When women watch pornography, their brains play down the role of the visual cortex, focusing instead on physical arousal. This contrasts how the brain reacts to most other visual stimuli.
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Famed biologist E.O. Wilson thinks art and science can be reconciled by understanding the neurological processes which inspire our appreciation of art. But does that serve the artist?
Sherry Turkle is at it again in the NYT. When we expect more from technology, her story goes, we inevitably expect less from ourselves. In a high-tech world, we flee […]
What is the Big Idea? French voters go to the poll today for the first round of the presidential election. Nicolas Sarkozy, and his Socialist challenger, François Hollande, will probably emerge as […]
Over the past year, I’ve read about a half dozen of Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbo’s novels. If you are heading on vacation this summer, I recommend you pick a […]
Men and women prefer best friends of the opposite sex and second-best friends of the same sex. Until middle age, that is, when friendship patterns change in ways important to evolution.
When you ingest cannabis, the chemical THC binds to the body’s cannabinoid receptors which influence of the functioning of everything from your appetite to short-term memory.
The weekend is a good time to get some culture, and since there are a lot of things lately that I’m enjoying, I figured I’d write one completely miscellaneous post […]
Michael Sandel, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard,writes: As naming rights and municipal marketing appropriate the common world, they diminish its public character. Beyond […]
My friend Matt Zwolinski, a professor of philosophy at University of San Diego, wonders why folks who think taxes ought to be higher, like Warren Buffett, don’t just go ahead and […]
A new study of over 200,000 Australians suggests that leading a sedentary lifestyle is unbelievably bad for you, greatly increasing your risk of death within the next three years.
(Author’s Note: The following review was solicited and is written in accordance with this site’s policy for such reviews.) Summary: A surprising, welcome reminder that atheism has a long and […]
As technology changes our relationship to the office, we need to change how we take breaks from work. That means using the flexibility of our technology to treat ourselves well.
In a dream-like scene from Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, the titular tyrant [1] gently plucks a large globe from its standalone frame, holds it longingly in his arms and […]
Being an expert means never having to say you’re sorry. If it turns out you’re wrong about something—about, say, whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or whether there was […]
There are some times when it gives me little pleasure to be right, and this is one of them: The Vatican has launched a crackdown on the umbrella group that […]
Pew research released yesterday finds a “gender reversal” in career aspirations. Sixty-six percent (66%) of womenbetween the ages of 18 and 34 now rate a “high-paying career” as one of […]
There are so many things wrong with this story. First, a children’s author parodied the famous Aesop fable of The Tortoise and the Hare, substituting a pineapple for the tortoise. […]
I read an article this week about a questionnaire whose creator, the “corporate philosopher” Roger Steare, calls the Moral DNA test. Over 50,000 people from 200 countries have taken this […]
There are many books that purport to offer you a better life. Some such books offer fairly mundane enrichment: weight loss, professional advancement, organized closets. Others are bolder, offering salvation, […]
Heading to South America to protect your head of state? Avoid potentially embarrassing conflict with this handy region guide to the price of sexual services prepared by a team of […]
Scientists in Britain have created artificial DNA, called XNA, by replacing natural sugars with synthetic polymers. In laboratory conditions, the XNA evolved according to Darwinian rules.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow have used 3D printers to synthesize chemical compounds commonly used in medicines, enabling a future of on-demand health care.
A new research institute out of MIT wants to bring the power of new computing to bear on medical devices, creating non-invasive tools to monitor patients and test new drugs faster.
Everyone has secrets. Some have personal secrets of infidelity, lies and embarrassing tidbits that they hope will never see the light of day. Powerful institutions like businesses and governments also have […]
A lot of ink has been spilled over the inconsistent and illogical ways that human beings make choices. Not as much attention has been paid to the decision to make […]
At the end of 2009, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi estimated that there were around 200 – 300 members of AQAP in Yemen. Today, John Brennan suggested that group […]
Archimedes in the bathtub, Newton and the apple, Einstein’s theory of special relativity — Eureka! moments are what happens when hours of work come together in a single creative flash. […]
David Brooks has written a trendy column about the crisis in confidence in higher education. Expensive colleges, shaken by the study Academically Adrift that shows that too many students don’t […]
An online petition asking for a one-time bailout of student loan debt has gathered 670,000 signatures. But is it a realistic way to help the economy while preserving the notion of fairness?