1. How many NBA players have tweeted in support of Hong Kong? by Tyler Cowen (sports + politics + China)
2. The peculiar bathroom habits of Westerners (culture, BBC)
3. Quantum gold rush: the private funding pouring into quantum start-ups (startups, Nature)
4. But is it science? Theoretical physicists who say the multiverse exists set a dangerous precedent: science based on zero empirical evidence by Jim Baggott (science, aeon)
1. This Is What Adapting to Climate Change Looks Like (climate, The Atlantic)
2. Cows Need Friends to Be Happy (nature, The Atlantic)
3. Why it’s time to start talking about blockchain ethics by Mike Orcutt (blockchain, MIT Technology Review)
4. Flour power: meet the bread heads baking a better loaf (food, The Guardian)
Bonus: The Super Zoom
1. Kale is not giving up: Actually, Kale Is Good and Lots of People Still Like It (food, Slate)
I don’t know anyone who likes kale.
2. Cell-Bacteria Mergers Offer Clues to How Organelles Evolved (science, Quanta Magazine)
3. In the Sea, Not All Plastic Lasts Forever (environment, NYT)
4. Integrating the Science of How We Learn into Education Technology by Stephen M. Kosslyn (education, Harvard Business Review)
1. Do Octopi Dream? An Astonishing Nature Documentary Suggests They Do (science)
2. The Patron Saint of Bookstores. 100 years ago, Sylvia Beach, the first publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses, opened the doors to her legendary bookstore, Shakespeare & Co. (publishing history, JSTOR)
3. GDP Is Not a Measure of Human Well-Being (society, Harvard Business Review)
4. Another Week, Another Nutrition Axiom Upended: Is Eating Meat Unhealthy? (food, Undark)
and Is meat really that bad for you? (food, BBC)
5. ‘American Sriracha’: How a Thai Sauce That Migrated to the U.S. Became a Global Phenomenon (food, Fortune)
Open Culture lists more than 1500 online courses starting in October.
Here are some selected courses on innovation:
Responsible Innovation: Ethics, Safety and Technology – Delft University of Technology on edX – October 7 (10 weeks)
Innovation Management: Winning in the Age of Disruption – University of Leeds on FutureLearn – October 7
Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in the Social Sector – University of Virginia on Coursera – October 7
Innovation Career Lessons from a Master – Technion – Israel Institute of Technology on Coursera – October 7
The Search for Great Ideas: Harnessing creativity to empower innovation. – Michigan State University on Coursera – October 7 (3 weeks)
Innovation Management – Erasmus University Rotterdam on Coursera – October 7 (9 weeks)
Innovation for Entrepreneurs: From Idea to Marketplace – University of Maryland, College Park on Coursera – October 14 (5 weeks)
Becoming a changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation – University of Cape Town on Coursera – October 14
Unleash Your Potential: Innovation and Enterprise – University of Bristol on FutureLearn – October 14
Strategic Management of Innovation – HEC Paris on Coursera – October 14
Boosting Creativity for Innovation – HEC Paris on Coursera – October 14
Innovation Leadership – Georgia Institute of Technology on edX – October 15
Innovation and Creativity Management – RWTH Aachen University on edX – October 16
Managing Innovation – Indian Institute of Management Bangalore on edX – October 17
Innovation: From Creativity to Entrepreneurship Capstone – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Coursera – October 21
Capstone Value Creation through Innovation – EIT Digital on Coursera – October 28
1. Why I Called It ‘Quantum Supremacy’ (technology, Quanta Magazine)
2. The Cult of Rich-Kid Sports (society, The Atlantic)
3. The Saddest Leafy Green (food, The Atlantic)
4. Would You Survive a Merger with AI? by Susan Schneider (AI, Nautilus)
1. The Brewery Powered by a Wind Turbine (JSTOR)
2. The value of thoughts and prayers (economics, PNAS – open access)
A standard response of both policy makers and private citizens to hardships—from natural disasters to mass shootings—is to offer “thoughts and prayers.” Critics argue that such gestures are meaningless and may obstruct structural reforms intended to mitigate catastrophes. In this study, we elicit the value of receiving thoughts and prayers from strangers following adversity. We find that Christians value thoughts and prayers from religious strangers and priests, while atheists and agnostics are “prayer averse”—willing to pay to avoid receiving prayers. Furthermore, while indifferent to receiving thoughts from other secular people, they negatively value thoughts from Christians.
3. It’s Not Kale, It’s You (food culture, Mother Jones)
and Heard of books, butlers, lifters, or flat irons? Spoiler alert: They’re all the same steak (food culture, The New Food Economy)
4. The Ethics of Eating: How our food culture is killing us by Susan Pedersen (food culture, The Nation)
5. Where Toxic Masculinity Goes to Die (culture, The Atlantic)
and Beards, Why? (The Atlantic)
1. How to Monetize a Business Ecosystem (business, Harvard Business Review)
2. Climate Change and Our Emerging Cultural Shift by Andrew J. Hoffman (climate, Behavioral Scientist)
3. A Utah Woman Is Facing Criminal Charges for Going Topless in Her Own Home (society, Mother Jones)
4. Teens explain the VSCO girl—and why you never want to be one (new-culture, Slate)
1. Dark crystals: the brutal reality behind a booming wellness craze (society, The Guardian)
2. Brands asked to pay premium for using new plastic (recycling, The Guardian)
1. Vaclav Smil: ‘Growth must end. Our economist friends don’t seem to realise that’ (progress, The Guardian)
2. Evidence against current methods leading to human level artificial intelligence (AI, AI Impacts)
3. Mathematics as a Cultural Force (history, Longreads)
4. Clever materials make it easier to pull clean water from the air (science, via MIT Technology Review)
Oragious 