Esteemed Harvard Business Professor Explains the Happy Accident of How She Landed at Harvard. It's a Lesson for Every Leader You are your own worst enemy when it comes to being a better leader. Continued here |
Sorry, Star Trek Fans: This Sci-fi Exoplanet Doesn't Actually Exist
Fans of Star Trek were over the Moon when, in 2018, astronomers with the Dharma Planet Survey (DPS) announced the possible detection of 40 Eridani b, an extrasolar planet in the star system 40 Eridani. Located just 16.3 light-years away, this triple-star system happens to be where the planet Vulcan was located in the popular franchise. Based on radial velocity measurements of the system’s primary star (40 Eridani A), the discovery team estimated that “Vulcan” was a rocky planet several times the mass of Earth (a Super-Earth) with an orbital period of 42 days or so. Continued here |
How Emotionally Intelligent People Use the 5 Finger Rule to Become Exceptionally Persuasive I think it's worth the effort of a little bit of simple memorization. Continued here |
Warren Buffett Says He Hires People With Warren Buffett warns leaders to not neglect this very important business virtue. Continued here |
Here's an Almost Foolproof Way to Get People to Do What You Want, According to a Leadership Professor Want to influence people's behavior? Keep this hard-wired human trait in mind. Continued here |
20 Years Ago, An All-Star Cast Made an Awesomely Stupid Sci-fi Disaster Movie
If nothing else, this sci-fi flick can teach young actors how to keep a straight face no matter what. Some of the best disaster movies make little scientific sense. Will a team of oil workers save us from certain destruction, or will a basic computer virus bring down an alien fleet that traveled across the universe? But few apocalypses test an audience’s suspension of disbelief like The Core, Jon Amiel’s wacky, illogical journey to the center of the earth. Continued here |
4 Key Management Lessons You Can Learn From Family Businesses Forget Succession -- family-run companies offer valuable insights on issues from governance to workplace dynamics. Continued here |
You Need to Play the Best Metroidvania on Xbox Game Pass ASAP
Love changes things. Maybe not overtly, but when we feel love for a franchise or artist or trend it takes away our objectivity. So whether a thing is true or not, our love sees it a certain way. We feel it. But how to express it? How can we create something that shows what we love to the world in a way that lets everyone see what we see? It’s a tall order, but Dead Cells has done it. Dead Cells is without question among the best metroidvania/roguelite experiences of this generation. Developed by Motion Twin, it hooked players with innovative mechanics and a retro vibe. Now it’s partnered with Konami to release the Return to Castlevania DLC, but it's more than cosmetics. From the music and style to the items and enemies, Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania shows a love and understanding of this legendary franchise that makes it a must-play for fans. Continued here |
The Western U.S. Had a Remarkably Wet Winter -- Can It Solve the Drought?
After three years of extreme drought, the Western U.S. finally gets a break. Mountain ranges are covered in deep snow, and water reservoirs in many areas are filling up following a series of atmospheric rivers that brought record rain and snowfall to large parts of the region. Many people are looking at the snow and water levels and asking: Is the drought finally over? Continued here |
Delta Air Lines Just Announced a Smart Idea, and Yes, You Should Definitely Copy It I sense a trend. And a lesson. Continued here |
MacBook Pro Users Swear by This Streamlined Mouse -- & It's Just $12 on Amazon
With all due respect to Apple trackpads, there are times when a mouse can offer more comfort and precision while working from your laptop. With customization features that will help improve your workflow, the best mice for MacBook Pros feel good in your hand and sync seamlessly with your device using Bluetooth technology. All the mice below feature Bluetooth technology, which can offer seamless connection for MacBook Pros. Some options also have the option to connect via a USB receiver (aka a “dongle”) that plugs into a USB-A port; this method is typically associated with a faster connection between devices, which is more important for precise tasks like gaming. But recent MacBook Pro models only have USB-C ports, which means you may need a dedicated adapter to connect via a dongle. Continued here |
One of the World's Most Popular Beverages Could Make the Water Crisis Worse
The fast-growing bottled water industry impacts the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in many ways. Bottled water is one of the world’s most popular beverages, and its industry is making the most of it. Since the millennium, the world has advanced significantly towards safe water for all. In 2020, 74 percent of humanity had access to safe water. This is 10 percent more than two decades ago. But that still leaves two billion people without access to safe drinking water. Continued here |
How to Overcome Your Fear of Making Mistakes
No one can reduce mistakes to zero, but you can learn to harness your drive to prevent them and channel it into better decision making. Here is how to become a more effective worrier: don’t be afraid or ashamed of your fear, use emotional agility to label your feelings and act on your values, focus on perfecting your processes not outcomes, broaden your thinking, recognize the value of leisure time, and avoid judgment-clouding noise. Continued here |
Case Study: What Does Diversity Mean in a Global Organization?
