In a commentary published today by Bloomberg View, Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels calls attention to increasing strain being placed on America's public research universities, a fact that Daniels says has left them less well positioned to fulfill their traditional missions.

Much of the strain can be traced to recent declines in state support—on average, public universities have lost 25 percent of their state funding per student since 2000, Daniels writes in the article, titled "To Save State Universities, Free Them From the States." But there are other factors at play. More, from Bloomberg View:

Image: President Ronald J. Daniels 

Black Mesa in the Panhandle is the highest and driest place in Oklahoma.

Black Mesa used to be considered a no-man's land. Paleontologists went there to look for dinosaur bones. It's the harshest, coldest place in the state.

And yet, the flora and fauna reported in the Black Mesa are unique — some of these are not found anywhere else in the country. Species have adapted to the harsh climatic conditions. Hikers and visitors to Black Mesa Nature Preserve can look for more than 60 species of butterflies and 50-plus species of birds (and nine types of snakes, if so inclined).

Good management matters.

If you’re reading this you probably don’t need convincing, but one of the most significant milestones in economic research over the last several years was documenting empirically that it really is true.

A new paper builds on this work and takes it one step further. Its main finding is that the difference between well-managed and poorly managed firms depends in large part on the quality of the people they hire as managers.

The big news in the venture capital world is that John Doerr, legendary partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is moving into a new role as the firm’s first chair, where he’ll be what he describes as a “player coach” to support the firm’s next generation of leaders. Kleiner Perkins is famous for making some of the world’s best investments, including early stakes in Compaq, Genentech, Google, and Amazon. Doerr himself is famous for making clear the kinds of companies and leaders he likes to bet on and what he believes it takes to create long-lasting value in fast-moving times.

In my third commentary arising from programming at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress last month, I share comments about evidence to determine the effectiveness of accelerators. While many startup success stories like Facebook did not involve accelerators, most entrepreneurs now consider them part of the start and scale journey. This has driven demand for the launch of hundreds of accelerator programs around the world, prompting us to question how differences across accelerator programs influence startup performance.

This weekend, the BU Dance Team traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Dance Championship. Flights, competition fees, and choreography were largely covered, thanks to more than $18,000 the team raised on BU’s new crowdfunding platform.

Image: BU's new crowdfunding platform helped the BU Dance Team raise more than $18,000 for this year’s National Dance Alliance Collegiate Dance Championship, and more than $19,700 for the same competition last year. Photo courtesy of the BU Dance Team 

It’s an exciting time: Your latest groundbreaking entrepreneurial idea has evolved into a full-fledged startup.

You’ve snagged some funding, you’re staffing up and you’re ready to make the move from a home office, co-working space or garage to your own space — an official headquarters.

It’s important to keep in mind that even once you find the right real estate, you’re still far from finished.

Image: http://mashable.com 

A team of scientists unveiled a new tree of life on Monday, a diagram outlining the evolution of all living things. The researchers found that bacteria make up most of life’s branches. And they found that much of that diversity has been waiting in plain sight to be discovered, dwelling in river mud and meadow soils.

Digitally-enabled innovation is coming to every corner of the world, and no old business model or way of life will remain undisrupted. This means that there are a lot of jobs, especially the low value-to-cost, repetitive types, that are either going to be automated, or cut out of the production cycle entirely. New and exponential technologies, recently described as the fourth industrial revolution at the World Economic Forum in Davos last year, mean that the disruption of the workplace will happen at a much grander scale than anything we’re currently experiencing, and at skill levels previously thought too technical or complex for computers. It isn’t just factory workers who should be looking over their shoulders. It’s virtually everyone. Here’s how innovation could disrupt your job:

Not all entrepreneurs are able to jump right into full time business ownership. Some would rather start small or just stick with business ideas they can work on part time. If you fall into that category, have a look at the following list of side businesses you can start to provide supplemental income.

As it stands, neither Australia nor New Zealand is primed for success in the digital age.

