For those with an interest I did a Bloggingheads segment with Mark Goldberg here.

The fight over who owns art might have just gone nuclear, and Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 painting The Night Cafe is at the center of it. The descendents of the Russian industrialist who bought the painting in 1908, only to see Soviet Russia “nationalize” the painting and sell it in the 1930s, are ...

From my own observation of having lived and worked in both the United States and Britain the main difference between media coverage of politicians in both countries is that of deference, or an almost complete lack of it amongst the British media. Or should I qualify such a bald statement? After all ...

I've written in the past about religion's harm to women, and the way modern sexism is aided and abetted by ancient religious prejudices that still survive today. Every major holy book has sexist verses, but some of the most misogynistic and the most virulent can be found in the books referred to by ...

Product safety officers are launching an investigation into the presence of the toxic metal cadmium in children’s jewelry import from China after evidence of the substance was found. “The promise to ‘take action as quickly as possible to protect the safety of children’ followed by hours the release ...

Heineken is planning on buying the beer operations of Mexican brewers Femsa in an all-share transaction valued at $7.6 billion. “The move will make Heineken a ‘more competitive player in Latin America, one of the world’s most profitable and fastest-growing beer markets,’ the chairman and chief ...

A cure may have been found for a defective alcohol metabolism enzyme that affects and estimated 1 billion people worldwide, according to research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). “The findings, published Jan. 10, 2010 in the advance online edition of Nature ...

A New Jersey company called TrueCompanion has unveiled the world’s first “sex robot” – a woman replica called “Roxxxy” who has different personalities and responds to touch. “Roxxxy, is a female robot which acts as a life partner or mate for those who can’t find the 'real thing'. TrueCompanion ...

The Pope has denounced the violent clashes between Italians and illegal immigrants which has left dozens injured in the southern town of Rosarno in the last few days. “Residents are reported to have beaten immigrants with iron bars, shot at them and run over them. Nine were injured, two seriously ...

North Korea has called for a formal peace treaty with the US in exchange for returning to international talks about its nuclear weapons programme. “However, in an apparent signal of Washington's scepticism about closer ties with the reclusive dictatorship, the US's new envoy on North Korea's human ...

“Two more churches in Malaysia were firebombed Sunday, bringing the total to six since a court ruled that non-Muslims can use the word ‘Allah’ as a term for God. No one has been hurt in the attacks, which began Friday. They follow a high court's ruling that Christians can use the word ‘Allah’ in ...

The United Arab Emirates has issued a law restricting the use of tobacco and its marketing unless specific standard requirements are met. “UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued the law banning the import of tobacco and its by-products unless specific standard requirements are met ...

“Angolan authorities have arrested two people over a deadly attack on Togo's football team at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, state media says. Angola's National Radio reported that two suspects were arrested in the northern province of Cabinda - where Togo's team bus was attacked on Friday ...

Can Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone’s new documentary show us the “human side of Hitler?” asks The Independent’s Stephen Foley. “Oliver Stone has never been one to spot a historical controversy without steaming towards it, but the latest project from the film-maker behind JFK and W threatens to ...

How are large groups of animals capable of astonishingly coordinated behavior? Do human crowds behave according to similar logic? This week Princeton evolutionary biologist Iain Couzin, a specialist in self-organized pattern formation in biological systems, sits down with Big Think for a talk about ...