Bigger houses aren’t making people happier.
They’re just taking up more space. That’s the conclusion, published in The Atlantic, of researchers looking at how satisfied people are with their homes – […]
economics
The cryptocurrency of ancient Yap.
Science reveals the strange similarities, found by archaeologist Scott Fitzpatrick of the University of Oregon, between the very modern cryptocurrency markets and the very ancient […]
80 percent of America is a Third-World Nation: M.I.T. Economist.
The Institute for New Economic Thinking has a rather grim look at America’s economic future (and present), courtesy of an M.I.T. economist, Professor Emeritus Peter […]
The poop economy is flourishing.
Nature gets to the fundamentals of the filthy lucre we’re finding in filth: The facility is called Pivot, and its founder is Ashley Muspratt, a […]
Poverty shrinks kids’ brains.
Nature measures the price of poverty, and the effect it has on children. A bi-coastal study has found that poverty shrinks kids’ brains from birth: […]
Humor boosts the bottom line. (Call it “funny business.”)
Scientific American examines what’s so wise about cracking up at meetings: …Lehmann-Willenbrock and Allen explored whether humor in the workplace might also help a corporation […]
Deutsche Bank says solar has already won.
RenewEconomy follows the money in alternative energy, and focuses on a Deutsche Bank report that finds ever-cheaper batteries will make existing solar power tech way […]
Solar power beats coal, in (Australian) dollars and cents.
The Guardian has more on the power-station throwdown in which solar power is winning the race: Last week, for the first time in memory, the […]
Driverless cars: an economic problem.
Another one for the unintended consequences file? From Slashdot (not normally a research reporting resource, but bear with us) we hear a note of concern […]
Specific numbers make negotiations more favorable. For you. Not the other guy.
Doesn’t matter who you are or what you want, University Herald explains. The negotiator who asks for the specific number gets the upper hand: Research […]
One bank account makes saving easier.
PhysOrg flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that holds “out of sight, out of mind” as a savings strategy. Instead, we save better […]
Real money. Virtual currency. Hard rules.
New Scientist adds up the arguments over bitcoins, the computer-generated form of money. We’re now seeing plans to regulate the imaginary currency: Virtual currencies are […]
If you were an MIT math student, you’d fix the lottery too.
Boston Globe blows the lid off an M.I.T. syndicate that appears to have made a cool $8 million fixing the lottery: [Massachusetts Inspector General Gregory […]
MIT: Facebook is about to kill the Internet. (Seriously?)
MIT’s Technology Review is not a publication ordinarily given to hyperbole. So it’s a little distracting when their web desk declares that Facebook is heading […]
SONG: “Inside the Box”
SONG: “Inside the Box.” [Download] (To download: double right-click & “Save As”) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on “CEOs and the Candle Problem”, Nature, “A Mad […]