One big agenda item would be Alex’s decision on a key hire for Juno’s Asia operations. The person would be the second-in-command, reporting to the head of the unit, John Chang, and would help oversee Juno’s mainland-China manufacturing along with sales to Asian distributors, which had risen in recent years to meet the demand for Western entertainment. It was a critical role, and the plan was to find someone with experience in the region and the potential to grow the business who could eventually succeed John and take his board seat. Ideally the person would also diversify Juno’s leadership ranks—which, to Alex’s chagrin, were still mostly white and male. Continued here |
Labor very likely to win majority in NSW election
Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne With 36% of enrolled voters counted in today’s New South Wales state election, the Poll Bludger’s results currently have Labor leading in 53 of the 93 seats, the Coalition in 27, the Greens in three and independents in ten. Called seats are 43 Labor, 20 Coalition, two Greens and six independents. Continued here |
'Yellowjackets' First Big Season 2 Needle-Drop Foreshadows Its Greatest Conflict
Yellowjackets, TV’s greatest soccer-girls-gone-feral thriller, doesn’t waste time beating itself to its own punch. Episode 1 of Season 2, entitled “Friends, Romans, and Countrymen” concludes with a glaring clue about the show’s juiciest mystery. And it all starts with the doomed (and frozen) Jackie Taylor, and ends with an ominous needle drop. The last we see of Jackie Taylor (Ella Purnell), the formerly alive Yellowjackets team captain and It Girl (back in New Jersey, anyway), is in Yellowjackets’ wallop of a Season 1 finale, covered in snow and completely iced over. Jackie is found, with an eerie, peaceful, angelic expression on her blue face, by the rest of the Yellowjackets, who stare in utter shock as Shauna’s (Sophie Nélisse) animalistic wails echo across the Canadian wilderness. Shauna cries with a spine-tingling ferocity, sobbing because she feels at fault for Jackie’s death. After all, it was a blowout fight between Shauna and Jackie about their codependent and toxic BFF dynamic — and, well, the baby-sized elephant in the room — that prompted Jackie to sit out in the cold and eventually die there. Continued here |
5 Ways to Prepare Your Business Team to Tackle Any Market Change To survive and thrive in business today, you need every team member engaged and working together. Continued here |
The fight to expose corporations' real impact on the climate
Say you are a maker of computer graphics cards, under pressure from investors questioning your green credentials. You know what to do. You email your various departments, asking them to tally up their carbon emissions and the energy they consume. Simple enough. You write a report pledging a more sustainable future, in which your trucks are electrified and solar panels adorn your offices. Continued here |
Does Your Health Insurance Cover Mental Health?
