Night comes quickly, a steady dimming of the light as crickets and frogs take over from the daytime chorus of birds and cicadas. I and my local guide, Kwesi, tuck into rice and fish cooked over a camping stove. On other occasions, I have accompanied hunters to the forest and eaten kusie (giant pouched rat) […] … learn more→

I’m on my way to Cocharcas, a town in the southern Peruvian Andes. As I bump along in a crowded minivan, I run through some questions in my head. They relate to my research into local cults and pilgrimage and they explain why I am here. The biggest question is: how can we explain the […] … learn more→

Text messaging leads people to be more deceitful when compared to other modes of communication, according to Sauder School of Business researchers at the University of British Columbia. Their study compares the level of deceit people are prepared to use in a variety of media, from text messages to face-to-face interactions. “People are communicating using […] … learn more→

If its not local (or at least regional)….. its not sustainable! … learn more→

As an investment manager and a member of the Gamble family that founded Procter & Gamble, I (Jim) am often asked to sit on nonprofit boards. Increasingly, I’ve grown more uncomfortable with the term not-for-profit to describe these organizations, some of which embrace business principles in their operations and outlook. One such operation is Dance […] … learn more→

Scientists have succeeded for the first time to turn the Weaire-Phelan foam model – a celebrated geometrical concept which received additional notoriety when used in Beijing’s Olympic Games iconic building the Water Cube – into real foam. In 1994, Denis Weaire and Robert Phelan of Trinity College Dublin’s School of Physics made a landmark discovery […] … learn more→

Sunlight is an unlimited source of non-polluting energy. Most power plants currently produce electricity with steam turbines. The heat to generate the steam is supplied by the combustion of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, or coal. Staggering volumes of carbon dioxide gas are produced through the combustion process. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse […] … learn more→

Tom Edsall has covered every presidential campaign since 1968. He has reported on politics from more than 30 states and written five books on the subject. He sees politics in virtually everything. “If I’m walking down Broadway and I see a school bus hit a police car, my first thought is, does this help the […] … learn more→

The application process for the full-time M.B.A. program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management has gone completely paperless. Starting this admissions season, applications are being evaluated solely on iPads, eliminating the need for any printed forms, essays, recommendations, transcripts or other documents. Using a new mobile application provided by Matchbox, a Boston-based software company, […] … learn more→

Imagine a home in which every appliance — computer, television, washing machine, refrigerator, air conditioner — can carry on a minute-by-minute \”conversation\” with the local power grid, allowing the devices to power down when the price of electricity is at a premium and to consume energy when it is cheapest. Such smart-grid technologies can lead […] … learn more→