The car industry has accounted for 15 percent of post-2009 GDP growth.
America’s amazing car recovery explains the U.S. economy. But how does the U.S. economy explain America’s amazing auto recovery?
Continue reading… “The future of the U.S. auto industry in 14 charts”
Federal research funding is down.
The U.S. arguably needs its scientists more than ever, but federal research funding is way down. According to data collected by a coalition of top scientific and medical research groups, the majority are spending more time writing grants for less payoff than just three years ago. Nearly 20 percent report they’re considering more supportive climes overseas. From The Huffington Post:
Continue reading… “20% of scientists considering leaving the U.S.”
80% of us manage between six and nine hours a night; the other 20% sleep more or less than this.
A third of our lives is wasted sleeping – at least that’s how some people see it. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day sometimes. When you feel that way do you yearn to be like the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was said to get by on just four hours sleep a night, or the artist Salvador Dali who wasted as little time as possible slumbering?
Continue reading… “Can you train yourself to need less sleep?”
Noise-canceling headphones could boost both the speed and reliability of Internet connections.
According to researchers, the basic mechanism behind noise-canceling headphones could boost both the speed and reliability of Internet connections. Their findings were published via Nature Photonics.
Workers can now be analyzed like any other data.
As it turns out, bosses really do matter and they may matter more than we even realize. For example, in telephone call centers where hourly workers handle a steady stream of calls under demanding conditions, the communication skills and personal warmth of an employee’s supervisor are often crucial in determining the employee’s tenure and performance. Recent research shows that the quality of the supervisor may be more important than the experience and individual attributes of the workers themselves.
Continue reading… “Trying to build better workers with big data”
Scientists clone 581 mice from one mouse.
Japanese scientists have taken cloning to a whole new level. They have managed to push the technique to new limits by cloning 581 mice – all from a single original cell. If their results can be replicated in other animals it could provide a way for virtually unlimited supplies of genetically superior farm animals or other animals important to research.
Continue reading… “Japanese scientists create 581 clones from the same mouse”
Research has shown that the differences between the male and female visual cortex means that men and women literally see the world differently. From differences in sensitivity to color, patterns, and hue to being more or less sensitive to movement against a pattern, understanding and making use of these differences in visual processing is essential to many fields such as advertising, manufacturing, and video development
Continue reading… “Men and women really do see the world differently”
There is no evidence that prior founding experience is translating into superior performance for social entrepreneurs.
All of the conventional wisdom and research says entrepreneurs with prior entrepreneurial experience outperform entrepreneurs who have never launched a new enterprise. Investors know that it’s often wiser to bet on someone who has started something before.
Continue reading… “Startup experience doesn’t help social entrepreneurs”
Stories about a disgraced researcher get pulled by WordPress.
A crazy story came to light after a DMCA takedown notice last week. The story involves falsified medical research, plagiarism, and legal threats. The site, Retraction Watch has followed the implosion of a Duke cancer researcher’s career (among the many other issues they follow), found a lot of its articles on the topic pulled by WordPress, its host. Why did this happen? It turns out that a small site in India copied all of the posts and claimed them as their own. They then filed a DMCA takedown notice to get the original posts pulled from their source. The original posts are still missing as their actual owners seek to have them restored.
Continue reading… “Site files DMCA takedown notice on blog it plagiarized”
Ed Gracely, biostatistics professor, provides seven questions to ask while reading health studies.
One potential roadblock in producing good research is the problems with how researchers measure statistical significance. Laypeople can spot many others much easier.
Continue reading… “7 important questions to ask when reading medical research”
Are taller workers smarter?
Taller workers earn a substantial wage premium. Studies that go back to the middle of the last century attribute the premium to non-cognitive abilities, which are associated with stature and rewarded in the labor market. More recent research argues that cognitive abilities explain the stature-wage relationship.
Continue reading… “Do taller workers earn more money because they are more intelligent?”
Multitasking is attempting to handle more than one task simultaneously.
As part of Simon Hørup Eskildsen’s, a ruby developer, research of super productivity, he has explored the topics of context switching and multitasking. Eskildsen found that multitasking has a tremendous effect on how we approach tasks and too much multitasking can negatively alter how our brain processes information.
Continue reading… “Does multitasking make you dumber?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.