Benjamin Franklin News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest," said Benjamin Franklin. But he didn’t have to contend with artificial intelligence.

Charlie Munger authored a book titled Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. While the title plays on Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack, some might argue it had an unintended double meaning. Recently, Helios Mutual Fund’s CEO, Samir Arora, raised an intriguing question on X about Munger’s relatively ‘modest’ net worth of $2.6 billion, compared to his long-time partner Warren Buffett’s fortune. It turns out that on a relative scale, compared to what people expect, he really was ‘Poor Charlie’! However, I think investors should ignore Munger’s poverty entirely. The real wealth he created wasn’t just about his net worth, but in the intellectual capital he gave to generations of investors. Consider the investment principles Munger outlined in a speech summarised by John Templeton, a reference in the same X post. These eight commandments of investing are worth more than any billion-dollar fortune because they’ve helped countless investors build their wealth. Let’s examine why these principles are so valuable. First, Munger’s emphasis on specialisation and understanding your ‘circle of competence’ has saved many investors from costly mistakes. His anecdote on Bobby Fischer brilliantly illustrates this: When asked how to beat the chess champion, his answer was simple, ‘Get him to play you at any game except chess.’ The lesson? Stay within your domain of expertise.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A technology pioneered by Benjamin Franklin is being revived to build more efficient electric motors, an effort in its nascent stage that has the potential to be massive. A handful of scientists and engineers—armed with materials and techniques unimaginable in the 1700s—are creating modern versions of Franklin’s “electrostatic motor," that are on the cusp of commercialization.

NASA shares image of ’suspicious’ redbelly turtle from Kennedy Space Center in Florida | See photoSoon after, another solar explosion, coronal mass ejection (a blast of energetic particles from the sun's surface) reached Mars.These energetic particles from the sun's surface hit the Martian surface, and NASA's Curiosity Rover captured the effect.The US space agency in a statement said on May 20, so much energy from the storm struck the Curiosity Rover's surface that its black-and-white images danced with 'snow' — white streaks and specks caused by charged particles hitting the cameras.Also read: On this day: Key events on June 10, from NASA’s Mars mission in 2003 to Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment in 1752Unlike the Earth whose magnetic field traps energetic particles in the high atmosphere, Mars lost its protective magnetic field long ago, thereby impacting the Martian ground.The magnetic field helps shield the surface, and us, from radiations.Ever since the Curiosity Rover landed on Mars on 2012, the May 20 radiation was the highest ever measured."If astronauts had been standing next to NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at the time, they would have received a radiation dose of 8,100 micro grays — equivalent to 30 chest X-rays," NASA said.Also read: NASA images: These 10 incredible photographs will blow your mindThat's not in itself a "deadly" amount, it explained, but "certainly something humans would not want to be exposed to, nor ever repeatedly exposed to".NASA has been planning to send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s under its Artemis program.

Before he was a world-famous rock star, Jon Bon Jovi was a kid in Sayreville, N.J., playing in bands with his friends. That evolution, from opening at local clubs to fronting Bon Jovi, is chronicled in a new four-part Hulu docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story," about the musician’s life and career. “You’ve heard that old story about people saying that their life flashes before them just before they die," said Bon Jovi, 62.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Rayza Sison went to a flea market in New York this month with five $100 bills. One by one, vendors refused to take her money, saying they couldn’t make change or only accepted digital payments through Venmo or Zelle. Determined to break the bills, the 26-year-old senior program coordinator tried using them at coffee shops and then her local fruit stand.

Benjamin Franklin says: "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest". It highlights the importance of gaining knowledge before you start something, whether your investments or anything else. Hence, if you are beginning your investing journey in 2024, you must understand some personal finance ratios and rules.

Elon Musk's biography by American author-journalist Walter Isaacson saw a robust sale in the first week of its launch, selling 92,560 copies. The sale of the biography of Tesla founder and X (formerly, Twitter) — titled 'Elon Musk' — included print copies sold through September 16, according to data collected by book tracker Circana BookScan. Musk on Sunday posted on the bumper sale figure: «Cool, although it's kinda weird seeing so many close-up pics of my face.» The feat makes 'Elon Musk' biography the second best-selling first week title after Isaacson's 2011 biography of late Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs, which sold nearly 383,000 copies in its first week. The book was published just weeks after Jobs' death on October 5, 2011. Isaacson chased Musk for two years, «attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries,» according to book's publisher, Simon & Schuster. He has also written best-selling biographies of Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. 'Elon Musk' also topped The New York Times' combined print and e-book nonfiction and hardcover bestseller list. It is also on Amazon's bestseller list, retailing for $20.99. The book has revealed several facets of Musk's life, including his personal relationships with multiple women.

A trio of researchers from the University of Cincinnati recently developed a crypto literacy scale (CLS) to help standardize and measure economic and financial knowledge as it relates to consumer and policymaker understanding of cryptocurrencies and related technology.

boots and dog tags that Alan Alda wore to portray the wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye on the beloved television series «M-A-S-H» meant so much to him that when the show ended 40 years ago, he kept them. But he's now ready to let the pieces go, in service of another passion: his center dedicated to helping scientists and doctors communicate better. Heritage Auctions is offering up the worn boots and military identification tags on July 28 in Dallas. Alda, 87, said he wore the boots and dog tags for the 11-season run of the show centering on a Korean War medical unit. Alda's character, Benjamin Franklin «Hawkeye» Pierce, was a talented surgeon who helped ease the stress of working in a war zone with quick quips and practical jokes. When the show ended in 1983 with an episode written and directed by Alda, it attracted the largest U.S. audience for any TV show in history. The boots and dog tags, given to him by the costume department, «made an impression on me every day that we shot the show,» said Alda, who won five Emmys for his work on the sitcom. Over his long career, Alda has also been a writer and filmmaker, and has worked on Broadway and starred in movies. Currently, he hosts a podcast on communicating called «Clear+Vivid.» «There's an old belief among actors that when you put the shoes of the character on, it's easier to believe you're the character and I think the boots had that effect on me,» Alda said.

Death and taxes are, as Benjamin Franklin famously declared, two of life's certainties.