The aging population faces a severe threat from the very institutions charged with providing their care. The healthcare field is bracing itself for the imminent surge in demand created by the Boomer population. As more aging adults enter long-term care, safety is a growing concern. The cost of long-term in-patient senior care averaged $7,500 to […] … learn more→

“Can machines think?”, asked the famous mathematician, code breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing almost 70 years ago. Today, some experts have no doubt that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will soon be able to develop the kind of general intelligence that humans have. But others argue that machines will never measure up. Although AI can already outperform humans on certain tasks – […] … learn more→

We hear the mantra “support our troops” all the time, and for good reason: most people are very grateful for the men and women who dedicate years of their lives to protecting our country. Unfortunately, we don’t always take the best care of our soldiers once they return home. The United States Department of Veteran’s […] … learn more→

A new strategy to tackle bullying of children both inside and outside the school gates was recently released by the South Australian Department of Education. It has adopted the national definition of bullying that directly links it to a misuse of power. The strategy also questions the role “movies, television, newspapers and the internet” could play in promoting violence. But bullying […] … learn more→

Over the past four decades the child protection system in England has increasingly concentrated on preventing the abuse and neglect of young children in their homes. In response to multiple government inquiries, such as those following the killing of eight-year-old Victoria Climbié and 17-month-old, Peter Connelly (known as “Baby P”), the focus has been to reduce risk and prevent the abuse […] … learn more→

Coming up with a good creative idea is hard. We do not fully understand how this process works, but there are certain techniques that have proved successful in fostering creativity, such as mind-mapping, brainstorming or creating conditions for free experimentation. Many big companies (such as design agencies) embrace these practices in the way they work. The rapid […] … learn more→

As I recover from lung surgery #2 (and a new 9″ scar), a somewhat shorter post than usual. A while back I wrote about Chinese influence on our campuses; I still believe it’s an infinitesimally small problem compared to other issues in higher ed, but a reader took me to task for it, believing I […] … learn more→

Citizens and policymakers around the world are grappling with how to limit companies’ use of data about individuals – and how private various types of information should be. But anthropologists like me know that cultures vary widely in their views of what is private and who is responsible for protecting privacy. Just like online privacy, real-world privacy […] … learn more→

Immortality has been a topic of discussion since the legend of the Holy Grail. Some people have gone as far as cryogenic freezing after death in the hope that one day science will have advanced enough to resurrect them. Others believe the route to immortality lies in the digital realm. The theory that humans can be digitised and […] … learn more→

Not content with monitoring almost everything you do online, Facebook now wants to read your mind as well. The social media giant recently announced a breakthrough in its plan to create a device that reads people’s brainwaves to allow them to type just by thinking. And Elon Musk wants to go even further. One of the Tesla boss’s […] … learn more→