Convenience is atop the list of benefits Siri and Alexa have brought to millions. But is it possible that they’re promoting literacy, too?

Certainly, it’s not a benefit that immediately comes to mind. After all, we speak and Siri writes. We ask a question and Alexa enters the search terms for us. Load your iPhone up with podcasts, or ask Siri or Alexa to find you the bestseller you’ve been wanting from Audible.com, and you might never need to read a book again. With each voice-to-text improvement, we seem to be moving backward — toward a culture that relies less and less on letters or the ability to read and write.

Need to find investors to launch a startup or scale your business? There’s more than one way to approach fundraising and to get noticed by those with the capital you need to get to the next level.

No matter how great your product or business idea, how lean you can operate, and how big you’ve grown already, more capital and financial leverage will almost inevitably be a necessity. Even the best funded and hyper-successful billion dollar startups have been engaging in more fundraising rounds than ever before.

Have you ever questioned whether taking time off is worth it because the stress of preparing for a vacation is so high?

If so, you’re not alone. Over half of Americans leave some vacation time on the table. Some of the reasons for the lack of vacations include feeling that their workload was too heavy or that no one could do their job while they were gone.

As recreational and medical marijuana slowly becomes legal in states across the country, the business of hemp is also booming. In 2017, $820 million worth of legal hemp products were sold in the United States alone. Given this number, it’s clear that there’s a demand for hemp and businesses are popping up everywhere to serve it.

The most mysterious phenomenon in cosmology – dark energy – may not exist at all, according to Professor Subir Sarkar, head of the particle theory group at the University of Oxford in the UK. In the late 1990s, astronomers found evidence from supernovae that the universe has been expanding faster and faster as it gets older. Having no explanation for what was driving it, they dubbed this accelerating expansion ‘dark energy’. What did you think about these findings at the time?

Image: https://horizon.scienceblog.com

A business is the result of immense hardwork, dedication and perseverance. However, it is not enough to simply have these and then let complacency creep in. The key to any successful business is the ability to come up with fresh new ideas to keep the operation running and the products and services fresh. This influx of fresh ideas into the business on a regular basis is known as innovation. Innovation plays a very important role in any business venture.

There are two paths to becoming an entrepreneur. The first is the dream scenario: Have a great idea, set up a company, enjoy instant overnight success and become rich, famous or both.

In reality, the above scenario is very much the exception, not the norm. More commonly, someone decides to set up their own company after gaining experience within a particular industry, using their vantage point to determine what the industry or its customers need that is not currently being provided for.

Personal development can help you achieve a solid work-life balance. You learn the tools you need to succeed professionally, while also honing your personal skills that can help with your home life.

Finding the time to spend with friends and family, while also achieving your goals in the office, can help you develop as a leader. You’ll find that with a few personal development skills, you are able to accomplish more, and still have the free time you need to recharge and think.

Image: Members share a few personal development techniques busy executives can use.PHOTOS COURTESY OF INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS

It’s no secret that innovation is tough to pull off. Even the “world’s most innovative” companies sometimes stumble. Just ask General Electric, which was recently delisted from the Dow Jones Index. Whirlpool’s tariff relief may give a boost to the beleaguered company, but American consumers appear to favor Korean brands and European styling. And former innovation powerhouse Proctor & Gamble (sinking to No. 47 on BCG’s “Most Innovative” list) has failed fast, despite great effort on the part of dedicated innovation leaders.

Economic growth in our city is critical to making, and keeping, Albuquerque strong. But some of the old strategies haven’t worked. Albuquerque is behind the rest of the United States in income growth – for everyone. Working poverty is on the rise, while the share of middle class households has declined.

In many ways, Amazon has revolutionized the way that we approach buying and consumption in our lives. Between its technology and services, it has created an entirely new way of living. Its countless innovations have changed the e-commerce landscape and improved the online shopping experience.

For cities that give them and businesses that receive them, financial incentives aren’t a sustainable way to drive economic development. With all things equal, they may tip the occasional project in your favor, but success isn’t achieved at the grand opening. What is going to drive people to that business once it’s open? What is going to create a sense of place? What is ultimately going to make that project a success? What is going to make your district or city a success? At CivicBrand, we’re lucky to get to play a role in helping guide communities through this process.

There are many statistical measures that show how productive the U.S. is. Its economy is the largest in the world and grew at a rate of 4.1 percent last quarter, its fastest pace since 2014. The unemployment rate is near the lowest mark in a half century.

What can be harder to decipher is how Americans use their land to create wealth. The 48 contiguous states alone are a 1.9 billion-acre jigsaw puzzle of cities, farms, forests and pastures that Americans use to feed themselves, power their economy and extract value for business and pleasure.

Image: https://www.bloomberg.com

Applying for college is more than taking a test or filling out an application, students decide on universities based on campus life, academics, and cost.

A projected 19.9 million students will enroll in colleges and universities this fall, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

New research suggests that low-carb diets may not be the best way to achieve long-term health.

Research presented Tuesday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Germany found that diets very low in carbohydrates may raise individuals’ risks of premature death over time.

“The message seems to be clear,” wrote study co-author Maciej Banach, president of the Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital Research Institute, in an email to TIME. “We should avoid diets with extremely low and very low levels of carbohydrates,” specifically those that draw less than 26% of daily calorie intake from carbohydrates.

There has been a lot of chatter about dystopias these days, mostly: are we living in one? Reading news day after day about our tumultuous presidency, unambiguous effects of climate change or murderous self-driving cars may make it seem that way.

George Orwell’s 1984, perhaps the best-known dystopian novel, is often used as a barometer for corruption and government control. While things (in the U.S. at least) haven’t quite reached Orwellian levels, 1984‘s theme of surveillance resonates amid data privacy theft scandals and a world of hackable laptop cameras.

Most of you new venture founders I meet as an angel investor seem convinced that starting the business is the hardest part. You look forward to the day when your business becomes self-sustaining, and settles into a long-term growth curve, ensuring financial success. Unfortunately, sustainability is proving to be a more and more complex challenge in this era of rapid change.

Happy Labor Day from Rich Bendis and the Innovation America Team.

Do a search on the word “polymath” and you will see an image or reference to Leonardo da Vinci in nearly every result. Many historical figures—not all of them world famous, not all Europeans, men, or  from the Italian Renaissance—fit the description. But few such recorded individuals were as feverishly active, restlessly inventive, and astonishingly prolific as Leonardo, who left riddles enough for scholars to solve for many lifetimes.