On a sweltering July evening, the din from thousands of computers mining for Bitcoins pierced the night. Nearby, Matt Brown, a member of the Arkansas legislature, monitored the noise alongside a local magistrate. As the two men investigated complaints about the operation, Mr. Brown said, a security guard for the mine loaded rounds into an…
Mike Massimino used to complain about the weather when he was growing up outside New York City. Then he went to outer space. “In space, there is no weather,” he told me. “No atmosphere. No seasons. Nothing.” And he missed it all. His new book, “Moonshot: A NASA Astronaut’s Guide to Achieving the Impossible,” is…
My teenage daughter recently asked me what my favorite decade has been so far. “This one,” I told her. “My 50s.” She stared at me in disbelief. “But you’re middle-aged,” she said. Midlife — which, according to the American Psychological Association, spans from 36 to 64 — is known as a high-stress era of lost…
From the outside, it looked as though Adam Alter was gliding along. At 28, he had earned a doctorate in psychology from Princeton and soon afterward landed a job as a tenure-track professor at the N.Y.U. Stern School of Business. But he felt stuck. Preparing to teach while simultaneously doing research became overwhelming, especially after…
