plant varieties, leads growers to abandon native crops, making the local ecosystem more vulnerable to threats such as […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK STARTUPS STRATEGY The Science Of Becoming A Successful Influencer Key Takeaway: Influencers, a lucrative industry worth over $16 billion, promote products or services through sponsored social media posts or branded content. However, the majority of influencers find it hard work and poorly paid. There are no set pay rates, and contracts are likely to be short and job protection is limited. Earnings can range […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Mysterious Microbiome Of The Brain Key Takeaway: Gut microbiomes, found in various parts of the body, play a crucial role in health. The brain, once thought to be a sterile organ, has been suggested to have a microbiome. However, the presence of microbes is difficult to confirm due to the blood-brain barrier, which can leaky during aging and neurological diseases […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Smartphones & The Source Of Our Anxiety Key Takeaway: Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation, calls for action to limit teenagers’ smartphone access and address the mental health crisis caused by the widespread use of smartphones. Haidt cites the “great rewiring” period from 2010 to 2015 as a time when adolescents’ neural systems were primed for anxiety and depression by daily smartphone […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
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 […] Written by Empirics Asia September 19, 2024September 19, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Secret Life Of Sunflowers Key Takeaway: Plants, once considered passive life forms, are now found to be dynamic and responsive. Researchers discovered that even seemingly insignificant behaviors, such as circumnutations, can have a profound impact on their survival and productivity. Sunflowers, for example, self-organize in a zigzag pattern to maximize sunlight exposure, promoting healthy growth and increased yield. This […] Written by Empirics Asia September 18, 2024September 18, 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
The Mystery Of Horse Domestication Key Takeaway: Horse domestication remains a mystery, despite its significant impact on human civilization. The Indo-European or “Kurgan hypothesis” suggests that horse domestication began on the steppes of western Asia, specifically among the Yamnaya people. However, recent advances in technology have revealed that the horses from the Botai culture were not the ancestors of today’s […] Written by Empirics Asia September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
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 […] Written by Empirics Asia September 4, 2024September 4, 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