What if more modest agreements—on climate change, loose nukes, and other sweeping problems—would yield better results than a long, noble quest for a grand bargain?
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The unreasoned and intemperate Web commentary on the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords is shameful and embarrassing, says the L.A. Times.
The flat earthers who refuse to believe that there is global warming or that sea levels are rising have had a good couple of months in the Northern hemisphere. They […]
On a day filled with tragic images of the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others, it seems absurd to blog about anything else. As advertised, this is […]
On New Year’s Day, a bomb exploded outside a Coptic church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, killing 21 people and injuring 79 more. It was the deadliest terrorist attack […]
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head and severely wounded by a gunman who ran up to her at a campaign event in a Tucson supermarket parking lot […]
New data shows that the more people drink, the more they exercise. Scientists offer different explanations, such as a tendency toward a “sensation-taking lifestyle.”
Despite being considered one of the greatest American novels, “Huckleberry Finn” is the fourth most banned book in U.S. schools. Now the N-word is being removed by one publisher.
The notion that physics might have metaphysical meaning for human beings is as old as physics itself. Today, is there such thing as quantum spirituality?
China’s visiting vice premier said his country would buy $7.9 billion in Spanish bonds. El País newspaper dubbed Li Keqiang the new ‘Mr. Marshall’, alluding to America’s Marshall Plan.
We know birds raise their voices to make themselves heard in the noisy big city, but for the first time there is evidence that they may even be evolving as a result of city living.
The nature of security has changed, says Gary Hart. The former senator calls for the drafting of a new National Security Act, one which confronts today’s real security concerns.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will preside over a hearing to determine if Shakespeare’s Hamlet would be mentally competent to stand trial in today’s courts.
Travel has long had an environmental cost: gasoline, jet fuel, spandex pants for bicycling. With space tourism soon to become a common occurrence, what will be the environmental price?
One billion people already go hungry each day; if poor population centers seek to use natural resources to the extent Western countries do, how can our planet survive?
In a country that prizes self- reliance and private solutions for social problems, more young adults are doomed to sink, says a new book on the American twenty-something.
There’s a lot of talk on BIG THINK about evolutionary explanations of this or that human behavior. They’re all pretty fascinating, although far from completely convincing. Darwinian explanations, for what […]
Hours after AQAP pulled off one ambush in Abyan, they were back at it, ambushing another convoy of soldiers this afternoon. This time they attacked a convoy (Ar) that included […]
For a disorder that affects 1 in every 110 American children and 1 in every 70 American boys, there are a surprising number of misconceptions about autism. Study after study […]
Lots of things going on the planet right now concerning volcanoes, but many don’t have a lot of information to go with the news. I’ll try to fill in as […]
The autism-vaccine fraud has left a lot of mistrust to mop up. Since Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s erroneous report, science and public health took a huge step backward.
Negotiations that take place over computer have more chance of success when those negotiating think there is greater physical distance between each other.
Along with CD binders, bookshelves, and DVD collections, please add to the list of defunct media storage devices: Your hard drive.
At 10 am this morning, a group of al-Qaeda fighters shouting Allahu Akbar ambushed a convoy of military vehicles from the Central Security Forces, killing anywhere from 6 to 12 […]
When we cry, we may be doing more than expressing emotion. Our tears, according to striking new research, may be sending chemical signals that influence others’ behavior.
There’s been a pretty bizarre spate of mass animal deaths reported around the world. What the hell is going on? Unfortunately, there’s no good answer.
Young Muslim women are often forced to lead double lives in Europe. They have sex in public restrooms and stuff mobile phones in their bras to hide their secret existences.
English is in a constant state of flux. New words are formed and old ones fall into disuse. But no trend has been more obtrusive in recent years than the changing of nouns into verbs.
Who will set 2011′s standards in NewNet technologies like social media and real-time feeds? These are the disrupters to watch: Facebook, Twitter, Skype and LinkedIn.
If you look at the hard science on how people really behave it’s clear that it’s unusual for them to behave in a purely selfish fashion.