Like Galileo, those who advocate a new understanding of ourselves often face persecution. While tight budgets are cited for a lack of NASA funding, there may be something larger lurking.
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(more info here) The majority of paper mail I get is from people asking me for money. Political candidates from every state, advocacy groups, seemingly every charity under the sun, […]
In the search for planets beyond our solar system that could support life, scientists have drawn up a more specific list of bio-signature chemicals, including sulfur gases and ethane.
The notion of “painful news” is a common metaphor, but this Israeli study suggests there might be literal truth in the cliché. In a study of chronic-pain patients, it found […]
I got my first “smart” phone last week—the iPhone 4S—and I guess it’s already obsolete, since rumors of the iPhone 5 are flying. My smartphone and its mysterious resident genius, […]
Industry representatives have long coached their employees on the addictive properties of mobile devices. Now they are warning the public that there can be too much of a good thing.
Are the Republicans deliberately hurting the economy to hamper President Obama’s chances of reelection, or are they just doing it because of misbegotten ideas?
It’s a Mean Mean Mean Mean World. Just ask the people in Aurora, Colorado. Or the people in Colombine, Colorado. Or the people of Port Arthur, Australia, where a […]
Higher-learning institutions are beginning to offer classes online, but this is just the start. Within fifteen years, concepts like grades and dividing students by age will also be challenged.
So here’s the transcript of a debate I had with the brilliant and incredibly prolific (and old) bioethicist Daniel Callahan on how to frame end-of-life issues these days. Students at Singularity […]
Rather than talk of social media as representing a separate online life, we should admit that we can now respond to all of our experiences, which was once the domain of the artist.
Thanks to rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and computer processing ability, machines are now evolving faster than humans. At some point within the next decade, according to proponents of the Singularity, […]
The one thing you can count on in social science research is this: Inquiry will continue until the preferred hypothesis has proven to be true. Proponents for abstinence only sex […]
The Justice Department maintains that Apple’s agreement with major publishers over how it markets e-books prevents its competitors from setting prices that would benefit consumers.
Facebook’s new manager of energy efficiency and sustainability wants to develop apps that allow users to share and compare their energy use with friends, leveraging the power of friendship.
Just a quick note: I’ve been interviewed for the latest episode of Think Atheist Radio, which is now available for download and podcasting. In the interview, we chat about the […]
I wrote a short post on why freedom of expression must and should always trump dignity. Ideas can remain, locked in place as true or good, even if they are […]
Science rests on the assumption that the world can be known: that causes have effects, and logic applied on Thursday in Katmandu is valid still on Friday in Geneva. Psychology, […]
The economic situation seems to be improving, but many Americans think differently. Is the U.S. recovering or headed for another recession?
The economic state of mind for many countries, and the actual status of the country’s economic state don’t always match up.
With respect to the cosmos, mankind has just been born. Hypothetically, if our 14 billion-year-old universe were scaled down to just 10 years (for the sake of comparison), dinosaurs would […]
With less than a week before the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, anticipation and some dread both fill the air. Ever since the Munich games in […]
The U.S. looks to China to support them in its attempt to restrict Iran’s nuclear objectives.
The Director of National Intelligence admits in writing that there was at least one occasion when government spying was in violation of civil rights.
Women want to have the career, husband and the kids, but to have it all is very difficult—and it isn’t because women are incapable of doing it all.
I usually write optimistic posts. This is going to be a scary one. I apologize in advance. While I was in Columbus last month, I mentioned the furnace-like heat. Well, […]
Having found a way to measure the sensation of awe in laboratory settings, researchers have found that appreciating majesty helps us live in the present, making life more satisfying.
If you experience stress because you feel you don’t have enough time, researchers say the best way to overcome that feeling may actually be to give more of your time away.
While compassion is often the subject of religious and philosophical dictum, we can readily make ourselves more compassionate by thinking differently, say experimental psychologists.
A young Russian entrepreneur is courting the world’s richest men and women to fund his plans to make humans immortal. Called the 2045 Initiative, the quicker funding is found, the better.