Technology & Innovation — March 4, 2011

The (Online) Future for Lawyers

Are the days of billable hours nearly over for lawyers? LawPivot is a site designed to aid startups find legal advice, by using a Quora-type question and answer format.

bigthinkeditor

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Tech does a good job disrupting a lot of the lower-end parts of business, from manufacturing to human resources. Now perhaps social media will start coming at the high end. LawPivot is a site designed to aid startups find legal advice, by using a Quora-type question and answer format. …LawPivot is interesting both as a clear business model — charging money in a clearly-defined vertical, as opposed to the usual ad-supported business of general interest question sites — and as a potential shape of things to come. If it works for law, why not consulting, finance, even medicine?

The most counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Collage of classical art suggesting a theme related to somatic markers.

Business

How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain.

A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.

Starts With A Bang

How logic and reasoning can fail as scientific tools

In logic, ‘reductio ad absurdum’ shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.

A wooden sign indicating "assisted migration rep 2" in a pine forest under a clear blue sky.

Life

Moving trees north to save the forests

As the world warms, trees in forests such as those in Minnesota will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in.

Historical map illustration depicting a planned city layout with a circular central area and radiating streets.

Strange Maps

Ohio’s Circleville ditched the grid system. Then it got squared.

A small Ohio town tried to escape America’s addiction to rectangular grids. It didn’t last long.

Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing

Starts With A Bang

Flagship NASA space telescope faces a penny-pinching death

NASA’s only flagship X-ray telescope ever, Chandra, still works and has no planned successor. So why does the President want to kill it?

Up Next

Surprising Science

Square to be Our New Payment Network?

David Kirkpatrick talks to Jack Dorsey about his taxicab inspiration, his ejection as Twitter’s C.E.O., and his ambition to make Square the payment network of the future.