Next year is the centennial of the beginning of World War I. What a terribly horrific war. The effects of that war are still with us today, though so many of us think that it all ended in 1918. Not so. Germany completed its final reparation …
What would you do with 360 hours?
If you had 360 hours, what would you accomplish? What project would you take on? How about build a 30 story building? Check out this innovative Chinese building company, Broad Group, putting up a 30 story building in just 360 hours. …
The power of the mobile phone to end poverty
TED Talk by Iqbal Quadir "The power of the mobile phone to end poverty". From the TED website: "Iqbal Quadir tells how his experiences as a kid in poor Bangladesh, and later as a banker in New York, led him to start a mobile phone operator …
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Undergraduate Education is Upside Down
Universally (nearly, at least) undergraduate education starts with a bunch of general education courses that all students must complete before graduation. These courses are taught as introductions to specific fields and/or as weed-out courses. That …
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How stats fool juries
TED Talk by Peter Donnelly "How stats fool juries". We are all more credulous than we realize. "Oxford mathematician Peter Donnelly reveals the common mistakes humans make in interpreting statistics -- and the devastating impact these errors can …
Why people believe weird things
An entertaining TED Talk that encourages us to reflect on our own credulities. "Why people believe weird things" "Why do people see the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich or hear demonic lyrics in "Stairway to Heaven"? Using video and music, skeptic …