Throughout this story, author Richard Powers draws powerful links between biodiversity and human diversity. If you’d like a glimpse at how the natural world can penetrate our lives to bring us both pain and enduring joy, pick up a copy of the novel Bewilderment.

In what ways can we draw lessons from technology to address humanity’s grand challenges? After a visit to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, I ponder on the insights we can learn from the past to help us shape a better future.

Let’s talk about the future of education. Many of our students are going to have careers that haven’t been invented yet. And they’re going to be using their skills in a world that is radically different from any that has come before.