A Dramatic Recreation of an Argument My Dad and I Must Have Had 1000 Times: Me: Man, De Niro has totally lost it. It is so pathetic to see him […]
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Jad Abumrad won a 2011 MacArthur Genius grant for his work as creator/producer of WNYC’s Radiolab. The Macarthur foundation describes his work thus: As co-host and producer of the nationally […]
What is the Big Idea? Minutes before they’re executed, China’s death row inmates get their 15 minutes in the spotlight on prime time television. Their public confessions are documented in […]
IBM has built a fully integrated control center that monitors Rio de Janeiro like no other city in the world, collecting and analyzing data to help prevent catastrophe and create a more livable metropolis.
China has at once decreased it economic forecast and bolstered its military budget. The change signals its search for higher-quality manufacturing and a modest military ambition.
From the ruler’s perspective, says Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, a democracy is the worst form of government possible, because it greatly increases the ruler’s risk of losing power.
What would the founding fathers think of some of Romney’s ideas? Here we take a look some of the clips from a 2007 BigThink interview and see whether George Washington and Thomas Jefferson might have agreed with 2007 Romney on certain issues.
Given the fact that Mormons were a key group that helped Mitt Romney win important victories in states such as Nevada and Arizona, it may seem counterintuitive that many Mormons are uncomfortable with a Romney candidacy.
A year ago a terrible earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power disaster in Japan gripped the world’s attention for weeks. The news is already full of stories about the anniversary […]
Could Rush Limbaugh finally be on his way to joining Glenn Beck in right wing wacko purgatory? I don’t know how to tell Rush Limbaugh this, but after his three […]
There’s this weird kid called Ali on the playground. I’ve never liked the looks of him, and Benji told me this kid doesn’t have any friends. I think he has […]
“What’s a ‘natural flavor’?” my 10-year-old asks me from the back seat of our car. He’s munching on a rare treat—a snack that lists about 500 unpronounceable ingredients and boasts […]
There’s been some interesting responses to my post on our obligation to eat headless, legless chickens (aside from the vague namecalling and useless expressions of outrage and disgust. Something is […]
A tearful Vladimir Putin claimed a “clean” victory in the Russian presidential election. Critics, on the other hand, have charged that Putin’s win is tainted by reports of widespread abuses, […]
It’s almost time for baseball again, and so I’ve been thinking about the very best pitchers in the game.In order to sustain their success on the mound, they all seem […]
The line between work and play is becoming increasingly blurred in companies all across America today.
The near earth asteroid 2012 DA14 discovered last year is not going to hit Earth next year, scientists say. Phew. And yet, it will still be coming in way too close for comfort, raising the question of how prepared we are.
(Note: This review was solicited and is written in accordance with my policy for such reviews.) Summary: A memoir of escape from the overbearing, oppressive life of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, but […]
World Bank figures show that 2010 absolute poverty levels were half what they were in 1990, suggesting that the UN has met its Millennium Development Goals five years early.
While welfare programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid did not directly cause the recession, they may be responsible for aggravating the problem. Might they even cause a depression.
“Properly led, the World Bank can build bridges among science, business, civil society and finance that will put sustainable solutions within reach,” says Jeffrey Sachs, who seeks its presidency.
You can’t put more of your brain to work, says Johns Hopkins cognitive scientist Barry Gordon. You can, however, learn to make it work more productively. Here are three solutions.
Just weeks ago, one of the largest ever surveys on memory was completed and data are beginning to come in. Our memory of certain events is hardly reliable, say the study’s authors.
The subconscious has an uncanny processing power which translates data into feeling rather than syllogistic chains. In many cases, emotion succeeds where rationality does not.
Swiss scientists are vying for $1.3 billion dollars in grant funds to construct an artificial human brain. The open source coding for the brain would be made available to all researchers.
Metacognition is the science of introspection. How well we know ourselves compared to how well we think we know ourselves could have profound consequences for medicine and philosophy.
Scientists have found an flatworm species that can overcome the aging process, potentially becoming immortal by rejuvenating their telomeres. What can humans learn from the process?
The Red Planet will be the closest distance to Earth in over two years tonight in an event called The Mars Opposition. That means martian features and polar caps will […]
A global organization called Friends of Science in Medicine, of which several prominent physicians are a member, is fighting to take alternative medicine curriculum out of universities.
I suggested, although not as insistently as I should have, that February would be the month of Santorum. Well, it was. Santorum was so impressive that he was the non-Romney who came closest to winning.