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The 70th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will undoubtedly be accompanied by images of the “mushroom clouds” that rose over both cities. Terrible and sublime, these images burned themselves into the consciousness of “the greatest generation” and every generation since that’s lived with both the legacy of nuclear war and the reality of nuclear energy. A new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario titled Camera Atomica looks deeply at the interrelated nature of photography and nuclear war and peace to come away with a fascinating glimpse of the calculatedly manufactured “atomic sublime” — the fascination with such terrible power at our command that simply won’t let us look away.

What the first American woman in space meant for people everywhere. “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You […]

The Sun is made almost entirely out of hydrogen and helium; the Earth has hardly any of either. How’d that happen? “The single most powerful element of youth is our […]

The pleasure center, increasingly hard to satisfy, is screaming "More!" But primitive centers that control breathing and heart rate are not building up tolerance at the same pace and are whispering "Enough."

In the long term, a life-changing earthquake in America's heartland is almost certainly inevitable.

Oxford researchers say we are only a few decades away from a chance at digital immortality.

The physics of accurately knowing just how much time has passed. “While friendship itself has an air of eternity about it, seeming to transcend all natural limits, there is hardly any […]

Linda Lovelace learned from her mistakes. So can we all,  by resolving our core sense of unworthiness, our "sadness attitudes," and replacing them with self-approval, self-appreciation, goal-setting, and action taking in line with what we know within.

I think a little perspective is order. The incendiary advice of Susan Patton ‘77, a Princeton alumna, that Princeton women find husbands while at college and marry early, has crashed […]

One of the most unforgettable spiritual and artistic experiences I’ve encountered in my life happened in the Sistine Chapel years ago. Straining my neck as fellow tourists did the same, […]

Getting risk wrong leads to dangers all by itself, and we will remain vulnerable to these mistakes until we let go of our naïve post-Enlightenment faith in reason and accept that risk perception is inescapably an affective system, not just a matter of rationally figuring out the facts. 

The neuroscience of creativity is flourishing. But will the popularity of this subject lead to better, or sloppier science?

Only two authenticated images of Emily Dickinson exist: one a painting of her (and her siblings) as a child, the other an iconic photograph of her as a teenager. In […]

Drew Nelles has written a fascinating article detailing our species’ history of tackling “criminal activity” of animals. Today, we commonly hear of everyday stories of dangerous animals being “put down”. […]

Missouri senatorial candidate Todd Akin’s comments about victims of “legitimate rape” caused a 30-email pile-up in my Inbox yesterday, from political and women’s organizations. The GOP would like you to […]

In New York City, Susan Miller is an institution, a sage of the media and fashion worlds. As the astrologist for Elle magazine, best-selling author, and founder of AstrologyZone.com (est. […]

What separates the greatest achievers from the rest of us? 

So the Susan G. Komen Foundation has withdrawn its financial support of Planned Parenthood. Wailing and gnashing, wailing and gnashing. Erica Greider, my colleague at The Economist, offers an evenhanded […]

Several years ago, Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister conducted a study that measured the productivity of computer programmers. Their data set included more than 600 programmers from 92 companies. According […]

Here’s a fine think-piece by Susan Cain that praises some introversion as indispensable for creativity.  To some great extent, Socrates and Jesus were solitary men.  And the wisdom they shared with us couldn’t […]

In the past few weeks I have received thank you notes from three current or former students. Here’s one example: nn During this week of giving thanks, I am certainly […]

Many kids are vaccinated at age two; some kids start displaying autistic behavior at the same age. “Evidence” that there’s a connection has turned out to be bogus.

One could hardly call me a conspiracy theorist;  I don’t put much stock in Area 51 theories, alternate possibilities of the JFK assassination, or any such popular underground thoughts.  But […]

Well, after sorting through all of the Leadership Day 2010 posts, tracking down incorrect URLs, deleting a few nonexistent items, and reviewing some attempts to recycle old posts, I believe […]

The Fourteenth Amendment has come under concerted attack in recent days. Some conservatives have talked about repealing the Citizenship Clause, which says that “All persons born or naturalized in the […]

The Center for Inquiry has posted a list of its many Darwin Day events scheduled for locations across the country. For science enthusiasts, these events serve as an important ritual […]

n n (click on the image for a larger version) n ‘Everybody Is Against Everybody – Somebody Has To Be For Them’: the message behind this Amnesty International poster is […]

It’s a common truth now that as much as we create our culture, our culture also creates us. Like Frankenstein’s monster acting with a mind of his own, culture eludes […]

Jonah Lehrer argues in the New York Times Magazine that depression might be good for us. He’s popularizing a theory advanced by two Virginia researchers who claim that depression is […]

As the new year begins, I want to pass along the final part of my personal list of the most interesting essays on political issues from 2009. My selections are […]