Category: News

  • March 17, 2014

DO YOU HAVE A SOUL?

First of all, let’s define what we mean by “a soul.”  For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll define a soul as something that goes beyond the physical body–a concept that conveys immortality.  So if you got a soul, or you don’t, seems like a big deal according to our definition. In 1989, Star Trek: […]
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  • March 9, 2014

Wanted: Answer to a Cosmic Mystery on Easter Island.

 MY SEARCH FOR EASTER ISLAND’S SECRET PYRAMID The most remote place on the planet is an island in the South Pacific known as Easter Island.  Over two thousand miles south of the equator, and two thousand miles west of Chile, you might know it as the place with the giant head statues everywhere. Named Rapa […]
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  • March 5, 2014

COSMOS… Thanks to FAMILY GUY, America Finally Returns to Space

The most incredible thing about COSMOS, the Seth MacFarlane backed television series about our universe, is that it will be airing on FOX, a broadcast network, as well as most of Fox’s cable networks. As I watched a special preview of this Sunday’s first episode of COSMOS, I was struck… by how much television has […]
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  • January 27, 2014

Even Turtles Take Laxatives

OLDEST LIVING ANIMAL PROVES THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TOLD, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU   The first thing I noticed on New Year’s Day was how fast the 500 pound tortoise was moving at me.  On the island of Santa Cruz in The Galapagos, these giants live in the lush highlands and […]
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  • November 25, 2013

Katniss Everdeen and Ryan Stone understand job loss and sub-prime mortgages

The new hero archetype: changing demography or evolving empathy? One year ago, a normally dysfunctional love story between two guys heralded an unmet demand for heroes.  The buddy love story I’m referring to is a less conspicuous success, The Life of Pi.  An introverted Indian boy had just suffered a tragedy that would make most […]
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  • October 5, 2013

Katniss or Ender: Who Are You Rooting For?

From the same studio, two young heroes are presented very differently. In their respective worlds, both Katniss Everdeen and Ender Wiggin have drawn dire lots:  do the impossible or everyone dies. Why is it so much easier to root for Katniss than for Ender?  In Katniss we see a hero who is suffering, facing impossible […]
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  • October 4, 2013

Ender’s Game 2: The Buggers Strike Back

Orson Scott Card, why can’t you be more like Suzanne Collins? Of course there is no “Ender’s Game 2.”  Yes, there is a sequel to “Ender’s Game,” but it’s not really a sequel.  The introspective and philosophical novel, “Speaker for The Dead,” about Ender Wiggin’s life as an adult, has nothing to do with the […]
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  • June 11, 2013

Technology in School

“How Is Technology Helping Students Now In School As Opposed To When You Were In School? What Advances Have You Noticed While Teaching And The Progress Of Students In Their Field?” As a professor at NYU, I have observed the biggest impact technology has had is on research time. The internet has dramatically reduced the […]
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  • June 11, 2013

How To Spot A Liar

This segment with Darren ran on NBC NY and has over 35,000 hits on YouTube: How to tell when someone is lying may be one of the most researched topics of all time. I found this out during production of a TV show in which I was trained by the FBI in lie detection. While many […]
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