“If something has been around longer, it must be better. New research suggests we hold onto that bias even in instances where quality has nothing to do with longevity.”
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“Thanks to period-music evangelists, breathtaking virtuosity, and millions of listeners, the art form remains vibrant.” The City Journal on the relevance of classical music today.
The arms industry, much like our domestic pacific economy, is looking for a bump in exports given the recession. Weapons manufacturers want to sell arms in the Middle East and Asia.
Is freedom of religion still a valued principle in America? “The Ground Zero mosque is only one of several mosques that are being strongly opposed. Opposition to mosques is on the rise.”
“Experts writing this year’s dietary guidelines say strong evidence indicates that moderate alcohol consumption results in a longer life and slower cognitive decline.”
Without the ability to daydream and hallucinate, computers will never think as humans do. David Gelernter, Yale professor of computer science, predicts the next stages of AI.
“Amazon reports that sales of e-books have finally surpassed sales of hardcovers. That’s a pretty momentous development.” Megan McArdle at The Atlantic thinks the Kindle’s day has come.
“MIT political scientists demonstrate how much candidate appearances affect election outcomes, globally.” Good looks seem to win out across cultures with very different histories.
“So even though a meat-free world sounds good on paper, it is likely that a utopian future will still have some animal products in it. And we are talking meat, not just milk and eggs.”
If you listen to the entire video of Shirley Sherrod’s infamous NAACP remarks, somewhere around the 14 minute mark, your stomach will start to curdle as you hear her describe […]
“It gives you a whole new way of looking at the day,” Dennis Hopper’s character Billy says in the unforgettable film, Easy Rider, which the then 33-year-old Hopper also directed. […]
Scientists’ understanding of Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, changed dramatically this past week, thanks to images and data from the satellite Messenger. In September of last year, the […]
I am taking a couple of weeks off. But while I’m away, I thought I’d share with you some of the what I consider to be this year’s essential readings […]
A friend of mine, who works in the sustainable food industry, was alarmed by my recent post on overfishing. Not alarmed to learn about the demise of marine ecosystems (she […]
The national security business is booming, even bloated, according to “Top Secret America,” an in-depth investigative report published Monday in the Washington Post. Among the findings: an estimated 854,000 people […]
If you knew exactly how much electricity your home consumed, would you be more mindful of your carbon footprint and adjust your habits to lower consumption? Textile designer Cecil Marcq […]
How can companies like BP recover from devastating PR disasters like the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? Just get the cleanup done, and keep the public informed, […]
Are CEOs rewarded more for their perceived success or the success of their companies? In his recent Big Think interview, biographer T.J. Stiles says robber barons like Cornelius Vanderbilt may […]
Love songs may actually help your love life, a recent study shows. Researchers in France conducted an experiment in which 18- to 20-year-old women were exposed to songs with either […]
Today I was given some pause before writing this post by a friend who made what I thought was a crack about Glenn Greenwald. But now that it’s been cleared […]
“You had better shove this in the stove,” wrote Mark Twain in a 1865 letter, adding, “I don’t want any absurd ‘literary remains’ and ‘unpublished letters of Mark Twain’ published […]
Mr Cameron has gone to Washington. Have any of you noticed? David Cameron is the new British Prime Minister, and today he is meeting with President Obama in the White […]
“In a marriage, the common symptoms of A.D.H.D.—distraction, disorganization, forgetfulness—can easily be misinterpreted as laziness, selfishness and a lack of love and concern.”
“Is our modern mobility sustainable? We are facing an energy crisis, a climate crisis, and an economic crisis—and perhaps a mobility crisis as well.” An urban studies professor on the car.
Apart from being a past sponsor of international terrorism and the West’s new best friend in North Africa, Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi is also a crackpot dictator with the bizarrest […]
Charles Simic recalls the excuses he offered the first time he watched his native Yugoslavia lose at the World Cup. The poet lists the four universal excuses given when a soccer team loses.
A new history of voting through the ages is timely, says The New Yorker, as the U.K. prepares for electoral reform while the U.S. holds out against newer and fairer electoral methods.
“Marijuana is one of the top cash crops in the United States. So why is there so little coverage of this business, as a business?” The Big Money inaugurates a blog on the marijuana trade.
“Scientists yesterday hailed a potential breakthrough in the fight against Aids after a vaginal gel was found to cut HIV infection rates by up to 50 per cent.” The Independent reports
“How can the United States legitimately claim the right to promote democracy and human rights at the same time that, at home, it is becoming somewhat less democratic, and a great deal less just?”