Mental health care that’s expensive to the point of being inaccessible has been an issue for a long time, but it has taken on new urgency during the Covid-19 pandemic. For many people, waiting for insurance companies to get it together is not an option right now. Luckily, you may not have to wait. There are steps you can take to better manage these costs. Continued here |
How Republicans Are Handling Trump's Possible Indictment
Sometimes a fire drill can reveal useful information about how people might react in the event of a real emergency. At around 7:30 A.M. on Saturday, March 18th, Donald Trump pulled an alarm when he told his followers on Truth Social that he expected to be arrested the following Tuesday. He was wrong—the week passed with nary a mug shot. Still, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, is reportedly close to bringing an indictment against him, on charges related to a payment, in 2016, of a hundred and thirty thousand dollars to Stephanie Clifford, the adult-film actor known as Stormy Daniels. And Trump's post did set off a scramble. Just after 11 A.M. that Saturday, Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker of the House, denounced the anticipated indictment on both Twitter and Truth Social, calling it an "outrageous abuse of power." He said that he was "directing relevant committees" to investigate whether Bragg might be using federal funds to "subvert our democracy." At around 1 P.M., the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, posted, "God Bless President Trump. Real America knows this is all a sham." On Monday, Jordan and the Republican chairs of two other committees—James Comer, of Oversight, and Bryan Steil, of House Administration—sent a letter to Bragg requesting his testimony and all "documents and communications" on the matter. Bragg's office pushed back, and by the end of the week there was talk of subpoenas. Continued here |
The Power of Small Wins
What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers’ diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and perceptions that is critical to performance) than making progress in meaningful work. If a person is motivated and happy at the end of the workday, it’s a good bet that he or she achieved something, however small. If the person drags out of the office disengaged and joyless, a setback is likely to blame. Continued here |
Are you a chronic overthinker? Here's how you can stop it, according to experts
If you can't stop thinking about every situation relentlessly, then chances are you're a chronic overthinker. Simply put, overthinking can best be described as your mind running endlessly on a hamster wheel, with nowhere to go—other than the worst possible situations, of course. And it's definitely not a skill to be proud of. Sleepless nights, obsessing over every detail, anxiousness, and restlessness, all come as part and parcel of being a chronic overthinker. It's an endless loop that snowballs and can get rather detrimental, especially if not cared for. Experts give us insight into what causes the human brain to go into overdrive and overanalyze, and how to curb it. Continued here |
View from The Hill: Dutton saddles up for Aston race amid Victorian Liberal infighting
Byelections for leaders are rather like steeplechases for horses: there is always the risk of serious injury. Ahead of the 2018 super-Saturday contests, Bill Shorten had an impatient Anthony Albanese shaping up for a tilt in the event of a tumble. Shorten triumphed. Continued here |
4 Years Ago, 'Elden Ring's Developer Released the Perfect Ninja Game
From the first Demon Souls to 2022’s Elden Ring, FromSoftware is known for one thing above all else: difficulty. The studio makes games that are tough as nails and incredibly unforgiving, at least on the surface. While Elden Ring is already one of the most important games of the decade, and arguably the studio’s best game, it is not a perfect game. However, From Software achieved perfection four years ago when it released Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Souls games aren’t hard. That’s right, I said it! Ok, but seriously, the cloud that surrounds FromSoftware’s catalog of games is blown way out of proportion. Every FromSoftware game is built to be broken by the player in whatever way they choose and includes massive freedom to do this. This is all because of the key mechanic of upgrading your individual character throughout a playthrough, be it increasing vitality or endurance you can choose how you improve. Continued here |
How a NASA Drone Could Find Traces of Life on Saturn's Weirdest Moon
Titan, the second largest moon in our Solar System, is the only known moon with an atmosphere. The highly-anticipated Dragonfly robotic rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s moon Titan is scheduled to launch in 2027. When it arrives in the mid-2030s, it will hover and zoom around in the thick atmosphere of Titan, sampling the air and imaging the landscape. What could be more exciting than that!? Continued here |
A Photographic Mission to Make an Amazonian Tribe Known
