The Present

What if you found out your disaster relief donation did more harm than good? Juanita Rilling explains the humanitarian logistics of unwanted donations, and how you can give in a more informed way.

Bitcoin will bring a seismic shift in global finance, says Toni Lane Casserly: “If you are an institution with integrity, generally I would say you don’t have anything to worry about.” … So long to the world as we know it.

A recent study has found “significant evidence of racial discrimination” in ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft. If you’re black, you may be more likely to find your ride canceled or be subjected to longer wait times.

Election day is near and photos of people casting their ballots have already started to flow onto social media. But, depending on what state you live in, that voting selfie might be illegal  

History’s most powerful female leaders, ranked.

The polls are in, and what will be the deciding factor in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election is something a little more human. 

If Donald Trump’s political strategies look familiar, says Tim Wu, it’s because we’ve seen them before. Where? In the totalitarian regimes of China, North Korea, and Germany.

What happens when Shakespeare goes to prison? His works humanize prisoners and open them up to reform in a way that the prison system fails to, says author Margaret Atwood.

Driverless cars are nothing short of a revolution – not a technological revolution, but a social one, that will determine how fast we can accept, adapt and trust these new systems to change our lives.       Driverless cars may be borne out of science fiction, but they are fast becoming realities on tomorrow’s roadways. The transition from driver to robot is nothing short of a revolution. Not a technological revolution, but a social one, that will determine how fast we can accept, adapt and trust these new systems to change how and where we live, work, play and interact with each other.   

The future success or failure of the economy is up to the young, and many countries could do better to equip them.

Can you legislate for good human behavior, or does proposing laws to imprison those who use racial slurs distract from actual progress?

The most impactful technology inventions in history are ranked.

Elon Musk wants to put 1 million people on Mars in 40 years. The internet had questions. Here are his answers. 

How does our perception of social status relate to health and success?

Tesla’s Elon Musk gives a grave warning to those trying to hold back self-driving car technology. According to him, we have it all backwards.

Some patients who went through gender reassignment surgery reported feeling just as out of place. A few were even suicidal. 

A new study from Cornell University shows how metaphors influence our ability to be impressed by genius and uncovers a gender hook – it seems we prefer to conceive of male genius as an exciting idea explosion, and female genius as a long, hard labor of hard work. 

How do we make fair contracts? These guys figured it out, and their work has implications in ethical and business questions about companies like Enron and privatized prisons.

Will this EU power be the first to prove that a modern, industrialized nation can make major shifts towards cleaner, greener energy without catastrophe?

Find a penny, pick it up, all year long, you’ll have that f*cking penny. There is a mounting consensus that the US should retire its tiniest coin. 

Two billionaires are apparently funding research into how we can escape the simulation they believe we’re trapped in.

People tend to believe that learning in the style they feel best suited to makes them soak up information more efficiently. This study debunks that belief.

The question isn’t, “Are you a narcissist?” — it’s “Which type are you?”

The CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation lays out three tools to boost innovative ideas and re-draw the frontiers of business and creativity.

Has the oldest problem in the book become taboo again? C. Nicole Mason expresses concern over a nation-wide moral failure that is leaving the U.S.’s most vulnerable to struggle in silence.

The average person checks their phone 200 times a day. It borders on addiction for some, but according to cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken there are easy ways to unlearn this compulsion.

Swiping a bank card and Venmo-ing your friends has made money more abstract than ever – and therefore so much easier to thoughtlessly spend. A proposed new tech device would make cash-free purchases tactile again.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes a species of bumble bee – the rusty patched bumble bee – should be under federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.  

Researchers at MIT have developed a system that can read a person’s emotions, even hidden ones, at a distance.

Job automation won’t be as bad as we think, so we need to learn how to stop working and prepare so we’re not dragged into the future kicking and screaming.