For millennia, men have assumed a certain dominance, both physically and culturally, over the world around them. Yet, as we enter an age of disruption, wherein the norms of history […]
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The Royal Society was founded in 1650, and has been a vital hub of scientific research and exchange ever since. In fact, as Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer have shown, […]
Joe Randazzo, editor of one of the most successful root vegetable-themed newspapers ever to emerge from Madison, Wisconsin, sat down with Big Think this afternoon. In an hourlong conversation, BT […]
In a move that goes completely against the conventional wisdom of online media—which Orion Jones discusses here—News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch is considering preventing Google from indexing his news sites, […]
Editor of the Irish Times, Geraldine Kennedy, thinks the Internet poses an existential threat to the freedom of the press because it jeopardizes newspapers’ solvency. Kennedy’s remark comes at a […]
The looming menace of widespread chronic disease is a lot like the prospect of major climate change. Both future crises are expected on the basis of imperfect projections which don’t […]
In the face of a potential troop surge in Afghanistan, it’s not a particularly bad time to examine what has been happening to U.S. servicemen upon their return home. Recent […]
A specially designed shrinking space suit could soon help astronauts get suited and booted in record time.
Shares across the globe shuddered and then rebounded today as fears that Dubai’s debt crisis would sweep across the globe began to wane.
The Swiss public has said yes in a poll to banning the construction of minaret towers which are a symbol of Islamic tradition.
A teenager who has confessed to an horrific murder listed her hobbies as “killing people” on a social networking web site.
A giant underground Salt Mine cavity in New Mexico is a “time bomb waiting to implode” according to geologists who expect the surrounding region to sink into a hole at any moment.
An Indonesian Minister has determined that the recent natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes in his country are due to the ubiquity of porn DVDs.
A blogger whose site was hacked decided to take matters into his own hands and interviewed the 17-year-old hacker to find out his motivation.
Scientists have developed an eco-friendly silicon air battery capable of working for thousands of hours before running out.
A recent brain scan study suggests that men and women respond differently to danger – with men primed to fight and women responding with emotion.
A college dedicated to growing marijuana has opened up in Michigan – the only required reading is “Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible”.
Just like the time Slate’s Jacob Weisberg invited me to join his Mafia family, his latest tweet made me think some wiseass had hacked his Twitter account: “If you’re looking […]
How many friends do you have who, under the “religious views” section of their Facebook profile, list “environmentalist,” “nature,” “mother earth,” “dirty hippy,” “dirt-worshiping treehugger,” or some variation thereof? Well, […]
Reporting from Mexico for the December issue of the The Atlantic, author Philip Caputo writes that “drug trafficking and its attendant corruption are a malignancy that has spread into Mexico’s […]
The battle for control of the Republican Party continues. Earlier this week, 10 Republican National Committee members circulated a resolution aimed at making sure that every Republican supports “conservative principles […]
Ebay has mapped out its Black Friday transactions. It’s was a real east-of-the-Mississipi kind of day. Let’s all give thanks for a robust 2nd Amendment. Animal rights activists react to […]
Graham Greene’sThe Quiet American and Antonio Giustozzi’s Decoding the New Taliban — two books that I’ve started more or less simultaneously — are jostling in my brain. In the very […]
It’s Black Friday here in the U.S., the worst shopping day of the year. Do yourself a favor and check out an alternate reality: the Rev. Billy’s Church of Life […]
Thanks giving for President Barack Obama was largely about thanking the armed forces giving their lives in Afghanistan.
Political leaders in Iraq are seeking to avoid disagreements on how to conduct a national election which would delay the vote even further.
China has announced firm targets for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions two weeks before the Copenhagen summit on climate change.
New evidence suggests that remnants of Martian microbes were transported to Earth in a meteorite that crashed into Antarctica 13,000 years ago.
Unidentified authorities have reportedly removed the Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma from Iranian human-rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi’s bank safety deposit box.
Having someone’s breath on your neck may help deaf people to hear what you are saying according to recent research.