As I washed the dishes and pans after our own Labor Day weekend gathering last night, I thought about some of the labor I’ve done over the years. I picked […]
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Labor Day is about two things: freedom and respect. So, in that spirit, I thought I’d weigh into the discussion of romantic dealbreakers. Here are mine: 1. Picky eaters and […]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel envisions a tight alliance of the 17 euro-zone members—one which would unify their fiscal, budgetary and social policies, creating a two-class club.
Does the world need new political players and is Qatar poised to be one? It has shown strong political leadership, willingness and influence in recent major events in its region.
Hopefully on this somber anniversary we can turn hindsight into wisdom, and realize that we have paid a terribly high price for the way fear has shaped the new normal since that terrible day.
The focus is now on the reconstruction and stabilization of Libya, how to encourage its transition from a virtual monarchy to a democracy. That will cost money. Who should fund it?
Sorry about the paucity of new posts lately – there is a lot going on in the background here at Eruptions HQ, but all will be revealed in the next […]
After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. had a golden chance to galvanise the world against terrorism—but failed to do so, writes a retired CIA counter-terrorism director, Robert Grenier.
While the U.S. can expect sustained efforts to slash the defense budget, it faces a growing strategic challenge: China has been engaged in a rapid and wide-ranging military buildup.
Lower college tuition fees can reduce risky sexual behavior in teens as students will have more to lose when things go wrong.
When you think of Burberry, do you think of prim and proper English models wearing plaid coats or do you think of beautiful exotic scantily clad holographic models walking on […]
What does today’s anniversary of 9/11 mean for the 9/11 generation, who did not let America’s greatest national tragedy break them. How will its legacy define their lives over time?
As soon as commentators began to refer to the popular uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East as the ‘Arab Spring’, I began to worry that the near universal […]
Ever since scientists in Germany announced last year the ability to create a small-scale cloak of invisibility for a 3D object the size of a human hair, there has been […]
The tag line of Picture This is “Looking at art leads to thinking about life.” That idea has never been truer than during the week ahead of us.
So I’m in Seattle at the meeting of the American Political Science Association. The APSA meeting has to be one of the diverse and tolerant academic associations in the world. […]
It’s easy to see the appeal of the idea that we can put a definitive end to our suffering or grief and start a new chapter of life without sorrow, guilt, or anger. But it just isn’t true.
What is this thing called self-control? We speak of exerting will power, of forcing ourselves to go to work, of restraining ourselves and of controlling our temper as if it were an unruly dog.
An Italian woman is the latest person to have a murder sentence reduced on the grounds that abnormalities in her brain, and genes, could explain her aberrant behaviour.
“There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast,” said Herman Melville. He meant that the lives we think we’d love, lacking contrast, would be miserable.
It is 50 year after Stanley Milgram’s groundbreaking experiments on obedience to destructive orders—what have we learned from the most controversial research of our times?
Swiss and American researchers have found a way to program cells to determine whether they have become cancerous, and if they have, to order their own suicide.
A coercive approach to drug treatment has gained wide support in Russia that once involved strapping patients to beds while they undergo the harsh agonies of withdrawal.
For the first time, researchers have shown viruses can be delivered through a person’s bloodstream to infect cancer cells without infecting other tissues, according to a new study.
As we age, our bodies change in ways that challenge athletic ability. But exercise also can slow down—and in some cases even prevent—some of the physiological ravages of time.
Will we solve the problem of runaway heath costs? Thanks to incentives and disincentives, the next five years will see an unprecedented acceleration of electronic medicine in the U.S.
When I hand my one-year-old son something to eat, he spends a short time looking at it and a long time looking at me: Is this good? Is it tasty? […]
Robin Chin Roemer, assistant librarian at American University, has launched a new blog focused on library resources related to communication and the media. Given the strong focus among AU communication […]
Lessons from Sherlock Holmes fans: a new installment of the series is now available at Scientific American, here. I will not be posting any more series updates on this blog, but you […]
What was prehistoric human sex like? Most of us conjure “the hackneyed image of the caveman, dragging a dazed woman by her hair with one hand, a club in the other.” Psychologist Christopher Ryan says this image is mistaken in every detail.