John M. Burkey— “How can I help?” is a common refrain from family and friends of a person with hearing loss. Spouses want to alleviate their partner’s struggles and frustration. Children want to prevent an aging parent’s autonomy from being affected. Acquaintances of all kinds want to improve communication not
In the landmark 1986 book Origins of Sex, biologist Lynn Margulis and science writer Dorion Sagan trace the first appearance of sex back billions of years, to bacteria. Here, they describe the complex evolutionary history that their book will seek to untangle. The following is an excerpt from the introduction.
Jessica Barnes and Michael Dove— An August 2012 edition of The New Yorker magazine adopted an unseasonal topic for its front cover: Santa Claus. In the illustration, Santa is slumped on the ground against a striped pole, cheeks flushed, under the yellow orb of a bright sun. In place of
John M. Burkey— A quick glance across the room drew my attention to the “Big Book of Worms.” Not surprisingly, this wasn’t the correct title to the brightly colored children’s book. Perhaps my misperception had been the result of poor lighting, my inner wish to be elsewhere fishing, or just
Edward Castronova— Three years ago, the digerati were abuzz about the idea of a “real” virtual currency. That turned out not to be the killer app. We still face the full disintermediation of the finance industry, but it’s being driven not by digital currencies but by digital wallets. What’s the
As a reflection of the state of environmental debates in the United States, the Senate recently could not pass an amendment to the Keystone XL pipeline bill affirming that “human activity significantly contributes to climate change” (although an earlier amendment to the bill declaring the “climate change is real and
Priyamvada Natarajan— Predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, black holes are the most enigmatic objects in the universe. They are so compact and their gravitational pull is so intense that not even light can escape from them. Well before physicists co-opted the term “black hole” to describe these dark,
Stephen W. Kress is the National Audubon Society’s Vice President for Bird Conservation and director of the Audubon Seabird Restoration Program and Hog Island Audubon Camp. He is the author of Project Puffin: The Improbable Quest to Bring a Beloved Seabird Back to Egg Rock. We recently had the chance to ask
Tony Angell— To most of us owls are mysterious and elusive creatures of the night. That they can freely operate in darkness that leaves us gripping a flashlight to make our way, contributes to their singular standing among birds. Of course their broad feathered faces collect all available light to
James Bessen is an economist and lecturer at Boston University Law School. He is the author of Learning by Doing: The Real Connection between Innovation, Wages, and Wealth. In a recent conversation, we had the chance to talk about the effect technology has on wages and job availability. Yale University Press: In your