“The Forgotten Kaleidoscope Craze in Victorian England”

“the kaleidoscope of the early-and mid-1800s wasn’t just a child’s toy. In fact, it wouldn’t become child’s toy for at least several decades. Instead, this new mobile device was in the hands of everyone from children to the elderly…

“The Invention of Zero: How Ancient Mesopotamia Created the Mathematical Concept of Nought and Ancient India Gave It Symbolic Form”

“a concept first invented (or perhaps discovered) in pre-Arab Sumer, modern-day Iraq, and later given…

“Jerks and the Start-Ups They Ruin”

“Bro cos. become corporate frat houses, where employees are chosen like pledges, based on “culture fit.” Women get hired, but they rarely get promoted and sometimes complain of being harassed. Minorities and older workers are excluded.

“Time-sucking academic job applications don’t know enormity of what they ask”

“Some hiring departments, however, are going in the direction of less standardization, not more. I saw a job ad today that asked for two sample syllabi — not merely syllabi for courses previously…

“The Pap smear: groundbreaking, lifesaving — and obsolete?”

“Proponents of HPV self-testing say its biggest appeal is in expanding the reach of cancer screenings, both to impoverished areas abroad, and also to women closer to home.

A trial underway now looks to…

“THE FUTURE OF DRIVERLESS CARS IS A BUS”

“Rather than take passengers from their own door to the destination of their choosing — the ease of travel that self-driving cars appear to promise — these autonomous pods simply carry passengers from one specific, set point to another.

“Reader beware: Science covered in the news is pretty likely to be overturned”

“Their analysis of media coverage indicates that studies written about in newspapers are highly likely to be later overturned.

“This is partly due to the fact that…

“Committee Outsiders: a quick win”

“here’s one tangible, simple recommendation for an academic department: Let your doctoral students have a non-academic member on their thesis committee. Presumably such an examiner should be someone of repute and in good standing in their professional community —…