In 1971, on assignment for a Brazilian magazine, the photographer and activist Claudia Andujar rode a small Cessna 185 to the remote Catrimani Mission, in the northern Amazon, and was guided into the rain forest in search of the Yanomami people. A famously isolated, “unacculturated” tribe—who, until a few decades prior, had almost no contact with outsiders—the Yanomami had become the object of intense anthropological investigation. Andujar (née Haas) had been raised in a half-Jewish family in what is now Romania, and had fled to Switzerland during the Second World War. She’d immigrated to New York City, where she studied humanities at Hunter College, before settling in São Paulo, in 1955. As a photojournalist, she had spent time documenting another Amazonian tribe, the Xikrin, but in the Yanomami she found not just a photo subject but a lifework. The year after her initial trip, using funding from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, she returned to the tribe for a more extended stay, during which she produced some of the most revealing images of Indigenous life ever recorded. Andujar employed idiosyncratic aesthetic sleights of hand to imbue her pictures with an otherworldliness. She shot through Vaseline-coated lens filters, giving some pictures a fuzzy, dreamlike feel, and deployed ultra-low-light infrared film, which lent an ethereal glow to some of her black-and-white pictures and acid hues to some of her color work. Her images—a selection of which are currently on view in New York City at the Shed, as a part of an exhibition titled “The Yanomami Struggle”—show members of the tribe on arduous hunts, bagging a monkey and a large black bird, whose wings one young woman spreads wide for the camera. For a collection of striking chiaroscuro portraits in the group’s yano, or common house, Andujar allotted a whole roll of precious film per sitting. Perhaps her most remarkable images are a series of frenetic flash photographs of reahu ceremonies—large, intercommunity feasts memorializing the recently deceased, during which men initiate contact with spirits, or xapiri, by way of a powerful psychedelic powder called yãkoana, which they blow up one another’s noses with a length of hollow reed. Continued here |
You've Probably Never Heard of These Random, Clever Things That Are So Damn Useful & Have Near-Perfect Reviews
There’s nothing quite like the thrill of picking up an item that you never knew existed but instantly fixes little headaches, covers eyesores, and makes household tasks easier — and that joy is exactly why these products all have tons of five-star ratings and glowing reviews. Whether you’re looking for clever home improvement products or even things that make hosting easier, this list has everything you didn’t know that you needed. But make sure to act fast: These random-but-beloved products are all so budget-friendly that they won’t stay in stock for long. Keep your phone, remote, and drink close with this sofa arm table that slides over the arm of a chair or couch to create a sturdy, stable surface. There’s no assembly required and reviewers report it works well for couch arms that run six to eight inches in width. Continued here |
Apple Has a Secret Recruiting Tool That Sets It Apart From All of Its Competition It isn't laying off any employees. Continued here |
Why "Should" Is Not Good For You
If your brain cascades into a series of “I shoulds,” leaving you too overwhelmed to initiate any items on your to-do list, know that you’re not alone. The word “should” implies that you have an obligation to complete an action and that there will be a consequence if you fail to do so. Sometimes this may be true, but it’s ultimately demotivating. Research shows that we’re more likely to be productive when we find work meaningful — not when we are driven by a fear of punishment. Continued here |
Why Getting Someone's Name Right Matters
Names are our identities. Often, they are deeply rooted in our social and cultural beliefs. Yet, historically, many people have anglicized their names to “fit in,” appear more mainstream, or gain social and cultural advantages in countries with dominant Anglo cultures. But names are more than monikers. Casually anglicizing names is not only disrespectful of people’s cultural heritage and traditions — it is also disrespectful of them. Here’s how to get better at pronouncing names. Continued here |
An Upcoming Space Mission Could Find a Holy Grail Planet
Alpha Centauri is our closest stellar neighbor, a binary star system located just 4.376 light-years away. Alpha Centauri is our closest stellar neighbor, a binary star system located just 4.376 light-years away. Despite its proximity, repeated astronomical surveys have failed to find hard evidence of extrasolar planets in this system. Part of the problem is that the system consists of two stars orbiting each other, which makes detecting exoplanets through the two most popular methods very challenging. In 2019, Breakthrough Initiatives announced they were backing a new project to find exoplanets next door — the Telescope for Orbit Locus Interferometric Monitoring of our Astronomical Neighbourhood (TOLIMAN, after the star’s ancient name in Arabic). Continued here |
Australia is now almost entirely held by Labor - but that doesn't necessarily make life easier for leaders
When Dominic Perrottet gave a gracious concession speech after his defeat in the New South Wales election on Saturday night, it was hard to avoid favourable comparison with the United States. There was no sign of rancour or hyper-partisanship. He praised Labor’s Chris Minns for a clean campaign. He predicted Minns would be a “fine” premier, urging people to “get behind him”. But in one respect, our politics do look more American: Australia now has “red” and “blue” states, although we reverse their political colour scheme. The maps have already begun to appear on social media. The Australian mainland, with its five states and two territories, is now “red”. Only little Tasmania remains “blue”, looking like an antipodean Taiwan, with the sole surviving Liberal government in the country. Continued here |
