Eruptions Word of the Day: Harmonic Tremor and Tornillos. There are few methods that get as much attention in the world of volcanic monitoring than measuring the release of seismic […]
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“Can we envision a world without God? Would this world be good?” Dutch primatologist and ethologist Frans de Waal says we are no different from apes when it comes to altruism.
“Organized religion’s increasing identification with conservative politics is a turnoff to more and more young adults. Evangelical Protestantism has been hit hard by this development.”
“All anybody is asking is that the rich pay more in taxes—in effect, that they reinvest in society by a little more than they do now.” Jonathan Cohn urges a fair tax code.
The controversial American charity organization Project Prevention offers cash payments to drug addicts and alcoholics who are willing to forgo having children.
“Religious chauvinism flourishes along with bigotry when ignorance reigns: The less you know about other people’s religions, the more blithely you may assert the superiority of your own.”
There is a 50 per cent chance that time will end within the next 3.7 billion years, according to a new model of the universe put forward by physicists at U.C. Berkeley.
“Closing the loophole that encourages foreigners to come to the United States to make their future children U.S. citizens would not address the larger question of birthright citizenship.”
Venture capitalist and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel is offering a unique ‘scholarship’: $100,000 for entrepreneurs under the age of twenty to drop out of college.
“High on hope, supporters heralded Obama as the new FDR. Two years later, many feel disillusioned. But FDR’s actual record puts today’s gripes about Obama into perspective.”
To encourage more ecological decision-making at the check-out, recent behavioral studies say governments and businesses should apply peer pressure to consumers.
For all the obstacles President Obama has faced—the terrible economy and the bitter, partisan bickering—he managed to accomplish much of what he set out to accomplish. He implemented a recovery […]
He is charismatic. He is attractive. And perhaps his best weapon is an apparent agnosticism when it comes to the Money/Power manna of classic media moguls. Denton is a mogul, […]
A peculiar reversal of cartography’s ‘original sin’
Getting kids to eat their vegetables has been one of the age-old frustrations of modern parenting. While much has been said about causality – from the enormous advertising budgets poured […]
Both in the U.S. and abroad, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle toward equality between genders. Yet now, in certain key power areas women are outpacing and outperforming […]
“In a rotten economy, when people put the intellectual emphasis on utility, how does one persuade universities to keep humanities alive?”
“Anti-tobacco crusader Joe Califano on how cigarette culture has changed since the days of Don Draper.” The Atlantic tells how the government changed positions on tobacco.
“The way diseases of the psyche are diagnosed is changing rapidly. Doctors are struggling to keep up.” The Economist on the vagueness mental illness diagnoses.
“Psychologist believes seeing images of skinny performers affects the way women and girls eat.” The Independent reports on a call for warning labels on TV programs.
“Though the quality of Chile’s wines has risen dramatically recently, the world, by and large, still regards them as bottom-rung, at least in terms of price.”
“We can end the political stalemate if we summon the courage to end illegal immigration, provide amnesty at a price, and be more selective about who we welcome into the country.”
‘Humor is the great thing,’ wrote Mark Twain.’The saving thing.’ The irreverent satirist blazed a wayward path that happiness gurus should not ignore.
“Economics was founded by moral philosophers, and links between the two disciplines remain strong. So why won’t economists make judgments on the gap between rich and poor?”
An exposition this week in Paris offered a glimpse of what to expect from photography in the future. The Telegraph profiles Canon’s latest concept technology.
“Even as they become more connected, young people are caring less about others.” The youth’s ability to exhibit an emotional response to another’s distress is in decline.
Scrolling through the 2010 Power 100 of Art Review, I almost immediately had two reactions. First, I’m not on it! (Bloggers get little to no respect.) Second, so many of […]
The Democrats are likely to take a beating in the fall midterm elections. Right now FiveThirtyEight projects that they will lose almost 50 seats in the House, and come close […]
Everywhere you turn, there is much commentary these days about the education oriented documentary Waiting For Superman. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it really doesn’t matter, because I […]
BY delicious irony, the local Member of Parliament for the impoverished Atacama region of Chile – which includes the doomed mine of San Jose – is none other Isabel Allende. […]