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In this episode of The Amazing Adventures of Edward Snowden, our hero fools a cadre of journalists into believing he is en route to Havana in search of political asylum.

This week, The Supreme Court of The United States will hand down decisions on a number of major issues. Here is what you need to know to stay up to date with the three biggest ones: 1) The court already ruled today on its Affirmative Action case, you can read the majority opinion here. A prospective student sued the University of Texas on the grounds that she had been denied admission in place of somebody who had allegedly been admitted based on racial factors. Supporters had hoped that a broad ruling might illegalize the practice of factoring race into admission across the board. The takeaway from the ruling is not negligible but is not the sweeping change many people expected. By and large, the court kicked the decision back down to a lower court.  The other two each regard gay rights. 2) DOMA, The Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996, is under fire in the case of United States V. Windsor. The court did not offer a ruling, but one is expected soon, most likely Tuesday morning. The government is being sued on the grounds that married gay couples do not receive the same federal benefits as straight couples. You can read about the relationship to political policy here. 3) Proposition 8, the controversial California ballot issue, is also being challenged in the case of Hollingsworth V. Perry. While the legal matter is ostensibly a voting rights issue, this is being viewed as primarily an issue with same-sex marriage in America’s most populous state. Depending on which way it goes, and what the majority opinion dictates, this could have ramifications for the legality and the illegality of gay marriage in other states as well. You can read more of our coverage on the development of this case here and here.

Today’s decision warns colleges and universities across the country that they need to be very careful about how they use race in admissions. But the headline is clear: they still may do so.

In Brazilian favelas, citizens are demonstrating to increase the pubic’s awareness of how funds and development projects for the upcoming 2014 World Cup will affect the country’s native population.

For six years, Nicholas Merrill wasn’t allowed to say who he was.

I love a good protest song, this one by Auditory Canvas couldn’t be more salient. The tune is dubbed entirely with particularly resonant segments of John F Kennedy’s “President and […]

To raise funds needed for renovation, the St. Brother Albert Homeless Shelter in central Poland is offering a course in urban survival, teaching its students how to live in the concrete jungle without money.

Nelson Mandela was never in prison. Or so he told Peter Guber and a group of American businessmen. 

NYU graduate student Josh Begley set out to document all U.S. drone strikes, a project that he thought might take 10 minutes. In the video below, he explains how, 5 months later, his project is still unfinished.

Faced with the prospect of long journeys to the city, which costs transportation fees and commuting time, it is no wonder why many capable workers prefer to remain in their villages with their families.

How “super” was your view of the Supermoon?

The only way in which we can bring our creative resources fully into play is by misjudging the nature of the task, by presenting it to ourselves as more routine than it will turn out to be.

If you have a play list you listen to while exercising, you are one of many who find music a helpful physical aid. But what is it about music that gets us going? 

Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, have found relationship between pet owners and dogs to be highly similar to the deep connection between young children and their parents.

Preeminent Harvard historian Niall Ferguson argues that social mobility is extremely important to any developing or advancing society, and that the degree of social mobility is more important than the […]

While technologies create seamless payments online and at department stores, the result is a kind of instant gratification that may harm our greater sense of fulfillment.

The most detailed map of the human brain ever completed is now available for perusal online, giving neuroscientists a greater understanding of how cells are grouped and arranged inside the brain. 

 It is impossible to overstate how important this is. On Tuesday, President Obama will lay out a plan for dealing with climate change, and reports indicate it will include regulation […]

Despite having 30-year lifespans, mole rats are known in scientific circles to be cancer proof. Researchers think their resistance is thanks to tissue very rich with high molecular weight hyaluronan (HMW-HA).

It’s not easy being Justice.

MIT medical researchers have created an algorithm that accurately measures a person’s pulse by tracking how the head moves involuntarily when blood is pumped from the heart to the brain.

Smoke-free products such as electronic cigarettes are a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes, despite the FDA’s obstinate refusal to permit companies from saying so.

Silver, known since ancient times to have antimicrobial properties, can disrupt bacteria and possibly deal with the modern scourge of antibiotic resistant bacteria, say Boston University researchers.

If you can’t make it out to a cafe, a new website allows you to bring the bustling energy directly to your computer. The site is called Coffitivity. It’s free and plays an ambient coffee shop soundtrack.

In the 1960’s, John Crowe Ransom looked back at the post Civil War South, and discussed how at the time the South was Reconstructed and Unregenerate. The South had just […]

That first click is a door opener for people and makes them want to do more and more stuff.

Follow basic human attributes.  People want to feel respected.  They want to feel part of a community.  They want to have connections. 

Here is a thought experiment that shows beliefs don’t parcel themselves out the way sentences do. 

People have hang-ups and blind spots and phobias and just sometimes they have a principled refusal to take something seriously. 

Obesity rates are rapidly rising in the United States, so that also means larger pant sizes, wider seats, and more and more overweight people having sex.