Earthquake Debris Could Create an Environmental Catastrophe in Türkiye and Syria
After recent earthquakes, Türkiye and Syria continue to grapple with a mass of rubble that could pollute, poison and alter the lives of everyone around it The earthquake that has destroyed parts of Türkiye and Syria is a tragedy for millions of families, including my own. One of the worst hit regions—around the ancient city of Antioch—is where my father’s family has lived for generations. This disaster has killed thousands of people and affected millions of others. Now that the last presumed survivors have been found, the region faces many other problems, including enormous amounts of debris from collapsed buildings, roads, and the like. This material is estimated to weigh up to 210 million tons—enough to cover Washington, D.C. four feet deep, or build a mound as tall as Mount Erciyes, a large volcano in Türkiye. Continued here |
'John Wick 4's Coolest Cinematic Trick Borrows From a Classic Film Legend
Early in the John Wick: Chapter 4, our titular hero (Keanu Reeves) is still hiding within the Bowery King's lair. As he bloodies his knuckles punching at a wooden block in a room filled with candles, the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) enters holding a new slick black suit for Wick. He hands the suit over, pulls out a match, strikes it, and then blows it out. The film then cuts to an orange desert horizon. This is a clear — and striking — homage by editor Nathan Orloff to one of the most famous jump cuts in cinema history. In David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, when Army officer T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) is given an assignment in the desert, he strikes a match to light a cigarette for British diplomat Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains), holding it until it nearly burns his fingers. He then blows it out and the film cuts to the orange horizon of the desert and holds there as the sun rises. In the original script, this cut was written as a dissolve, but editor Anne V. Coates has said in interviews that she was inspired to cut directly by the films of French New Wave directors like Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol. Steven Spielberg would later cite seeing this cut as one of the most significant moments in his journey towards becoming a filmmaker. Continued here |
Characters from "Succession" as Members of an Improv Team
Considers himself an improv visionary. Fired one coach who gave him the note "People don't understand what you're doing." Tries to control group scenes but gets visibly frustrated because no one ever acts how he wants them to. Often calls the woman in the scene a "bitch," but thinks he's doing it in an ironic way. Makes his assistant, Jess, tape every show, and then has her e-mail the large video files to Rava and the kids. Commits fully to his characters, once to the point where he started crying real tears, making everyone extremely uncomfortable. Very good at playing his own initiated premises, but shuts down when his scene partner's choice surprises him. Makes the effort to put the team on a group text but thinks that means he is the de-facto leader. Will do a line of coke before shows. Continued here |
Reaction to bronze sculpture of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr. in Boston hasn't been good - and that's not bad for art that shatters conventions
As an acclaimed photographer and conceptual artist, Hank Willis Thomas has grown accustomed to criticisms of his unconventional art and concepts of identity. But even Thomas had never experienced anything like the reaction to his latest sculpture, designed to commemorate the lives of Coretta and Martin Luther King Jr., two of the most revered civil rights leaders in modern American history. Continued here |
Why Capital Investment in Equipment Doesn't Hurt Employment
A new study co-authored by Wharton’s Daniel G. Garrett shows that giving businesses tax breaks for investment in new equipment doesn’t lead them to replace workers with machines. A new paper by experts at Wharton and elsewhere has set to rest “widespread concerns” that increased capital investment in equipment is at the cost of worker employment. In the study of tax incentives that boost capital investment in equipment at U.S. firms between 1997 and 2011, the experts found that such investment resulted in matching employment growth, although it did not stimulate wage or productivity growth. Continued here |
Super Mario Bros: The ultimate video game icon
Back in the mid-1980s, I was thrilled to unwrap a hi-tech gift for my ninth birthday: a handheld Game + Watch version of the arcade hit Donkey Kong. I played the game obsessively, captivated by its split screen liquid-crystal display, and the simple expressiveness of its hero character: a plucky monochrome figure called Mario, who would scale a construction site to rescue a captive princess. Mario had three lives in this platform game, but an apparently infinite appeal beyond it. - The 1991 video game that packs a punch - The music most embedded in our psyches? - How gaming became a form of meditation Continued here |
In the Age of Ozempic, What's the Point of Working Out?
