Ben Schiller
Fast Company
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Ben:
Universal Basic Assets Could Be The Foundation To Build An Equitable Society
We can generate much more income for society if we hold more assets–like natural resources, carbon tax payments, or a sovereign wealth fund–in common, and used it to fund programs like a universal basic income. → Read More
Is The Blockchain’s Potential For Social Impact Over-Hyped?
Where do blockchain projects for energy, health, and governance fall on the hype cycle? → Read More
This Home Pregnancy Test Is Fully Biodegradeable
Millions of pounds of used pregnancy tests end up in landfills every year. Lia Diagnostics new test, the winner of the health category of Fast Company’s 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards, just melts away. → Read More
This Agricultural Guide On A Phone Helps Increase Developing-World Farmers’ Yields
DigiFarm, the winner of the developing world technology category of Fast Company’s 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards, gives farmers advice, lets them buy seeds and fertilizer, and can even give them loans–all from a simple feature phone. → Read More
This Indian Startup Has Created A Big Business From Recycling Religious Flowers
HelpUsGreen–the winner of the consumer products category of Fast Company’s 2018 World Changing Ideas Awards–makes incense from the tons of flowers left at holy sites. → Read More
Schools Should Use Students’ Biorhythms To Determine When They Go To Class
Depending on whether students are night owls or morning larks–and how their schedules match up–affects their GPA averages. → Read More
Where Weed Is Legal, People Use Fewer Opioids
Could marijuana be a key weapon in the fight against the opioid crisis? → Read More
Getting Glasses To The Developing World Is A Massive Philanthropic Opportunity
2.5 billion people in the world need glasses but don’t have them. The benefits of everyone seeing clearly could be enormous. → Read More
This Simple Mobile Layaway Plan For Poor Farmers Just Won $1.25 Million
The Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship honored MyAgro, which helps developing world farmers save enough to reinvest in their farms–along with companies working on making solar panels cheaper, making reporting sexual assault easier, and more. → Read More
Andrew Yang Wants You To Vote For A $1,000-A-Month Basic Income In 2020
The entrepreneur presidential candidate sees a wave of automation coming that’s going to take enough jobs to require a major national response–and he wants to be in the White House to implement it. → Read More
Electric Vehicles Are Now The Equivalent Of Driving An 80 MPG Car
As the vehicles get more efficient and power companies switch to more clean energy, the footprint of driving an EV continues to shrink. → Read More
The Jobs The Robots Are Taking Might Not Be The Ones You Think
In a globalized world, robots in one country might actually help workers locally–while resulting in job losses far away. → Read More
These Maps Show How Climate Change Will Mess Up The Weather Where You Live
The Climate Ex map will tell you what the weather will be like in 2070–and where to go to get the weather you like in 50 years. → Read More
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is 16 Times Bigger Than We Thought
Before starting its enormously ambitious mission, an organization devoted to cleaning ocean plastic first had to understand the problem–and it’s bigger than anticipated. → Read More
The Food Truck Revolution Is Being Held Back By Unnecessary Regulation
A new report finds that some cities are doing a lot to prevent culinary entrepreneurs from starting up. → Read More
These Boots Are Made From Old Plastic Bottles Recovered In Haiti
Timberland is using recycled plastic to sew more and more of their shoes–and paying Haitians to gather the bottles in the process. → Read More
This Is How We Take Power Back From Facebook (And Every Other Monopoly)
The power of tech giants (and giants in industries from air travel to beer) are starting to have damaging effects on the environment–and our democracy. → Read More
There Are Simply Not Enough Places For Low-Income Americans To Live
The rent is too damn high. → Read More
America, Desperate For Happiness, Is Getting Less And Less Happy
A new survey finds that the U.S. is just the 18th happiest country in the world, because of poor health, poor economic mobility, and a lack of social cohesion. → Read More
The Latest XPrize Is For Building Remote-Controlled Humanoid Robots
From caring for distant parents to entering burning buildings, there are lots of ways that people might use robot avatars to be in places they can’t go themselves. The XPrize Foundation is offering $8 million if someone can build one by 2021. → Read More