EDITOR'S PICK SCIENCE SOCIOLOGY TECHNOLOGY The Rise Of Robotic Kitchens Key Takeaway: The rise of robotic kitchens is transforming the way we prepare and consume meals, potentially altering the fabric of society. While these innovations are currently being adopted primarily by restaurants and food businesses, it’s only a matter of time before they make their way into homes. The convenience of robotic kitchens could bring […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY Our Fear Of Saying “No” Key Takeaway: A recent study found that people tend to underestimate the negative implications of declining an invitation, even when it’s not accepted. People tend to assume others will react poorly when an invitation isn’t accepted, but they’re relatively unaffected when someone turns down an invite they’ve extended. People extending invites are more understanding and […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY Why Are We Still So Obsessed With The Titanic? Key Takeaway The Titanic, the world’s most famous ship, was sunk on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912. The disaster inspired songs and films, including James Cameron’s 1997 epic romance. The Titanic’s opulence and the power of the sea have attracted the super-rich to risk their lives to see the wreck. The ship’s […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK TECHNOLOGY The Future Of Taste Key Takeaway: In the past decade dining out has become a cultural touchstone and an essential form of entertainment. Gastronomy tourism continues to rise each year as people travel the world to seek out new dining experiences. After World War II, big shifts in transportation led to the emergence of new types of restaurants. TV, […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS EDITOR'S PICK What’s A Ghost Kitchen? While the phrase “ghost kitchen” may conjure up images of haunted houses, the reality is a bit more mundane. Ghost kitchens are food prep operations with no waiters, no dining room and no parking lot – really, no public presence whatsoever. But on food delivery apps, they’re alive and well. In short, ghost kitchens are physical […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK POLITICS SCIENCE The End Of Plastic One of the greatest lies ever sold to humanity is the recyclability of plastics. The three green arrows placed on packaging were supposed to be a symbol of progress — a symbol that we would take better care to reuse materials and lessen the strain on our planet. Instead, the recycling icon became the opposite. […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
ART & DESIGN CULTURE EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY Who Are Zoos For? In May 1937, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the quiet town of Dudley, England for the grand opening of a new zoo. Throngs of visitors battled for entry for a space that could hold 50,000 a day, leaving many disappointed. Those lucky enough to gain entry would have seen the wonders of modern […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK PSYCHOLOGY What To Do When Life Is On Hold I get it. You have COVID ennui. I do, too, but as long as we have our health and our jobs, both 2020 and 2021 deserve nothing but to be met with gratitude. Not everyone is as lucky. The truth is, until last year sent us hiding, we were all running at full tilt with our default lives, scarcely […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
EDITOR'S PICK SOCIOLOGY The Precautionary Principle Wikipedia defines the Precautionary Principle as “a broad epistemological, philosophical and legal approach to [ideas] with potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. It emphasizes caution, pausing and review before leaping into new [behaviors] that may prove disastrous. Critics argue that it is vague, self-cancelling, unscientific and an obstacle to progress.” Its […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
JOURNAL & RESEARCH SOCIOLOGY Understanding Otakus & Sex Robots Social robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life and sex robots are a sub-category of especially high public interest and controversy. Starting from the concept of the otaku, a term from Japanese youth culture that describes secluded persons with a high affinity for fictional manga characters, we examine individual differences behind sex robot appeal (anime […] Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Immortality Dilemma Key Takeaway: The quest for eternal life has been a booming industry, attracting billionaires, scientists, and wellness gurus who believe it could cheat death. However, the pursuit of life extension raises ethical and philosophical questions. The idea that aging can be slowed or reversed has been marketed to the masses, but neither Pearson nor Shaw […] Written by Empirics Asia March 4, 2025March 4, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Hidden Dimensions Of Reality Key Takeaway: The universe may be far more complex than we initially think, with the possibility of a higher-dimensional structure that twists and folds in ways unseen. Mathematicians study all possible shapes and dimensions in geometric topology, revealing a universe that may be far from the simple, empty expanse we assume. Modern physics, particularly string […] Written by Empirics Asia March 3, 2025March 3, 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 “True Love” Key Takeaway: Plato’s concept of love is more profound than the idea of finding a missing half. The origins of this idea can be traced back to Plato’s philosophical text, Symposium, which argues that love should be more than just physical attraction or emotional closeness. It should lead to the pursuit of wisdom, truth, and […] Written by Empirics Asia February 18, 2025February 18, 2025 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
The Psychology Of Pain Key Takeaway: Pain is an evolutionary mechanism designed to protect the human body from harm. However, recent discoveries reveal that pain can be controlled by harnessing the brain’s natural painkillers. Pain is not a physical sensation but is actively created by the nervous system, which sends distress signals to the brain when tissue damage is […] Written by Empirics Asia February 17, 2025February 17, 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