The official magazine of the 4th–6th Grade Talent Search
Picture this scene: A women stands alone in the desert. She’s wearing all beige clothing. She has lots of pockets. A sweat-soaked rag is tied around her neck, and she uses it to wipe her brow after she lifts up her hat.
She bends down and brushes away some dirt. A confused look comes over her face. Then her eyes brighten. She smiles, maybe laughs a little. Then she reaches down and gently pulls up—a rock? No, it’s a fossil! [Read more…]
TIP’s Facebook page is a place for news, community, and more. And in this case, the more is fascinating news articles that smart, curious people love to read about.
To recap 2018, we’re sharing a list of the most liked articles on our page. They’re impressive, unexpected, and—above all—interesting.
[Read more…]You had a few very clear interests this year, but they were very different. You wanted advice on finding your passion. You wanted histories of big scientific discoveries. And you wanted to know about the history of the planet.
Science and art were the two big themes from this year’s Hands On articles. You wanted to explore what science can tell us about the world, and you wanted to use your creativity.
[Read more…]
There was a huge range of topics you wanted to hear the experts weigh in on. The most popular articles covered everything from education, to Hollywood, to sleeping.
Philosophers like to make up stories, especially when they’re talking about ethics and morality.
These “thought experiments” are helpful tools to think through a problem. They help clarify what you really think about something.
If you’re debating whether or not lying is wrong, for instance, it can be helpful to consider a case in which someone wants information from you that they will use to hurt someone else. Would it be wrong to lie then? Or is lying okay if it prevents someone from getting hurt?
There are lots of famous thought experiments from the history of philosophy. But self-driving cars have made one of them especially famous. That’s because the engineers programming these new cars have to provide an answer to it.
[Read more…]What happens when self-driving cars—or other artificial intelligence—interact with human beings? How do we know what the robot will do? How does the robot respond to us?
We discussed those questions, the current state of driverless cars, and more with Michael Clamann, an adjunct lecturer at Duke Science & Society.
Read moreSelf-driving cars are well on their way—but what comes after?
Will is be electric vehicles? Personal helicopters? Flying cars? A super-fast train system?
We want to see what you have in mind.
[Read more…]Seth Hollar is an engineering professor and entrepreneur who is involved—fittingly enough—with North Carolina State’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Program. He works with college students who want to start their own companies.
Their current focus is EcoPRT. The budding company is building an economical, ecologically friendly personal rapid transit system. In other words, they’re building really small cars that can move students around NC State’s campus—like Ubers, but with just enough room for two people.
Except these cars drive themselves.
We visited the EcoPRT lab to see the vehicles and learn about the technology.
In the past few years there has been a revival of people who believe the Earth is flat. NBA star Kyrie Irving and rapper B.o.B. are two of the more famous advocates for this infamous theory, and they’ve been widely mocked for holding such an outlandish idea.
But what if they are right?
[Read more…]