Researchers have discovered a deep-ocean current carrying frigid water rapidly northward from Antarctica along the edge of a giant underwater plateau. They call it a climate change “fast lane.”
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A new biography of writer Irène Némirovsky, author of “Suite Française,” rejects the idea that the Jewish author, eventually killed by the Nazis, was anti-Semitic.
Hoarders have “a sense of intense responsibility for objects and an unwillingness to waste them,” says Randy Frost. They also have an ability to find beauty in things that other people might not appreciate.
Scientists have gotten a better understanding of the molecular mechanism by which humans sense temperature. The findings could lead to new therapies for acute or chronic pain.
“With all the uncertainty and anxiety these days over landing a job with a steady paycheck, more job seekers are finding it harder to resist fudging on a résumé or job application,” writes Anna Prior.
The Army is seeking proposals for a sophisticated human scent detection system that could “uniquely identify an individual,” at a geographical distance, or after several hours or even days.
Politicians and military brass warn that America’s poor diets and lack of exercise have now become a danger to homeland security. Daniel Engber says this argument is “hogwash.”
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has amassed a $12 million fortune in the past year. She is “a singular national industry,” writes Gabriel Sherman.
“Too much debt is always dangerous,” write Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. It’s dangerous when the government is borrowing from foreign governments, as well as when it does from its own citizens.
I recently wrote an opinion editorial in the Wall Street Journal about the recent eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano. This eruption was a bit different than most volcanic eruptions in […]
I would like to thank everyone who has been so enthusiastic about being part of SCI-FI Science: Physics of the Impossible on the Science Channel. We have been floored by […]
It’s usually a tie between watching paint dry and watching grass grow for the title of most boring thing to do ever. Watching the paint dry and, more importantly, flow […]
I never really thought about Warren Beatty as a great movie maker. My introduction to him as a kid was the movie Heaven Can Wait, a comedy that cemented in […]
The New York Times Magazine’s feature piece on Washington journalist Mike Allen makes him out to be the friend we all want: uniquely concerned, uniquely connected, possessing all the knowledge […]
The profile of Politico reporter Mike Allen in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine has drawn the ire of a couple prominent media authorities, who criticize Politico and Allen—as did […]
Social Darwinism, or destructive competition as a means of maintaining society, is an ethically bankrupt ideology and one the U.S. must abandon to remain competitive.
A feature in the Boston Globe argues that it is delusional and dangerous to think that all religions are paths to the same holy wisdom.
More than any other living poet, Derek Walcott best fulfills T.S. Eliot’s poetic ideal following his new publication, writes The New York Times.
The Economist is conducting a live debate on whether GDP growth is a poor measure of improving living standards; two of their columnists start the debate.
The Chronicle of Higher Education recalls George Orwell’s advice on writing in order to explain why American academic writing is so unfortunately esoteric and—poorly written.
The National Review comments on one of William F. Buckley’s favorite quotes: “The problem with socialism is socialism; the problem with capitalism is capitalists.”
The wealth disparities of naked capitalism are indefensible, but so too is the welfare state; there must be a third way, writes the New Statesman.
A Croatian girl recently came out of a coma having forgotten her native tongue but remembering German, her second language, perfectly fine.
The cultural revolution of the 50s and 60s made the development of the morning-after pill an important moment in the women’s rights movement.
Learning music at an early age creates new neural pathways between the brain’s hemispheres aiding in spatial and mathematical reasoning.
Islam is not a monolithic religion or a single coherent ideology, any more than Christianity is. Yet many people—as I discovered in the comments on my last article—are willing to […]
Readers have asked for more original photography at Focal Point. I’m happy to oblige. Here’s a fun photo for the weekend, taken during my recent trip to St. John’s, Newfoundland. […]
In just a few years, basic microchips will be so cheap they could be built into virtually every product that we buy, creating an invisible intelligent network that’s hidden in our walls, our furniture, and even our clothing.
Do you frequent porn sites? If you do, you’ll be pleased to know that you are a customer of one of the most tech-savvy industries in the world. It’s a […]
Though popularly billed as the spokesman for the free-market, it’s high time we realize Adam Smith felt government intervention in markets was necessary.