BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK STRATEGY The Real Magic Of Disney Is Its Business Acumen Key Takeaway: Disney’s greatest legacy is not its animated stories or characters, but the business acumen of its founders. The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy Disney, who initially focused on animation. They adopted merchandising and technologies like Technicolor and sound to cut costs and promote their products. After […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS Lego’s Sustainability Dilemma Key Takeaway: Lego, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, has pulled out of its “Bottles to Bricks” initiative, which aimed to replace traditional Lego plastic with recycled plastic bottles. The company found that producing bricks with recycled plastic would require extra materials and energy, leading to higher carbon emissions. This decision is part of a larger […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE Why Every Scientist Needs An Artist Key Takeaway: Jo Berry, an artist and lecturer in illustration, has been working with advanced microscopy specialists at Nottingham University for over ten years. She aims to foster connections between science and art by collaborating with scientists to create new representations, insights, and behavioral change. Berry has developed three methods of production: introspective digital drawing, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY PSYCHOLOGY SCIENCE What Is Intelligence? Key Takeaway: The Anthropocene era highlights the dangers of humanity’s extinction, with migration, war, climate change, hacking, and nuclear annihilation being the main threats. Human intelligence is unique in reproduction and survival, as it also poses an ethical risk. Western mythology and literature provide insights into the moral dilemmas at the heart of human intelligence, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE NASA Finally Revealed Findings On UFOs Key Takeaway: NASA’s independent study team released a report on UFOs, describing them as UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena) to move beyond the stigma associated with UFOs. The report found no evidence that reported UAP observations are extraterrestrial. The report also highlighted the need for transparency and reducing the stigma associated with UFOs. The study team […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS SOCIOLOGY Some Silicon Valley Investors Are Trying To Create A Utopian City Key Takeaway: George Bernard Shaw referred to Ebenezer Howard’s “garden cities” concept in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which he believed would offer the advantages of town and country without the drawbacks. Recently, a Silicon Valley consortium called Flannery Associates purchased land for California Forever, a contentious project that echoes Howard’s ideas. Howard’s […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK What’s The Point Of Art? Key Takeaway: Art, or art, has a significant role in human endeavour, as it was used by early humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, 40,000 to 12,000 years ago, to articulate social norms among small hunter-gatherer groups. Art objects have special resonance because they come into being through human agency, involving considerable emotional investment. Art […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN EDITOR'S PICK The Economics Of Art Museums Key Takeaway: Art museums, such as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, have a large number of visitors but struggle to generate revenue. The Met, the world’s third most popular museum, has a budget deficit of $10 million and is laying off over 100 employees. Meanwhile, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is expanding and […] 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
EDITOR'S PICK PHILOSOPHY The Role Of Faith In The Age Of Science And Reason Key Takeaway: Pope Francis praised the “brilliant and inquisitive mind” of French philosopher Blaise Pascal, born 400 years ago. Pascal’s work, including the first calculating machines and public transport system, emphasized the importance of understanding one’s true human nature. He believed that faith in God is essential for human happiness and that humans must make […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Most Expensive Material Used In Science Key Takeaway: NASA is set to return samples from the asteroid Bennu in the early 2030s to determine if any contain traces of ancient life. The cost of sample return is $132 million per ounce, or $4.7 million per gram, which is about 70,000 times the price of gold. The first extraterrestrial material returned to […] Written by Chris Impey November 24, 2023November 24, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
A Guide To The Ideas Of Modern Philosopher Slavoj Žižek Key Takeaway: Slavoj Žižek, a philosopher and cultural theorist, has written numerous books on various topics, including philosophy, psychoanalysis, pop culture, and commentary on recent events. He is known for his controversial debate with Jordan Peterson in 2019 about the connection between Marxism, capitalism, and happiness. Žižek’s work often critiques political ideologies, which can explain […] Written by Empirics Asia November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Inside The Minds Of Magicians Key Takeaway: A study examining the mental health of magicians found that they exhibited similar traits to people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia and autism. Magicians, who both create and perform their own shows, require precision and technical skills to entertain the audience. They scored lower on nearly every psychotic symptom compared to the general […] Written by Gils Greengross November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
How Netflix Has Been Growing Itself Key Takeaway: Netflix, a streaming giant, experienced a decline in subscribers in 2022 due to competition from Disney and Amazon Prime. However, it has since rebounded, adding 8.8 million subscribers in Q3 2023. The company’s success can be attributed to its international approach, with over 70% of its subscribers coming from outside the US. It […] Written by Jean Chalaby November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Is Time Travel Possible? Key Takeaway: Time travel, the idea of moving between different points in time, has been a popular fantasy for centuries. However, the question of whether time is reversible remains unresolved in science. The second law of thermodynamics suggests that the universe can either remain the same or become more disordered over time. Albert Einstein’s theory […] Written by Adi Foord November 14, 2023November 14, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
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 […] Written by Matthew Ricketson November 7, 2023November 7, 2023 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Do Racehorses Even Know They’re Racing? Key Takeaway: Horse racing is a spectacle where horses race to win a race. From a horse’s perspective, winning a race has few intrinsic rewards. While being first to reach the finishing post is important for the horse’s human connections, there is little direct benefit to motivate it to voluntarily gallop faster. Horses are social […] Written by Cathrynne Henshall November 6, 2023November 6, 2023 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