November 19, 2012

Skype It to Me

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

So, I’ve decided to sign up for Skype after getting several invitations to use it for speaking gigs. (Apparently, sometime when I wasn’t paying attention, this became a thing that everyone has.) I don’t really know anything about how this works, but my profile name is daylightatheism. If you’d like to add me as a friend or whatever, feel free to do that.

I suppose, now that I have the webcam and the microphone, that I could use it for Google+ Hangouts as well. Anyone interested in something like that?

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Person examining a petri dish with tweezers, holding small colored objects, against a dark background.

Health

Are microplastics really destroying our health?

They’re in our brains, hearts, and blood — but what are they doing to us?

A statue of a thoughtful, seated philosopher on the right seems to be contemplating a calling, while a standing figure holding a lyre on the left adds harmony against the textured background.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Can you have a “calling” without a caller?

If you’re an atheist with a vocation, who laid that path for you?

Close-up image of a human iris featuring vibrant blue and yellow hues with a dark pupil in the center.

The mystery at the heart of consciousness

“Is it possible that consciousness is a much more basic phenomenon in nature and is essentially pervading everything?”

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10 min

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with

Annaka Harris

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Does the CMB really “prove” the Big Bang?

Since the mid-1960s, the CMB has been identified with the Big Bang’s leftover glow. Could any alternative explanations still work?

A wasp illustration in blue on grid paper is overlaid on a close-up image of effervescent bubbles in a golden alcoholic liquid.

Health

The first known animal that’s “immune” to alcohol intoxication

Could studying the Oriental hornet lead to a treatment for people with alcohol use disorder?

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