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When we look for signals from alien life in outer space, we see nothing and all seems to be quiet. The laws of probability tell us that the Universe should […]

Dual use technologies make it especially difficult for countries to negotiate agreements over the weaponization of space. The New Scientists asks what positive steps can be taken.

“Hypocrisy is always a double edged sword; but in the case of anti-colonial struggles both sides of the blade cut the weaker party more deeply,” says history professor Mark LeVine.

A little financial education can be a dangerous thing, says one MIT professor of management. It gives investors a false sense of confidence in a world where complexity rules.

The online game Blizzard now makes its users submit their real first and last names in order to post comments. True/Slant asks if this is the end of Internet anonymity.

“We all know that real men don’t eat quiche,” says Miller McCune. “New research suggests men opt for foods associated with a masculine identity — even if it means passing up something they prefer”

We often treat our future selves they way we would treat others, preferring to help later than sooner, says Scientific American. Think of your future self and you’ll save more money.

“Scientists have questioned the assumption that a lack of exercise causes fatness in children. The study suggests that physical inactivity appears to be the result of fatness, instead of its cause.”

Christian nationalists, who believe God has chosen the U.S. as the promised land, succumb to “fear, misery, confusion and self-reproach,” says one writer who investigated the Call 2 Fall movement.

Harold Fromm criticizes vegans for their vanity and pretentious sense of virtue. “However delicate our moral sensibilities, it still remains that to be alive is to be a murderer,” he says.

Ernest Hemingway didn’t think so. The author and aficionado of the activity thought it more a drama where the bull and the bullfighter play their respective roles: death and danger.

Brooklyn-based design studio Hyperakt operates under the admirable slogan of “Meaningful Design for the Common Good” – a commitment to only work with companies whose products and services create positive change […]

“Pure energy,” intoned Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in the classic Star Trek episode “Errand of Mercy.” (In 1988, Information Society immortalized the phrase when they sampled it into their […]

Will wonders never cease: professional self-promoter Emily Gould recently accused feminist blogs of stoking their readers’ outrage to “gin up page views.” Gould’s case in point is a reported piece […]

Ever since I first started going to Russia in early 1956, I have been impressed by the fact that the Russian people, generally speaking, admire the United States.  For decades,even […]

Will we become a couch-potato society of information consumers, or will we be empowered, motivated and active?

Penn and Teller are not like other famous duos, says Penn Jillette, the larger and more talkative of the two magicians. Lennon and McCartney, Martin and Lewis, Jagger and Richards—these relationships were […]

Tom Jones’ old friend Elvis Presley once told him “You have the voice of a black singer. Are there any black people where you come from?” To which this multi […]

Would it be cheaper to deal with climate change when it comes, rather than take preventative measures now? The Atlantic Wire considers the ideas of Al Gore, Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein.

“If everyone writes, there’ll be more bad novels. And if writing is thought sacred, they will become more boring.” The Telegraph doesn’t think the novel is dead, just boring.

Twenty-four years after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Scottish sheep are finally free of radioactive material brought on by heavy rain following the meltdown.

After dogs, horses may be man’s best friend, new research suggests. Based on their ability to understand subtle eye and body movements, horses can grasp human dispositions relatively well.

Cases of human irrationality are manifold, but Wired Science has found a new one: Do the outcomes of local sporting events influence voters during political elections? Yes, two studies say.

“Feeling down? Having a stimulating conversation might help.” Scientific American looks at a study suggesting that deep conversations are more satisfying that superficial ones.

Historically a bedrock of U.S. foreign policy, Israel is losing support from outside and inside the U.S. because of its recent aggressiveness, says Jonathan Freedland for The Guardian.

A recent Supreme Court ruling that denies a Christian college organization access to campus facilities violates the First Amendment, says Dennis Byrne at the Chicago Tribune.

“Repeal of the estate tax imposes significant costs on the taxpaying public and promotes concentrations of wealth that harm our democracy,” says a Boston College law professor.

Robert Wright says that the Internet is scattering our brains, sacrificing individual coherence for a superorganism where people are but single cells of a greater, electronic being.

Queen Elizabeth II is here, and today she spoke about peace. She said, in her speech at the United Nations, “the waging of peace is the hardest form of leadership […]