As always, some very useful and timely links from Andrew Leigh. I would be interested in pursuing randomised trials in our Education Sector. Randomising in the UK. In 2003, the UK government started a major randomised evaluation of the Employment Retention and Advancement project (ERA), to test the effectiveness of interventions to improve job retention and advancement prospects for low…
Category Archives Innovation
From the technium... The diversity of the universe has been increasing since the beginning of time. In its very first seconds the universe contained only quarks, which began to assemble into a variety of sub-atomic particles within minutes. By the end of the first hour, the universe contained dozens of types of particles but only two elements, hydrogen and helium.…
Energy of the Future: Igniting a Star With Laser Light. < < previous image | next image >> LIVERMORE, California – It may look like one of Michael Bay's Transformers, but this mass of machinery could soon be the birthplace of a baby star right here on Earth. Using 192 separate lasers and a 400-foot-long series of amplifiers and filters,…
Building the education revolution. The Government has announced Building the Education Revolution, a $14.7 billion long term investment to improve the quality of facilities, like gymnasiums, libraries and science labs in Australian schools. Prime Minister of Australia, 3 February 2009. Comment: This appears to be a truly massive amount of money, I hope the expertise and coordination is equal to…
Interact: Watch 24 Brilliant Hours of U.S. Flights. Artist Aaron Koblin layers flight patterns on a Google map representing air traffic across the United States over a 24-hour period. The map illustrates flight paths using color and animation for all the aircraft the FAA tracked on August 12, 2008. [Wired Top Stories]
First Ever Video Of Dynamics Of Carbon Atoms Makes Spintronic-based Computing Look More Promising. Researchers working with TEAM 0.5, the world's most powerful transmission electron microscope, have made a movie that shows in real-time carbon atoms repositioning themselves around the edge of a hole that was punched into a graphene sheet. This is the first ever live recording of the…
First-ever interactive dictionary to teach Aboriginal language. The first interactive Aboriginal language CD and dictionary was launched at Sydney University, marking the most comprehensive attempt to protect and preserve an Indigenous dialect in recent times. The CD Gayarragi, winangali - Find and Hear was launched by UTS Professor of Law Larissa Behrendt, a Yuwaalayaay woman (Narran River near Walgett) whose…
McKinsey maps the world's innovation clusters How innovative is your city? McKinsey Digital has released a new innovation study of the world's leading cities, grouping them into one of four different categories -- "hot springs," "dynamic oceans," "silent lakes," and "shrinking pools." The most innovative cities are "dynamic oceans," while the "hot springs" are the types of cities with a lot…
Maps of Knowledge. Previous maps of the relationship between branches of modern science were done by mapping the citations among journal articles. These citations are footnotes referencing previous articles on the same or related subjects. Citations are the equivalent links in a posting. They take you to the source. Citation indexes tally these links by subject. Mapping software can display…