Science & Society
Hank |
A solid 12 years after most of its audience stopped watching "The West Wing", I decided to start - all 154 episodes. In the interest of transparency, I disclose I skipped two - one was a retrospective and one was nothing but a debate between two characters that no one could care much about
who were running for president to succeed the sitting president played by Martin Sheen. Real debates are boring enough but a fictional one written by one political side is really tedious.
What I learned is what many people in its fan base probably knew: Aaron Sorkin, when properly contained, can…
There are lots and lots of claims about quality - seals of approval are common in lots of businesses, but in the 'sustainable' real estate industry they are frequently touted – and inherently meaningless due to a lack of transparency (see LEED program for energy savings is faith-based more than science-based?).
A study conducted by MODUL University Vienna examined the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in sustainable real estate in Austria and throughout the world. In addition to a survey of international green building councils, a comprehensive case study explored five different…
Do selfies belong at funerals? Daniel Incandela, CC BY-SA
By Bjorn Nansen, University of Melbourne; James Meese, University of Melbourne; Martin Gibbs, University of Melbourne; Michael Arnold, University of Melbourne, and Tamara Kohn, University of Melbourne
Funerals increasingly employ digital media; and a growing body of research addresses the intersection of digital culture and traditional memorializing practices.
Commonly-used digital media include PowerPoint slides prepared in advance by family, friends, and sometimes the deceased themselves. Less common, but increasing in popularity, is…
The cost of a degree just keeps rising. Is it still worth it? Shutterstock
By Robert Reich, University of California, Berkeley
The early admissions deadlines for universities across the country have come and gone, and acceptance letters are on their way. But with the cost of a four-year college education rising an average of 5% a year, many students and parents are likely wondering whether the cost of a degree is worth it.
The simple answer is yes because people with degrees continue to earn far more than those without them. Last year, Americans with four-year college degrees earned on…
A woman sniffs a glass of wine during a tasting event in Beijing. Reuters
By Pierre Ly, Puget Sound University and Cynthia Howson, University of Washington
China’s wine industry has exploded in recent years, with the number of wineries more than doubling over the past decade, propelling the country past Australia to become the world’s 7th-largest producer. What is driving this fast-paced growth and is the quality of Chinese wine improving?
“They make wine in China?!” is the most common reaction we get outside of the region, even from people in the trade. People who have been to China and…
World War One Christmas Truce Commemoration match – but it's debated whether the original ever happened. Mike Egerton/PA Wire
By William Keylor, Boston University
The Christmas Truce is no stranger to popular entertainment – this year more than any other as its 100th anniversary is marked. The famous moment when British and German soldiers climbed out of the trenches in peace on Christmas Day 1914 has been replicated and ruminated upon in history books, film, and propaganda – and now advertising. In the UK, the supermarket Sainsbury’s 2014 Christmas advert dramatizes the event, prompting…
Smile, though your heart is aching. Morgan, CC BY
By Annie Austin, University of Manchester
The idea that data on happiness and well-being can be used to guide government policy has steadily gained popularity over the past decade. But as we seek ways to replace, or at least complement GDP as a measure of national success, we risk falling into old traps.
One measure that is gaining popularity all over the world is particularly problematic.
It has long been accepted that GDP is a woefully inadequate measure of national well-being. As Bobby Kennedy put it as far back as 1968, this type of macro…
Francesco Botticini's The Assumption of the Virgin shows the heavenly hierarchies at play.
By Martin Parker, University of Leicester
One of the oldest assumptions about organizing comes directly from the angels. In the 5th century, the mysterious theologian Pseudo-Dionysius wrote the definitive book on angelic hierarchies, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. He asserted that there were nine orders of hierarchy, ranging from the most humble messenger angels to the most elevated archangels.
At the top, obviously, was God. And this analysis has filtered down to the way that management structures and…
In the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale (1953), British MI6 agent James Bond designed his own martini, comprising three measures of Gordon's gin, one of vodka and half a measure of Kine Lillet (vermouth) shaken until it's ice cold and served with a slice of lemon peel.
He named it a 'Vesper' after his love interest Vesper Lynd but he never drank the Vesper again in the books.
Shaking a martini was...working class. Drink experts knew then and know now that you don't do it, because it aerates the drink as ice breaks off. You shake drinks with egg or citrus. It is believed that Fleming had…
We might think that Christmas is more commercial now than in the past - and the season certainly starts earlier - but when it comes to one key barometer the 1950s were pretty bad.
Though the 1950s had lots of cultural problems compared to today, economically things were much better, with lower taxes, less government interference, and most families having only one parent forced to work outside the home. And that meant spending money, but there were no malls or online retailers so everyone had to come into town to shop.
In December 1958, central London was so gridlocked by traffic caused by…