The Evolution of Earth’s Magnetic Field

Number of words: 712 In a study appearing March 15 in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Scripps Oceanography researchers Dave Stegman, Leah Ziegler, and Nicolas Blanc provide new estimates for the thermodynamics of magnetic field generation within the liquid portion of the early Earth’s mantle and show how long that field was available. … Read more

The Role of Home Gardens in Preventing Ecological Collapse

Number of words: 960 There are, by some estimates, more than 40 million acres of green lawns in the U.S.,  making turf grass the largest irrigated crop in the country. A new book suggests that landowners repurpose some of their landscaping for another purpose: creating a “Homegrown National Park,” a connected network of more natural … Read more

The Rise of Nationalism: A Threat to Global Stability

Number of words: 2,289 In January and February of this year, there was audible popping of champagne corks in certain quarters of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. What some observers had long seen as this era’s giant geopolitical bubble had finally begun to deflate. China’s Communist Party leadership, the thinking went, was at last coming … Read more

The Irony of Intelligence in a Culture of Stupidity

Number of words: 1,920 The late Gore Vidal once confessed, with characteristic rapier wit, “I love stupidity. It excites me.” But the excitement and hilarity of human foibles and failures diminish rapidly when the consequences include more than 100,000 corpses.  Stupidity is a steadfast provider of humor and tragedy in Freedom Central, otherwise known as … Read more

The Intersection of Law and Persuasive Technology

Number of words: 143 Technology makes for easier persuasion and nudging — what B.J. Fogg at Stanford calls persuasive technology — and makes it far more potent. So, the British government’s Central Office of Information, they’ve said, “Look we’ve tried advertising with seatbelts for years. It didn’t really work. And so, we made it illegal … Read more