Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, came by Big Think today to share his unconventional wisdom about highly intelligent people and their preferences. Liberals, he […]
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Should abortion be permitted until the fetus’s birth? Bioethicist Jacob Appel believes so, arguing that any other guideline is too arbitrary to be legally justifiable, or enforceable. Indeed, his actual “philosophical […]
Monday the 22nd, World Water Day, marked the launch of World Water Week 2010 – not a bad time to check in on the liquid state of things here on […]
I am not one to endorse stereotypes based on ethnicity, nation or religion. Especially not the ones from the earliest Star Trek series, in which everyone in the galaxy either […]
Suspended animation, where an animal’s metabolism is slowed to seeming death, is no longer the stuff of Star Trek, says scientist Mark Roth who is pioneering research into it.
This week around 200 experts will gather in California to work out how research into the possibilities of geoengineering the planet to combat climate change should proceed.
The New Yorker’s David Remnick remarks that Israel seems to view Barack Obama rather suspiciously and says the President’s customary cool has not warmed the countries’ relations.
Australian car manufacturer Holden is hoping to develop a car fuelled by household waste such as food scraps and dirty diapers within the next two years.
A key component in a popular Indian spice could delay liver damage and cirrhosis, according to a new study published in the research journal “Gut.”
While consolidating medical records into electronic databases might cut down on loose paper and red tape, one doctor argues the efficacy will be diminished because of privacy concerns.
Portion sizes in paintings of Jesus’ last supper have grown exponentially in the last 1,000 years in a strange parallel of changing eating habits, showing that art imitates life.
Forget Rahm Emanuel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has “earned the badge of the toughest nut in F***nutsville” and is one of history’s most skilled vote-getters, writes Richard Adams.
In a break with diplomatic custom, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netinyahu held closed-door talks yesterday in an attempt to smooth US-Israeli relations.
Carl Varjabedian, a photographic maverick, captures the surreal beauty of the American West in a manner worthy of tall tales and American dreams, writes NPR.
The press didn’t just do a lousy job of explaining the stakes during the healthcare debates, they failed us on a much more fundamental level. According to the Columbia Journalism […]
Edmund White’s eloquent consideration of Cheever in the new New York Review of Books remembers the late author’s connections with Chekhov, his love/hate relationship with Catcher in the Rye, and […]
Set against last weekend’s Washington jamboree organised by pro Israeli AIPAC, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States, the meeting of senior officials of the United […]
This week’s installment of “The Future in Motion” features a clip from an interview with Dr. Nate Lewis, a chemistry professor at CalTech. He and his team are busy developing […]
This is my 100th post on Mind Matters. Hence the cake in the pic, which was made for a wedding by Seattle’s Jet City Cakes, using H.R. Giger’s designs for […]
Physics is a process of rigorous, exhausting intellectual inquiry, but it does offer occasional moments that are “kind of fun.” For Harvard’s Lisa Randall, one such moment came when she […]
I have often been asked about my thoughts on the recently increased storm activity and global warming. The fact is, you cannot judge a book by its cover, so you […]
What kind of international political influence would the United States have if Barack Obama’s most notable characteristic were his love of haikus? Probably not very much. For the European Union, […]
The New Yorker’s Jill Lapore ponders the rise of marriage therapy in America as well as other dreams of human betterment in a culture that says “Why settle for less than perfection?”
Eating walnuts slows the growth of prostate cancer in mice and has other beneficial effects on the multiple genes related to the control of tumor growth and metabolism.
Four men have agreed to be locked away in a steel container for 18 months in order to simulate a mission to Mars which will test the physical and mental stress of long spaceflight.
Race is a “social concept, not a scientific one” claimed geneticist J. Craig Venter following the discovery that humans share 99.9% of the same genetic code irrespective of our skin color.
The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson says that Barack Obama shows that an American president can be a combination of “strong” and “wrong”.
Holidaymakers in Dubai were recently arrested for kissing in public and could face jail. It seems totally over the top, but should tourists respect the rules of the countries they’re in?
The votes were cast and near-universal health care reform passed by the House. So, the Democrats won a clear victory, right? Not according to Republicans who are also triumphant.
The unsung heroes of the art world who lift and hammer, hang and adjust, got their place in the spotlight this weekend at the first ever Art Handling Olympic championships.