In the summer of 2015, one of my best friends died at work. Shannon was 38, childless, single and thriving, and working as an executive at a global public-relations firm, where she handled a major client. She was set to take a family vacation—treating her nephews to a Disney trip or some such—when her boss sent down an edict that no one on her account was allowed to take time off. Saying no to your boss is hard, but disappointing your nephews is even harder, so Shannon stood her ground and refused to cancel her trip. She then proceeded—in a conference room—to have a panic attack about how the decision might affect her career. The panic attack triggered a heart attack; the heart attack revealed a preexisting tear in a heart valve; the tear led to internal bleeding that, after a two-week-long coma, led to her death. You can see why, though it isn’t technically true, I say that Shannon “died at work.” You can also see how my 36-year-old self—also single, also childless, also stuck in a successful but frustrating career and in need of some time off—–was very messed up by this. Everyone who knew Shannon was. As the bench in Prospect Park we dedicated to our friend says: Shannon, she gave a lovely light. Continued here |
Research: How Cultural Differences Can Impact Global Teams
Diversity can be both a benefit and a challenge to virtual teams, especially those which are global. The authors unpack their recent research on how diversity works in remote teams, concluding that benefits and drawbacks can be explained by how teams manage the two facets of diversity: personal and contextual. They find that contextual diversity is key to aiding creativity, decision-making, and problem-solving, while personal diversity does not. In their study, teams with higher contextual diversity produced higher-quality consulting reports, and their solutions were more creative and innovative. When it comes to the quality of work, teams that were higher on contextual diversity performed better. Therefore, the potential challenges caused by personal diversity should be anticipated and managed, but the benefits of contextual diversity are likely to outweigh such challenges. Continued here |
The Emotional Range of Tattoos
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. Tattoos were once a sign of outsider status. But that’s changed in the 21st century: “My doctor has both of his arms totally sleeved. I have a friend that’s a corporate lawyer, and she’s working on her body suit,” a tattoo artist told the editor Adrienne Green in 2016. Continued here |
3D-printing the brain's blood vessels with silicone could improve and personalize neurosurgery -
Many neurosurgeons practice each surgery before they get into the operating room based on models of what they know about the patient’s brain. But the current models neurosurgeons use for training don’t mimic real blood vessels well. They provide unrealistic tactile feedback, lack small but important structural details and often exclude entire anatomical components that determine how each procedure will be performed. Realistic and personalized replicas of patient brains during pre-surgery simulations could reduce error in real surgical procedures. 3D printing, however, could make replicas with the soft feel and the structural accuracy surgeons need. Continued here |
Lichens and the Meaning of Life
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe,” the great naturalist John Muir wrote in the middle of the nineteenth century. “We forget that nature itself is one vast miracle transcending the reality of night and nothingness,” the great naturalist Loren Eiseley wrote a century later as he considered the meaning of life. “We forget that each one of us in his personal life repeats that miracle.” Because of this delicate interconnectedness of life across time, space, and being, any littlest fragment of the universe can become a lens on the miraculous whole. Sometimes, it is the humblest life-forms that best intimate the majesty of life itself. Lichens — which are not to be confused with mosses — are some of Earth’s oldest life-forms: emissaries of the ocean gone terrestrial. For epochs, their exact nature was a mystery — until an improbable revolutionary illuminated that they are, in fact, part algae. Continued here
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