Hello readers. I’ve been on vacation for the last several days. Here’s an old post from my previous blog WhyWeReason.com to fill the void. It’s about a paper by the NYU […]
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Performance art and film art have always been the afterthoughts of museums—the new kids on the block with no room of their own in the big culture houses. Institutions designed […]
NASA is working with Lockheed Martin to design a diet for astronauts on their way to Mars. Food is such an essential part of the journey that one astronaut may be dedicated to meal preparations.
A nonprofit dedicated to researching the science and technology needed to travel vast distances across the cosmos says lasers can be used to harvest antimatter from the vacuum of space.
Even the smartest people make irrational choices, says Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize-winning psychologist. Here’s why — and what you can do about it.
A chuck of ice 46 square miles in area has broken off the Petermann Glacier, according to the Canadian Ice Service. Scientists warn that rising ocean temperature could do further damage.
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. […]
Happiness is not an unalloyed good, Kant says. Without the correct character and orientation, without a sense of duty, happiness is just an animalistic state of mind.
These specially-made relief maps showed blind children were sensitive to the geo-distributive aspect of maps
I had a fantastic time at the Secular Student Alliance leadership convention two weeks ago, and wrote enthusiastically of what a juggernaut of secular awesome the SSA is. Well, it […]
A rash of new companies have sprung up to meet the demand for transportation of crew and cargo to orbit and to the International Space Station left by NASA’s cancelling of the shuttle program.
The FDA has banned bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles in sippy cups. The FDA has not banned BPA for use in food containers. Huh? What […]
Coursera, an online education company founded by two Stanford professors, announced today that a dozen major research institutions will join the venture and offer more than 100 free online courses.
A technology start up that is adapting aged military equipment to civilian use wants to offer an unmanned aerial drone for $100 but the devices have raised questions about privacy law.
The future is a difficult thing to grasp, and not just because we can’t see it. Bringing innovation to life requires imagination, resourcefulness, the sort of limitless creative ambition we today associate mainly with science fiction writers.
Yahoo’s decision to hire Marissa Mayer, a high-ranking Google employee who is also pregnant, came as a surprise to the tech industry but stands to increase women’s profile in the workplace.
Here’s a question I have been struggling for years: Why do we marry? I am not confused about the desire to have a wedding – the pretty dress, standing before […]
When human biology becomes indistinguishable from its machine parts, in an event known as the Singularity, we will transcend human intelligence, but will we also transcend our feelings?
Social and mobile networking tools are helping to build financially-independent communities by facilitating informal trading markets. The services are a response to international banking crises.
I’ve been thinking quite a lot lately about what spiritual development and spiritual attainment actually mean these days. What is the purpose of being on a spiritual path for the most […]
When most people think of evolution, they think of the growth and development of the exterior dimensions of reality—the biological evolution of natural species, the development of the cosmos from […]
After I finished giving a lecture at the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, an American rabbi approached me. “I’ve been following your work for some years now,” […]
Almost everyone agrees that poverty is not a good thing. Almost everyone would like to end poverty. Almost everyone would benefit from ending poverty. So why don’t we? To find […]
Romi Haan on why entrepreneurs need to understand sales, and how she succeeded anyway.
In a piece about the Barclays traders who colluded to fix the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR), the Economist declared that the LIBOR scandal “could well be global finance’s ‘tobacco moment’….[It is imperative] to change the way […]
In order to solve America’s faltering economy, we must understand its causes. For University of Chicago business school professor Raghuram Rajan, it was an eviscerating of the middle class.
Fresh off the press from TEDGlobal, Marc Goodman’s talk on the future of crime has been causing a bit of stir on the blogosphere. Goodman is a global security advisor and futurist focused on the disruptive impact of technology in security, business and international affairs – and has a unique perspective about what the future may hold.
The American economy is capable of rebounding, thanks to government protection of property rights and a risk-taking culture. But what should the next president do to help?
Modern relationships have become ambivalent, insecure and indeterminate, says sociologist and professional student of modern love, Eva Illouz. Could BDSM really be a solution?
The extramarital alliance has an interesting history of its own. It’s not all clichés from John Updike and Gay Talese. Here’s a snapshot of how various moments in history might […]