Now that the military dictatorship is dissolving, “five decades’ worth of bottled-up opinions” are coming out from many, many different directions.
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Friday’s sentencing of five people found guilty of the “honor killing” of a mixed-caste couple is the latest in a series of decisions that have generated debate.
Part 1. Monkeys There’s an apocryphal story about monkeys – based loosely on a real experiment – that goes something like this: Stage 1. Monkeys 1, 2, 3, 4, and […]
Picasso’s infatuation with the artistic past comes across in his 1957 The Maids of Honor, in which the artist takes Velazquez’s tour de force Las Meninas and reimagines it through his modern perspective.
My first book hasn’t been out for long, but I’m thinking it’s almost time to start writing the next one. I came back from my trip to the U.K. with […]
[Editor’s Note: These mysterious messages seemingly always come in pairs, so after receiving the last one, I was expecting a counterpoint to arrive in my inbox soon. I wasn’t disappointed, […]
Writer Victoria Bassetti discusses how a 2008 study measuring testosterone levels in voters may provide a means towards making the process simpler and easier.
Sure he is, according to Walter Russell Mead. Mead’s Meadea, of course, is one of the most savvy and erudite blogs around. One reason, it appears, that Mead is voting […]
Researchers have discovered the brain mechanism that prevents people from developing overwhelming fear.
A new study from the Emory-Tibet Partnership showed that a form of compassion-based meditation helped increased test subjects’ ability to interpret others’ facial expressions.
Last spring, I wrote about the Secular Coalition for America’s new executive director, Edwina Rogers, a Republican lobbyist whose selection raised more than a few eyebrows. While I had (and […]
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis are using crowdsourcing to gather data on people’s ability to learn names and faces.
Some links gathered over the week for you to peruse: • Ed Miliband, the leader of the UK’s opposition Labour party, is a nonbeliever. He says he doesn’t hold religious […]
New research at USC shows that the brain processes the movements of others differently depending on the viewer’s feelings about the person they’re watching.
Over the past decade, there have been several studies suggesting potential gene variants that may be linked to IQ.
UK researchers want to see if polyphenols, the compounds that allegedly give foods such as broccoli and blueberries body-healing properties, actually make it past the gut lining.
At this week’s Body Computing Conference, one team of researchers is unveiling a car with special sensors that monitor its driver’s health and habits.
A new trial of a Web-based system could represent the first step in a more collaborative doctor-patient relationship.
ICU doctors at a Kansas City hospital received results of a baby’s complete genome within just over two days, a new record.
A recently-published review of studies done on exercise interventions for young people shows that by themselves they don’t significantly increase children’s overall daily physical activity.
My latest article for Salon has just been published, “Atheism’s growing pains“. It’s a brief survey and distillation of the Atheism Plus movement: what it is, why it was needed, […]
A new study says that more and more companies are changing their environments to make it easier for their employees to work offsite.
A 12-year tracking study of coyotes in urban areas showed that the populations are thriving…and serving as test cases for larger animals like wolves and bears.
A restaurant check wallet currently being road-tested comes with its own mini-computer, letting patrons pay with a credit card right at the table.
A new study out from MIT says that the scannability of typefaces used on auto dashboards can impact a driver’s ability to react to an unexpected road condition.
Improved ability to cope with cognitive dissonance is tied to a regular dose of Wolfgang Amadeus M., according to preliminary research.
The key is to look for a job the same way you would look for a unique opportunity to create something better or new – a business, a product or service or maybe even a career.
Some research proposes that sorrow in fiction might be a form of psychological relief. A more fruitful explanation is that important virtues, values and morals that elicit uplifting emotions accompany sad moments in fiction.
Pervasive computing is all about interaction between the billions – soon to be trillions – of microprocessors that have infiltrated virtually every aspect of our lives. A new book,”Trillions”, argues that we have to design an entire living environment where those devices communicate with each other and with us.
Depending on your relationship to the powers that be, Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange rank among either the brightest angels or the darkest demons of contemporary life. Harnessing the […]