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Late Monday night we stumbled upon a story that implied that the organization, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), believed we have found signs of life on a planet only 95 light years away. A signal detected by some Russian scientists exhibited signs of being transmitted intentionally and SETI is now monitoring the planet. Our immediate […]
We read earlier this week that seeing live music reduces your stress levels. That’s according to a new study from the Imperial College of London. Levels of the stress hormones cortisol and cortisone both decreased in the volunteers who attended concerts as part of the research. The study also says, “It is of note that […]
Life rhymes in coincidences, hums in ironies and occasionally crashes the hi-hat cymbal with karma. We were well aware of this yesterday while driving and listening to the radio news tell us of Ford’s announcement that they will release a fully driverless car without a steering wheel or pedals in five years for use in […]
Recently International Need to Know had the occasion to test out a virtual reality device and coincidentally shortly thereafter we met with the head of a virtual reality company. We’ve been curious about this technology but skeptical of just how earth shattering some claim it will be. But, when we tried out the technology not […]
International Need to Know is prone to contrarianism, of which we are not necessarily proud–it is a vice like any other, occasionally useful and entertaining but also easily bent to mischief. So as we witness this summer of discontent with violence both real and rhetorical pounding us from every direction, our natural inclination is to see […]
We were absent last week from our INTN responsibilities, traveling to NYC where we visited with family, friends and the tour guides of the modest but cool Louis Armstrong house in Queens. We also saw Ken Griffey, Jr. take his rightful place among the greats of Cooperstown. So we missed most of the chatter of […]
Note: INTN is gone next Thursday, July 21. We’ll be back Thursday, July 28 with everything international you need to know. Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with a group of aspiring young entrepreneurs from Mexico. When asked why they want to be entrepreneurs, some answered money, others said they wanted control while several expressed […]
Recently, in the midst of all the news of people trying to separate themselves from each other, whether in the recent UK election, current shenanigans in the United States, violent attacks in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, we were reminded that the world is more connected than ever before. A cinematographer in Tehran liked the […]
This week we celebrate the 88th anniversary of the recording of West End Blues by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five who blew, drummed and scatted with perfection on June 28, 1928. One music critic called it “the greatest record ever made during the 20th century.” In a week filled with hyperbole every bit as hyper as that statement […]
Over three thousand years ago, ancient Babylonian shippers paid an additional fee to merchants so that they would be compensated should their shipment be stolen or lost at sea. and thus, insurance was created. An ancient papyrus scroll was recently discovered detailing a shipper’s complaint about the merchant’s stinginess in providing said compensation. Today, in the […]