While it’s great to see an increasing focus on inspiring innovation, the reality is workforces both sides of the Tasman do not possess the ICT skills needed to fulfil the visions outlined in the respective National Science and Innovation, and 2016 Business Growth Agendas.

Travelling to exotic places is a passport not just to 'finding yourself' but to being a more effective entrepreneur, according to a new infographic.

Those who explore exotic places return with a greater capability to lead rather than manage and have a boost in resilience and confidence, it claims.

It outlines six benefits, which also includes a strengthening of economic skills, as frequent travellers are often forced to strategise on a budget and get creative in finding the best deals.

Image: http://www.dailymail.co.uk 

The way drugs are made is dangerously outdated. While many industries have gotten much more efficient at manufacturing, pharmaceutical companies rely on an old-fashioned approach that is slow, inflexible, and prone to breakdowns. A new refrigerator-sized apparatus that can take in a set of ingredients and quickly produce four common pharmaceuticals is the most advanced demonstration yet of a potential new strategy for drug making that is more flexible, efficient, and reliable. Portable drug-making technology like it could be used to more rapidly respond to local drug shortages or spikes in demand, such as in an outbreak.

“Delusional Manufacturing, is the belief marketing, and sales can win against a market which has already determined to use its product less, and less until its obsolescence.” RJS

The printer/copier distribution channel has witnessed many changes over the last decades. Back in the 80’s and 90’s the loyalties and absolute dedication to a particular product line was deep and non-penetrable. Since that time everyone has reevaluated those prejudices, and loyalties. This reevaluation started when manufactures began controlling their own distribution. The dealer community realized that the survival of their business would force them to diversify so they began a journey to become vendor agnostic.

Sometimes the biggest thing holding you back from greater success is something you might not even be aware of.

They’re called "iceberg beliefs," and they could be major obstacles that you don’t even realize. Andrew Shatté, PhD and chief science officer at meQuilibrium, a digital resilience coaching platform, says that iceberg beliefs are the self-limiting beliefs we have sometimes below the surface of our consciousness. And they can be devastating to our confidence, state of mind, and achievement levels.

Image: Flickr user Gonzalo Baeza

Speaking in Brussels last Friday, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas officially proclaimed Amsterdam the new innovation capital of Europe. This special status, which is awarded every two years, comes with €950,000 in prize money. Amsterdam, which is the home of the Netherlands EU Presidency, was nominated for its approach to smart growth, start-ups, liveability and digital social innovation. Two years ago Barcelona was proclaimed the very first ‘iCapital’.

Image: http://english.eu2016.nl

Innovation and technology know no bounds. Today, friends and colleagues can stay in touch instantly through the internet and mobile phones. Products with new designs and functions are released on a regular basis. The changes in the past decades are arguably the most revolutionary of all times. Hong Kong may not stand out as a leader on this front. Our emphasis on developing the finance and services industries means technology has never been our edge.

Image: http://www.scmp.com

There’s a disconnect between Canada’s capacity to innovate and our capacity to commercialize those innovations — or so the story goes.

It’s been repeated so often it’s become a mantra in certain circles, and it was hauled out again recently in an opinion piece that wondered how we can get Canada’s health research “out of the lab and into the market.” Their solutions are always the same: reject investments in purely academic research in favour of market-driven research.

The thing is, that mantra is built on a myth.

Image: http://vancouversun.com/

The north pole is on the run. Although it can drift as much as 10 meters across a century, sometimes returning to near its origin, it has recently taken a sharp turn to the east. Climate change is the likely culprit, yet scientists are debating how much melting ice or changing rain patterns affect the pole’s wanderlust.

Image: Christopher Michel/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Economic Development is the number one priority for every nation at this time; but many countries are now struggling with the current system of economic development. For example, the textbook syndrome is no longer feasible at this time. We must now focus on biblical economics and kingdom principles in order to have a balanced economy. It is imperative for every government that wants to be successful to focus on four main areas.

Image: Rudolph Brown - http://jamaica-gleaner.com