Surprising Science — February 21, 2011

How Smart Can a City Be?

Last week in NYC, we attended the Economist’s summit on “Intelligent Infrastructure,” which covered investment issues, new technologies, scenarios for urban growth, and sociological questions about the future role of the city.

Parag and Ayesha Khanna

The Economist magazine’s recent turn towards more coverage of technology (including cover stories on cloud computing and DIY manufacturing) has been complemented by a provocative series of conferences under the label “Ideas Economy.”

Last week in New York City, the Economist hosted a summit on “Intelligent Infrastructure.” We attended the event and found the discussion to be wide-ranging, covering finance and investment issues, new technologies, scenarios for urban growth, and sociological questions about the future role of the city.

Here is our interview with Economist Global Correspondent and curator of the Ideas Economy conferences Vijay Vaitheeswaran:

We also spoke backstage with Saskia Sassen, Professor at Columbia University and perhaps the world’s leading sociologist of the role of the city in world history:

Ayesha and Parag Khanna explore human-technology co-evolution and its implications for society, business and politics at The Hybrid Reality Institute.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

▸

7 min

—

with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Politics & Current Affairs

Why the WTO Is Obsolete

This week the World Trade Organization meets to revive the Doha Development Round of talks. Economist Daniel Altman explains why little will be gained—and why that isn’t such bad news.