"When Thiel questions the Internet’s significance, it’s not out of an indifference to technology. He’s enraptured with it. Indeed, his main lament is that America—the country that invented the modern assembly line, the skyscraper, the airplane, and the personal computer—has lost its belief in the future. Thiel thinks that Americans who are beguiled by mere gadgetry have forgotten how expansive technological change can be."

Read a summary of the 10+ page story here. New Yorker subscribers can also read the article in the publication's iPad app or online archive.

As part of a five-part feature series, Forbes' Ryan Mac sat down with PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman to discuss how to find the right candidate for a job. Thiel said originality and confidence can get the interviewee the job, especially in the dense Silicon Valley, where candidates are often up against fierce competition.

"But if you do find yourself sitting across from the Founders Fund cofounder sometime in the future, [Thiel] says you can expect one curveball from him: 'Tell me something that's true that almost nobody agrees with you on.'

'It sort of tests for originality of thinking [and] for your courage in speaking up in a difficult interview context where it's always socially awkward to tell the interviewer something that the interviewer might not agree with,' says Thiel, with a wry smile."

See the full story and video clip here.

Luke Timmerman of Xconomy spotlighted Tonic Health’s “gamified” mobile data intake platform, as it revolutionizes the waiting room experience. The product’s video gaming and consumer marketing principles help healthcare organizations collect better data from patients by eliminating medical jargon and the tedious nature of traditional medical intake forms.

 “Fun isn’t the first thing that pops to mind when you’re asking thousands of people about their last mammogram. But Sterling Lanier is wagering that one of the dullest parts of modern healthcare, the standard patient questionnaire on a clipboard, can be made fun. It’s the organizing principle behind the startup he co-founded, Tonic Health.

 ‘Imagine you go to a doctor’s office and instead of a clipboard, you are handed this,’ says Lanier, pulling out an iPad with an open game application that looks a little like Fruit Ninja. ‘It says things like, ‘Welcome,’ ‘Rest Easy,’ and ‘Have Fun.’ When’s the last time someone had fun in the healthcare system?’

 Tonic Health, based in Menlo Park, CA, has been testing this concept of whether healthcare can be fun for about the past 18 months.” 

Read the full story here.

Peter Thiel’s 20 Under 20 program was featured on KTVU as an unconventional, yet positive path to success, citing one fellow’s experience with the program. Laura Deming, 17, was chosen as a Thiel Fellow in 2011 to pursue alternative therapies to prevent aging.

 “For those students who want to strike out on their own, there's a fellowship that will pay you to do so.

Offered by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, the '20 Under 20' fellowship program wants to help young adults and teens turn groundbreaking ideas into reality.

For two years, the 20 selected candidates under the age of 20 are given access to mentors and innovators already working in their field and $100,000.

The only requirement? The fellows, such as Laura Deming, can't be full-time college students. Deming was just 15 years old when she was accepted to MIT.

‘When I first got to MIT, it was a bit difficult to adjust to being in class and having regular homework to turn in. Sometimes I wouldn't understand the point of an assignment, and that was a bit odd,’ said Deming. She dreams of being a bio-tech entrepreneur. More specifically, Deming wants to cure aging.”

Read the full story here.

InformationWeek’s Marianne McGee highlighted Tonic Health's mobile data intake platform as one of the 14 most interesting health IT products and services that will be displayed at the 2012 HIMSS Conference.

 “Tonic Health develops patient-friendly and robust medical data collection tools for healthcare organizations, including physician practices, hospitals, and research institutions. Tonic's lead product is an iPad-based data collection platform that combines an easy-to-use interface, visually appealing graphics, and game-like elements with the potential to deliver higher patient engagement, more accurate data, improved patient tracking and screening, and lower costs. The technology is currently being implemented at all five of the University of California campuses as part of the landmark Athena breast cancer study.”

See the full list here.

Technology Review’s Jessica Leber profiles 17-year-old Laura Deming, one of 24 Thiel Fellows pursuing their dreams to change the world. After enrolling in MIT at age 14, Deming “stopped out” of college to use her $100,000 grant to research new therapies for age-related diseases.

“Laura Deming was studying for finals in a crowded MIT reading room last April when her phone rang. That’s when she learned she may never again take another exam.

Deming, only 17, had just been chosen by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel for a high-profile experiment: Put $100,000 apiece in the hands of 24 entrepreneurial teenagers and give them free rein to pursue innovative ideas.

The condition? Deming had to leave her studies and classmates, and vow to stay out of college during the two-year fellowship.” 

Read the full story here.

TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld utilizes auctions conducted on SharesPost to estimate Facebook’s worth. Based on these numbers, Schonfeld concludes that if Facebook went public today, it would get a valuation of approximately $85 billion.

“Facebook shares trade on private markets like SharesPost and SecondMarket. In fact, there is an auction going on right now on SharesPost for a block of Facebook shares which ends February 2 (the same day the filing is expected to hit). The last contract was yesterday at $35.50, which gives Facebook an implied valuation of $83.5 billion. The last auction on SharesPost closed at a ‘clearing price’ of $34 on January 20, which gave it an implied valuation of $80 billion.

SharesPost is an illiquid market with limited supply, so this is a very loose proxy. But it sets an important benchmark.”

Read the full story here.

TechCrunch’s Rip Empson features the Thiel Fellows, highlighting their impressive progress in the first six months of their two-year endeavor. Empson reports the program has been so successful that the Thiel Foundation has decided to launch a second class in 2013.

“Originally, the Thiel Foundation planned to award only twenty fellowships, but James O’Neill, who heads the Thiel Foundation, said there were so many outstanding candidates among the 400 applicants they received that they were compelled to add four more spots.

Six months into the program, and already the progress has been impressive. O’Neill tells us more than ten of the Fellows have founded companies, and at least one has launched a product on the market.”

Read the full story here.

NBC’s Maryann Favro features Health Rally in light of its launch by examining user Leah Nichols’ weight loss story. Favro explores her success with Health Rally’s approach to motivate users through social support and rewards. With encouragement from her family and friends and a $150 check waiting for her if she lost 10 pounds in three months, Leah achieved her goal and even convinced her husband to use Health Rally too.

“Zack Lynch, the CEO of Health Rally says just after two weeks 1,500 people have already used the website. 

‘It’s not just for losing weight, you can use it to help with any health goal from running a marathon, to quitting smoking, to remembering to take your diabetes medication,’ Lynch said.

 You also have the option of selecting your own reward such as a spa treatment, high end shoes or giving money to charity.”

Read the full story here.

OncLive’s Ben Leach delves into the development program for biotechnology company Exelixis’ highly anticipated anticancer compound Cabozantinib. Focusing on the capacity of the drug to treat different tumor types, Leach explains its novelty and potential.

“The investigational compound Cabozantinib (formerly known as XL184) has generated much excitement in recent years for its ability to target multiple pathways involved in the development of cancer, thus allowing it to be used against more than 1 tumor type.

‘Our goal is to bring active compounds to patients who have unmet medical need,’ said Gisela M. Schwab, MD, Exelixis’ executive vice president and chief medical officer. ‘We set out to really create a compound that was broadly effective.’

Cabozantinib is such a compound.”

Read the full story here.