Articles Archive

June 5, 2023

Stephen Hawking once said, “I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming.” This crossword explores the global energy problem and its potential solutions.

Starts With A Bang

This is the loneliest galaxy in the known Universe

With no other galaxies in its vicinity for ~100 million light-years in all directions, it’s as isolated and lonely as a galaxy can be.

The Past

Islam has become less rational since its medieval Golden Age. What went wrong?

Once a cosmopolitan faith, Islam valued intellectualism and modernity. It was derailed by various geopolitical and religious forces.

a black and white drawing of two men in a library.

The Past

The other, more important Renaissance you never learned about

A new book by historian and author Paul Strathern argues that the Northern European Renaissance has long been overlooked.

The Future

A general-purpose robot is entering the workforce

Named “Phoenix,” this AI-powered humanoid could be your next coworker.

a black and white photo of a person in a box.

High Culture

Forget Transylvania. Dracula was inspired by an Irish cholera epidemic

Bram Stoker’s mother survived a terrible cholera outbreak and recounted the ghastly scenes to her son years later.

A statue of a man sitting under a night sky filled with stars.

The Learning Curve

The 3 disciplines of Stoicism: A guide for living a life of meaning and intention

Philosophers Massimo Pigliucci and Greg Lopez discuss how Stoicism can help us gain perspective on our emotions and act with intention in the world.

a woman with red hair and yellow glasses.

Neuropsych

87 brain scans of people watching Hollywood movies unlock a “brain map” of social perception

A new study from Finland suggests that we all process the behavior of others using the same neural networks.

a painting of a boat floating on a body of water.

The Well

I’m “spiritual but not religious.” Here’s what that means for a physicist

Spiritual experiences can be explained in terms of a highly evolved brain. But they also can be extremely meaningful.

a statue of a human head next to a statue of a human body.

Neuropsych

What Carl Sagan got very wrong about the human brain

You don’t have a “reptile brain.”

a close up of the planet with a black background.

Hard Science

Could you stand on the surface of Jupiter? Exploring the enigmatic outer planets

The outer planets’ clouds hide the weirdness within.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: How do magnetic fields split energy levels?

If light can’t be bent by electric or magnetic fields (and it can’t), then how do the Zeeman and Stark effects split atomic energy levels?

a glass of red liquid sitting on top of a table.

Health

Out for blood in the search to stall aging

Is blood the key to anti-aging, or just another lucrative biotech opportunity?

Two breathtaking pictures of a galaxy and a star taken by the Hubble telescope, highlighting the beauty and cosmic magnitude that fuels the Hubble tension.

13.8

Hubble’s great discovery concealed a tension that still haunts cosmology

There are two methods to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. The results do not agree with each other, and this is a big problem.

a painting of a man with an owl on his shoulder.

Thinking

Do you crave deeper knowledge? Go Zen and learn to forget

For the clarity of a “beginner’s mind” and a path to true and lasting wisdom, one must fully embrace “not-knowing.”

A woman standing on top of a metal railing above a mountain range.

Thinking

4 philosophical answers to the meaning of life

Is there an ultimate answer to the age-old question?

a drawing of a green and pink object with a sailboat in the background.

The Future

I’m a rational optimist. Here’s why I don’t believe in an AI doomsday.

While many imagine terrifying futures run by AI, Rohit Krishnan is quietly identifying real problems and solutions.

Starts With A Bang

Hawking radiation isn’t just for black holes, study shows

In 1974, Hawking showed that black holes aren’t stable, but emit radiation and decay. Nearly 50 years later, it isn’t just for black holes.

a person standing in a room with a white wall.

The Future

Longtermism: The future is vast – what does this mean for our own life?

If we manage to avoid a large catastrophe, we are living at the early beginnings of human history.

13.8

Fear of AI is misplaced. Instead, fear the people who crave power

Fear of technology is not new. But we misunderstand its origin. In reality, we don’t fear technology but each other.

Trends & insights

3 key takeaways from ATD 2023

ATD 2023 encouraged L&D professionals to create a world that works better – whether by rethinking old assumptions, optimizing how we gather, or creating new measures for success.

Strange Maps

Can you guess who it is?

a painting of a man sitting in a cave surrounded by dogs.

Thinking

The dangerous ideas of Diogenes the Cynic, history’s most outlandish philosopher

Diogenes engaged in shocking behavior to demonstrate the contradictions, small-mindedness, and sheer absurdity of prevailing social conventions.

Starts With A Bang

What all scientific experts wish non-experts knew

And why you, a non-expert, should absolutely not consider “explaining what you know” to an actual expert in the field.

a painting of a buddha surrounded by other figures.

Thinking

The Axial Age: When the greatest minds walked the Earth

Plato, Sun Tzu, and Buddha all lived in a “golden age” of philosophy that laid the foundation of modern thought.

A digital art image of a human made of small white blocks.

Health

Reading the mind with machines

Brain-computer interfaces could enable people with locked-in syndrome and other conditions to “speak.”

a poster of a man and a woman holding a knife and a book.

Leadership

Why great managers don’t spend equal time on criticism and praise

Our brains are hardwired to find fault. The best managers don’t let this steer how they interact with their team.

a painting of a group of people riding horses.

The Past

Humanity solved the “trust paradox” by going tribal — and paid a horrific price

Evolutionary pressures drove the formation of tribes who encoded their values in myths and symbols. Was this cooperation cursed?

May 30, 2023

Weekly Crossword: The sea which no one tends is also a garden

The title is a quote from William Carlos Williams. Oceans are the focus of this crossword puzzle. They form over 70% of Earth’s surface, and about 97% of Earth’s water can be found in them. Yet, in various ways, man is threatening this incredible ecosystem.

Starts With A Bang

Does mass increase when nearing the speed of light?

The concept of ‘relativistic mass’ has been around almost as long as relativity has. But is it a reasonable way to make sense of things?