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If Flannery O’Connor somehow birthed the love child of Sid Vicious, she might end up sounding like novelist Nell Zink. Equal parts Southern Gothic’s grotesquely twisted charm and punk and alternative music’s insiderish anti-establishmentism, Zink’s second novel Mislaid will disorient you until you let it delight you. Zink’s mix — which I’ll call Southern Gothic Punk — might be an acquired taste, but a taste well worth experiencing if only to break out of the contemporary rut of MFA-programed, sound-alike fiction that’s become the bubblegum pop of today’s literature.

Be a Patron for Starts With A Bang and bring the Universe to everyone. “The universe is big, its vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things […]

Ariana Miyamoto, the biracial woman recently named Miss Universe Japan, is hoping to persuade her country’s citizens into broadening their perception of what is authentically Japanese.

The discovery of a new hominid species, a contemporary of the famous “Lucy,” expands our understanding of human origins and the middle Pliocene period.

A news agency in Panama City installed devices in local potholes that automatically tweet complaints to the public works department every time they are driven over.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest has sentenced Ross Ulbricht to life in prison, a more severe sentence than even the prosecution had requested. Forrest explained she was making an example of Ulbricht to send a message to others like him. 

Laura Kipnis, a professor at Northwestern University, has been brought up on Title IX charges that appear to infringe on her First Amendment rights. She published an account of her experience yesterday.

How one of the first tests of special relativity might lead to the greatest particle accelerator of all-time. “One feels that the past stays the way you left it, whereas […]

Where previous iterations of wearable technology have relied on gaudiness, Google’s new smart fabric comes with an understanding that innovation doesn’t always need to be flashy.

It’s subtle and pernicious as hell how this happens. How we transform something that’s supposed to make us more open and balanced into a shiny new prison of things, jargon, and obligations.

The tonal qualities of a dog’s bark can reveal age, gender, breed, and more.    

NASA’s New Horizons probe is on a road trip to Pluto and sending back some illuminating imagery on the way.

A great many of our most popular songs are written at just a third-grade reading level. That’s the conclusion reached by an analysis of 225 popular songs.

The word “rational” needs to be rescued. Tom Stoppard’s new play shows that a major rational parable, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, is widely misinterpreted. Seeing why “rationalists” do worse than Christians can help us avoid losing in evolution’s “negative telos” games.   

It’s all about how seriously you take the concept of moral duty.

How the Solar Eclipse of 1919 spelled the end for Newton. “Oh leave the Wise our measures to collate. One thing at least is certain, light has weight. One thing […]

Psychedelics are showing promising results in helping a wide variety of ailments. But can they also result in addiction? 

Researchers say it’s the night — not the darkness — that we fear.

What the first American woman in space meant for people everywhere. “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You […]

It was when FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar — a country that could reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit during match play — red flags went up in the American legal system.

Analysis of skeletal remains suggests we’ve found one of earliest known homicide victims. 

Conversation involves taking turns. The challenge comes from the fact that we don’t follow the same pace in taking turns. Something as seemingly simple as taking turns in talk involves […]

Portugal is Europe’s face? Only in a Pessoa poem. And on this map.

Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Deny Evolution If adults want to deny evolution, sure. That’s fine. Whatever. But those adults better not make their kids follow in […]

Researchers say the duration, mode of transportation, and destination, all factor into how much commuting a person can take before they begin to burn out and resent their jobs.

Think you’re contributing 110 percent to a project? Researchers suggest you may be overclaiming.

Researchers from the American Chemical Society finally tackle what makes New York City’s bagels taste so good — it’s all about mixing the right chemical compounds.

How tides, gravity and lava give Io the youngest surface in the Solar System. “The crust, being so thin, must bend, if, over wide areas, it becomes loaded with glacial […]

In a bid to preserve records of atmospheric activity, climate scientists are looking to transport ice from the planet’s mountainous regions, such as the Alps, all the way to Antarctica.

Researchers suggest you may have dropped your old phone on purpose, just so you could justify getting the latest one.