What the first signs of life beyond our Solar System will look like. Image credit: Tanga et al., 2012. “Language… has created the word ‘loneliness’ to express the pain of […]
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According to a Pew Research study, if you count people who change from one type of Protestantism to another, “44% of American adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from […]
Tonight, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson will host a debate about the benefits and pitfalls of the private sector monetizing the many needs of exploring space and beyond. The Isaac Asimov […]
Supermoons are both super and common, but they’re only a tiny slice of our nearest neighbor’s magnificent journey. Image credit: ESA / NASA and the International Space Station. “O, swear […]
Perhaps the most spectacular example of rebirth in our galaxy, this cavernous nebula is giving rise to the next generation of stars! Image credit: ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0925a/. “For in the […]
Any theory worth its salt, or any law worthy of the name, should welcome challenge.
A little magnetism, a few impurities and liquid nitrogen make the magic happen! “I see miracles all around meStop and look, it’s all astoundingWater, fire, air and dirtFucking magnets, how do […]
Deceive your eyes with this amazing art technique that makes 2-D drawings come alive! “The contemporaries and rivals of Zeuxis were Timanthes, Androcydes, Eupompus, and Parrhasius. This last, it is said, […]
The history lesson in Zimmerman’s acquittal in the murder of Trayvon Martin
It’s not “particularly” any one characteristic, and that makes it a rarity worth looking at. “Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will […]
Well, I realize I’ve been failing you by not sharing my views on the top films. My remedial effort will begin with three I saw in the last couple of […]
Your first philosophers: Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, and one strange new face. Why the first books people read about Stoicism should be by one of these guys. On Stoicism Graduation season […]
This week’s Supreme Court decisions have been the main topics streaming into my Facebook and Twitter feeds (along with a few heartfelt thoughts for Nelson Mandela). Escaping a thumbs up […]
Why are today’s paparazzi so terrible? The combative relationship between photojournalists and their celebrity subjects seems to have become an all-out war as photographers look to capture content not already […]
Have you ever noticed how long people look at a painting in a museum or gallery? Surveys have clocked view times anywhere between 10 and 17 seconds. The Louvre estimated […]
Fewer than 14% of American silent films still exist today in complete form according to “The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912-1929,” a recent Library of Congress report by […]
Lasting power is accorded to only a handful of presidents, especially after their death. There is no doubt that John Kennedy is one of the few. How did it happen?
“I could erase an entire life,” thinks a pensive Adolf Hitler as he stares into his mirror in one of the many striking images from the career of artist Raymond […]
We know that the Universe has been around for 13.8 billion years, but we also know we can see for 46 billion light-years. How is this possible? “Nature decrees that […]
Of all the galaxies in our local supercluster, one outweighs them all. “I recognize my limits, but when I look around I realise I am not living, exactly, in a world […]
If you had never heard of global warming before, how would you figure out whether it’s happening? “There is no question that climate change is happening; the only arguable point […]
If you filled out a form today, you were probably asked your “gender.” I’m always tempted to answer “mannish,” or “girlie.” This isn’t what the form wants to know. Frequently […]
The rising tide of evil, the relative safety of a few sanctuaries: these are the two main vectors of zombie cartography. In the first category, the epidemiological map shows the […]
Keynes did not just diagnose the problem, he also posed a solution: government intervention.
The Supreme Court could make history with its rulings on the legality of both California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
A few months ago I posted a piece on the alarming resurgence in the use of lie detectors in the UK and the US. A new documentary looks at the use […]
“My client is not in a hurry,” architect and sculptor Antoni Gaudí famously responded to someone asking when his last masterpiece, the Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain […]
“It may amuse you, Mother, to try to photograph during your solitude,” Julia Margaret Cameron’s daughter told her while presenting her with her birthday gift in 1863 while Mr. Cameron […]
Seventy-five years ago, The Museum of Modern Art staged their first exhibition devoted to the work of a single photographer—Walker Evans: American Photographer. That show brought together many of Walker […]
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”—truer (and more gender, class, and race specific) words were never written by a group of rich, white, […]