On the one hand, parents want their children to swim expertly in the digital stream that they will have to navigate all their lives; on the other hand, they fear that too much digital media, too early, will sink them.

The launch of a space shuttle can still make you weep with amazement and wonder, if you happen to be watching it.

The global economy is becoming a place where women are more successful than men, and these economic changes are starting to rapidly affect our culture - what our romantic comedies look like, what our marriages look like, what our dating lives look like, and our new set of superheroes.

There are always signs that a reign is ending, and they are usually spotted not in the king himself but in his court. In the inner circle, latent jealousies between advisers spill into open conflict, as they angrily debate who is to blame for the calamity, chewing over each other's past errors and pointing the finger at old and nascent enemies.

Evolutionary psychology tells us that men, especially powerful men, feel invincible and entitled to spread their seed, and that women can't resist the scent of masculine power. Women, by contrast, are said to be more altruistic and collaborative, seeking power so that they can share it with others.

Every new medium has, within a short time of its introduction, been condemned as a threat to young people. Pulp novels would destroy their morals, TV would wreck their eyesight, video games would make them violent.

In China, a lot of the opening up of private entrepreneurship is happening because women are starting businesses, small businesses, faster than men.