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Are our kids getting worse at creative writing? 6 sci-fi and fantasy books to...
The “app generation” struggles with creative writing — as a new study shows, they’re turning into realists. Here’s a mini summer reading list that might inspire some wild thinking. Creative writing is...
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Need to know: What’s going on in Egypt
3 Al Jazeera journalists were just sentenced in Egypt to long jail terms. Ready to go beyond the headlines? 5 primary sources worth reading next. Read: Al Jazeera explains Monday’s verdict. Why you...
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Need to know: About Facebook’s emotional contagion study
Ethicists are concerned about the recently published details of a mood alteration experiment conducted on Facebook users. Ready to go beyond the headlines? 5 primary sources worth reading next. Source:...
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Need to know: Neymar, racism and the World Cup
Germany’s 7-1 victory over host country Brazil in the World Cup semi-finals this week followed the injury of Brazilian soccer star Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, whose collision with Colombian player...
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Need to know: The ebola pandemic
In Africa, ebola has already killed hundreds and sickened more than a thousand people so far this year — and the pandemic continues to spread into new countries. When did the current outbreak begin?...
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Need to know: About the Islamic State
In Iraq and Syria, more than a million people have already been displaced by militants from the Islamic State, a dangerous and fast-spreading jihadist group also called IS, ISIS or ISIL. Will this...
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Beautiful and sad GIFs that show what’s happening to the ocean
Scientist Sylvia Earle (TED Talk: My wish: Protect our oceans) has spent the past five decades exploring the seas. During that time, she’s witnessed a steep decline in ocean wildlife numbers — and a...
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The phrase worth 1000 pictures: “Michael OD Brown; 1996-2014.”
If journalism is the first draft of history, whose draft will future generations read of the events surrounding Michael Brown’s death? There is one fact that no one disputes: On August 9, 2014, in...
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Need to know: When to turn off the news
This week in the U.S., almost every flickering device will try to spoon-feed you some distressing news footage — and then help you wash it down with a double-liter of fizzy partisan punditry. What’s...
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Need to know: Scotland, unicorns and “the bearded troll that is Great Britain”
“Should Scotland be an independent country?” is a question Scots answered “no” to this week. Why did Scotland consider breaking up with the UK? Who else has stopped being British over the past few...
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Need to know: How climate change affects the global South (and the rest of us)
“We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.” What does global weirding mean for the global South? 3 ideas behind the news....
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Can we upgrade democracy for the Internet era?
“If the Internet is the new printing press, then what is democracy for the Internet era?” asks Argentinian activist Pia Mancini in today’s TED Talk (How to upgrade democracy for the Internet era),...
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Citizenfour, Glenn Greenwald and why privacy matters
When filmmaker Laura Poitras started receiving encrypted e-mails in 2013 from an anonymous whistleblower identifying himself as “Citizen four,” she did what any brave filmmaker would do: she picked up...
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Who will regulate the next cancer screening technology?
About a year ago, Jorge Soto’s aunt started suffering back pain. It was a normal injury for someone who played tennis for 30 years, but when she wasn’t feeling better after a while, doctors decided to...
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Are you smarter than a 19th-century 5th grader?
In the 1820s, books were a rare and precious luxury for most Americans. The radical idea of free knowledge access for all ages — aka the public library system — had yet to flower in the United States....
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How to understand the periodic table
Would you like to learn more about every single element on the periodic table? We’ve got you covered When’s the last time you blew something up in a lab? Whether it’s been minutes or years, this brand...
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William Gibson riffs on writing and the future
Great science fiction writers don’t just imagine the future, they shape it. The idea that omnipresent social data networks would one day seem as normal as toothbrushes was a borderline-preposterous...
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3 articles on the danger of Ebola paranoia
It’s Halloween — and the only thing scarier than Ebola this week is Ebola paranoia. Should you panic in bowling alleys? How justified is your fear of hospitals? Are mandatory quarantines even legal in...
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3 articles on voting and the U.S. midterm elections
Tuesday marks the U.S. midterm elections, which could change the balance of power in the House and the Senate. Why should you care, when even American journalists have been relatively quiet about this...
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The next food revolution
Activist chef Jamie Oliver talks about the future of food — cooking, eating, and farming. Obesity is on the rise in neighborhoods around the world — and so are the rates of diabetes and heart disease....
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