The same issues that experts worry about for our world today — climate change combined with environmental mismanagement — helped end Mayan civilization, according to a recently-released article.
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The increase in electric cars may lead to extra demands — and costs — on power grids during the early evening hours. Researchers are looking for ways around this dilemma that won’t hobble sustainability efforts.
Fresh off his potential “Colbert Bump,” conceptual artist Jeff Koons took a potential PR black eye this weekend in a New York Times Magazine piece titled “I Was Jeff Koons’s […]
In a victory for disability advocates, the FCC has ruled that networks and others must provide closed caption data on online video content that was originally produced for television.
I’m not sure any of the reader suggestions to replace the deeply unpopular term “redistribution” will quite cut it as bumper sticker slogans for the fall election. But leaving aside proposals from […]
Did you notice Kenya’s surprising performance at the 2012 London Olympics? Take a look at this New York Times infographic of the final medal standings in London – there’s Kenya standing tall […]
A study that starts today uses ordinary citizens and vehicles equipped with Internet access to help researchers gather data that could drastically improve the driving experience.
Last week, after the shooting in their lobby that wounded a security guard, the right-wing Family Research Council immediately blamed their listing by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a […]
What’s the Big Idea? Love your best friend? Good. Chances are you’re unconsciously emulating her. As humans, we all engage in mimicry, says Harvard physician and sociologist Nicholas Christakis, and […]
What’s the Big Idea? At some point in our lives, most of us realize that we can no longer store our cash in a piggy bank or under the mattress – […]
A new report calls out electronics companies that are doing their part to ensure that the sourcing of materials they use in manufacturing isn’t fueling violence in war-torn areas.
The increase in digital technology penetration in Muslim-majority countries is creating revolutionary changes in many aspects, and not just when it comes to politics.
Would you eat a thick, juicy steak? What if it were grown in a lab and printed using new 3D printing techniques originally developed to grow regenerative tissue for medical purposes? Thanks […]
Evidence of plagiarism by students taking free noncredit online courses begs the question: Why cheat if the outcome doesn’t count for anything?
Missouri senatorial candidate Todd Akin’s comments about victims of “legitimate rape” caused a 30-email pile-up in my Inbox yesterday, from political and women’s organizations. The GOP would like you to […]
Portuguese citizens, despairing at the European economic crisis, are trying their luck in Angola, once a colony beset by conflict and now home to a thriving economy and a more affordable way of life.
The type of global attention drawn to the Pussy Riot trial and verdict bears uncomfortable similarities to that engendered by the Kony 2012 video.
A closer look at the cartography of the famous Disney ride
New businesses in Silicon Valley and Alley have tremendous power over what it will mean to be human in the coming decades. And with great power comes great responsibility. We hear often that the world is changing fast – we talk less about what we’d like it to change into.
In an attempt to mitigate the growing environmental nuisance caused by iguana overpopulation, Puerto Rico is offering incentives to businesses that will open slaughterhouses that will export iguana meat to eager customers in other countries.
Breast milk exchanges are taking off in parts of the Philippines thanks to government-sponsored incentives for both donors and recipients.
A new book describes the honeycomb of elevated walkways and underground tunnels that make Hong Kong an example of a new kind of three-dimensional urbanism.
“What does it look like to you?” asked the Boston Fox News affiliate on its Facebook page in regards to a mural (shown above) by the Brazilian street artists Os […]
[Author’s Note: I’m reposting some old favorites while I’m away on vacation this week. This post was originally from October 2007.] I recently received an e-mail which asked me if […]
[Author’s Note: I’m reposting some old favorites while I’m away on vacation this week. This post was originally from April 2011.] I’m an atheist, in part, because I’m a moral […]
[Author’s Note: I’m reposting some old favorites while I’m away on vacation this week. This post was originally from November 2006.] One argument for theism that I have always found […]
[Author’s Note: I’m reposting some old favorites while I’m away on vacation this week. This post was originally from February 2007.] One night a man had a dream. He dreamed […]
The weakness of online education, as far as I can tell, is the evaluation of student performance.
The last fifty years have seen a series of apocalyptic predictions, and not just of the Mayan Calendar variety. But human action should be motivated by present conditions, not doom and gloom.
US Rep. Todd Akin is a Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri, USA. Akin thinks the US should not support the “morning after pill” (you’ll see why I’ve put that […]