Newsletter Archive

Students pack books, pens and pistols for college classes in Texas. A new law that went into effect last month in the Lone Star state allows anyone with a concealed weapon license to bring a handgun on to campus, as long as it remains out of sight. We wondered what students think of that, and whether ‘campus carry’ will make professors think twice about giving a problem student a failing grade.

Are truck drivers obsolete? The takeover of trucking by computerized robots is considered inevitable, the only question is: how soon it will happen? Machines are responsible for about 75 percent of job losses which, in general, means that robots are substituting for people. That means human workers might need a re-set to survive.

Too sick to go to school? Send your avatar instead. Children with long-term illness can still attend class via their own personal avatar. From home or a hospital bed, they listen, see and talk through their robotic alter-ego.

Is liberty at risk in Europe? Recent terror attacks and the influx of millions of migrants could shape Europe politics for years to come. As fears rise, the resurgence of identity politics has Europeans trying to figure out how to balance security and liberty.

A Syrian gay refugee was found raped and beheaded in Istanbul last month, while a transgender woman was kidnapped, raped and burned to death in Istanbul in August. These attacks and other similar incidents have prompted calls for the Turkish government to do more to protect the LGBT community.

VIDEO: Instead of gunshots and explosions, Iraqi children are hearing the sounds of pianos and violins. The Children’s Orchestra is designed to shield children from the negative environmental effects caused by the surrounding violent tensions, by showing them that music — and culture in general — can fight backwardness and extremism.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged people to take their clothes off this past weekend at the Group of 20 Nations leaders’ summit. It was a slip-up — he misread the speech script — but the error lit up Chinese social media, raising questions about their leader’s education, and sending the country’s censors scrambling to contain the fallout.