Economics 101 — “How the Economic Machine Works.” Created by Ray Dalio this simple but not simplistic and easy to follow 30 minute, animated video answers the question, “How does the economy really work?” Based on Dalio’s practical template for understanding the economy, which he developed over the course of his career, the video breaks down economic concepts like credit, deficits and interest rates, allowing viewers to learn the basic driving forces behind the economy, how economic policies work and why economic cycles occur. To learn more about Economic Principles visit: http://www.economicprinciples.org.

Over the past decade, an alternative digital paradigm has slowly been taking shape at the edges of the internet. This new paradigm is the blockchain. After incubating through millions of Bitcoin transactions and a host of developer projects, it is now on the tips of tongues of CEOs and CTOs, startup entrepreneurs, and even governance activists. Though these stakeholders are beginning to understand the disruptive potential of blockchain technology and are experimenting with its most promising applications, few have asked a more fundamental question: What will a world driven by blockchains look like a decade from now? Learn more: http://www.iftf.org/blockchainfutureslab Contact us: http://www.iftf.org/blockchainfutures...

Adele Senior, Leeds Beckett University Over the past few days, accusations have surfaced that student survivors of the Florida incident — which saw 17 people lose their lives — are in fact performers playing a pre-written role for the cameras. Since the shooting the students and survivors have rallied together…

Michael Koch, University of Kent The journalist and commentator Toby Young resigned from the board of the university regulator Office for Students (OfS) after he came under fire for a series of offensive comments. …

Shutterstock Martin Paul Evison, Northumbria University, Newcastle The steady march of technological progress has finally shone its light into the dingy world of the mugshot — the commonplace name given to the photograph of a police suspect. The mugshot represents one of the earliest uses of technology in the identification…

(via MIT Technology Review) Posted by Scientific American

Ensuring trust in digital records and transactions is hard; the blockchain is an important solution. Robert Bagnall/YouTube, CC BY Ari Juels, Cornell University and Ittay Eyal, Cornell University In 2008, short of sending a suitcase full of cash, there was essentially just one way for an individual to send money…

Adam Chodorow, Arizona State University Bitcoin enthusiasts have recently been roiled by claims that an Australian named Craig Wright and his deceased partner are the mysterious founders behind the cryptocurrency. Of course, we’ve been down this path before. The New York Times, Fast Company, The New Yorker and Newsweek have…

Money is a crucial target for North Korea’s hacking efforts. rega rega/Shutterstock.com Dorothy Denning, Naval Postgraduate School The countries posing the greatest cyberthreats to the United States are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Like its counterparts, Kim Jong Un’s regime engages in substantial cyber espionage. …