Guest Thinkers — September 20, 2010

Newsweek Sucks Up to John Boehner

Lindsay Beyerstein

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Shorter Newsweek: A half-witted, mean spirited, quasi-functional alcoholic would be a great Speaker of the House.

[Photo credit: Alli’ Cat’, Creative Commons.]

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A man in a suit sits at a desk holding a large Hurricane Dorian forecast map, with U.S. flags and official emblems visible in the room, evoking the urgency of a 1938 science manifesto warning about threats to democracy.

Starts With A Bang

This 1938 pro-science manifesto defended democracy against fascism

As democracy recedes and fascism rises in the USA and around the world in 2025, history provides a lesson in how science can fight fascism.

Bright star at the center of a blue nebula radiates mass energy, surrounded by numerous smaller stars, with diffraction spikes visible from the brightest stars.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: When do stars turn the most mass into energy?

All stars shine due to an internal source of energy. Usually, it’s nuclear fusion: converting mass into energy. What makes them most bright?

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: What right do we have to colonize other worlds?

In all the known Universe, Earth is the only planet known to have native life. What should guide us in expanding humanity beyond our world?

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Couldn’t COVID-19 have originated in a Chinese lab?

In theory, scientists could’ve produced a deadly virus that accidentally infected lab workers. In practice, we know that didn’t happen.

An illustration of a Martian Revolution showcases a colony with astronauts tending to plants in a greenhouse embedded in the surface, under a red sky with two suns.

The Future

Mike Duncan chronicles the history of the future Martian Revolution

Most people think that writing fantasy or science-fiction requires a strong imagination. Podcast host Mike Duncan shows a knowledge of real-world history is just as important.

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