If You're Pressed For Time Studying For Finals

Avoid this at all costs.

In what has become an annual tradition, The New York Times Magazine takes stock of the passing year by creating a mini-encyclopedia of the most noteworthy ideas of the previous 12 months. We put out feelers, fine-tune our journalistic antennae and call on a fleet of reporters and researchers to scour the infosphere for the most captivating, baffling, promising and influential ideas from all walks of life -- not just science and technology, politics and policy, but also tattoo culture and fast-food management, horticulture and shoe design.