Less obsolete but more annoying than a handwritten letter, the phone call is fading as a mode of communication even if the nostalgic will be singing its praises for a while.
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On November 7th, Pope Benedict XVIconsecratedAntoni Gaudí’s weirdly wonderful masterpiece of religious architecture, the Sagrada Família (shown above). The Catholic Church tends to distrust anything modern these days, so seeing it […]
I am not going to lie to you—the first time I pushed the button at paper.li to create a newspaper out of the links the people I follow on Twitter […]
Congress is unlikely to pass any serious climate change legislation now that the Republicans have retaken the House. If you doubt that, consider the leading candidates to replace Rep. Henry […]
Since voters long ago stopped believing in ‘promises’ made by parties at election time, politicians now make ‘pledges’. Pledges, as opposed to promises, are made to be kept. Pledges are […]
Psi is psychology’s equivalent of the perpetual motion machine in physics. Claims in favor of telepathy, clairvoyance, premonitions or other extra-sensory perceptions were always considered the realm of looney-tunes who […]
Today is November 13, 2010, meaning it has been 25 years since the tragic lahar that killed over 23,000 people (video, graphic at times) in Armero, Colombia. This lahar was generated […]
In guest post today, David Ropeik, author of “How Risky Is It,” takes a critical look at President Obama’s assertion in the days leading up to the election that many […]
Novelist Margaret Atwood recently shared her vision of the future where more and more people flock to cities despite the substandard quality of life they offer.
New evidence from a Texas capital punishment case demonstrates the death penalty was unjustly applied. It is the first such case ever against the death penalty.
“Do the billions of non-neuronal cells in the brain send messages of their own?” Nature’s Kerri Smith reports on a change in our understanding of the brain decades in the making.
“China holds all those dollars while the US holds the key to what they will be worth. It is a Mexican stand-off in which we could all be hurt.” The Guardian reports.
“Google TV may change the boob tube forever. But does the Internet really make for must-see TV?” Kevin Sintumuang writes a love letter to his television set.
Recent studies suggest that we derive more satisfaction from things we create ourselves. Known as the Ikea Effect, it could also explain American obesity, says Jonah Lehrer.
The world’s largest virtual real-estate deal took place this week on Second Life, a virtual world where people spend real money. The fictitious property went for $335,000.
Creating clean energy jobs is the wrong way to undo the recession, says Forbes’ Mark Mills. Today’s energy infrastructure represents a minor section of the American economy.
Religious families tend to have more children than atheist ones. From an evolutionary standpoint, this suggests belief in God is better suited to survival, says Phillip Longman.
Will Facebook’s plan to give its users @facebook.com email accounts rival Google’s Gmail? Tech Crunch thinks Facebook could do a better job at organizing the inbox.
Last week, Big Think blogger Frank Jacobs featured “The United States of Movies,” on his blog Strange Maps. The map, originally posted Reddit, assigned a movie to every U.S. state […]
Over at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum has nailed the real problem with the deficit-cutting ideas floated the other day by the the co-chairs of President Obama’s Commission of Fiscal Responsibility […]
Every year, millions of girls and women in the developing world miss up to 50 school and work because they are menstruating and lack access to the proper sanitary products, […]
For politicians, the election cycle never ends. Now that the 2010 midterms are over—or almost—it’s time to start thinking about 2012. Two years from now the real prize, the presidency, […]
We’ve made it through another week! Some news to round it out. Bulusan: The Philippine volcano continues to produce ash plumes, but PHIVOLCS announced that none of the ash sampled […]
In 2008, 41,269 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with HIV, an increase of 8% from only three years earlier. Known infections make up only 75% of total infections, leaving […]
Much of the privacy that so many of us cherish has been an economic fluke. Tracking technology has spun far out of control but the privacy problem is really one of our own making.
A study said to shake psychology’s foundations finds that daydreaming is rarely helpful. Furthermore, it challenges the idea that the mind responds to a stimulus out in the world.
It will take a revived patriotism to motivate Americans to do what needs to be done. …How can you love your country if you hate the other half of it?
Spiegel interprets envy and egotism at this year’s G-20 summit as a sign the days of close cooperation among the world’s big 20 economic powers may have ended.
“The ‘laws of war’ may sound like an antiquated concept in this age of robo-weapons. But, in truth, a clear international legal regime has never been more needed.”
It’s that other material — the truly vile and illegal stuff, hidden from public view — that represents the true threat to the fabric of decent society.