In an interview with New Scientist, philosopher Slavoj Žižek says that ecology is the new opiate of the masses, the universe’s design is incomplete and Mother Nature is a ‘crazy b*tch’.
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“If our’ sense of time is largely a cognitive illusion, then where does the illusion come from?” The Frontal Cortex blog follows neuroscientists looking for the nature of time from within the mind.
Scientists at MIT are working to synthesize bacteria found living in sea sponges on the ocean floor, which when in danger emit a chemical that has been shown to eliminate tumor cells.
“Mobile phones have been sold as business tools, fashion accessories and social organisers. But they can also be lifesavers.” The Telegraph reports on ten apps with tangible health benefits.
Mysterious in origin, but at least they look pretty on a map
In the age of reuse-is-better-than-recycle, Italian designer Antonello Fusè has come up with an ingenious, elegant twist on used furniture: Abitudini, a line of unique, asymmetrical coat hangers made from […]
Our stereotype of strip club workers is that they don’t have a lot on the ball. But a new study of UK lap dancers shows they are more educated than the typical Brit.
Do some Americans have an irrational and prejudicial fear of Islam? Where do views of Muslims stand more generally? That was the focus of the cover story last week at […]
American workers are angry. So are their suffering customers. One of the problems with declining service may be that companies care most about the clients they don’t yet have.
Ross Douthat thought Glenn Beck’s star was fading but after attending his weekend rally is reconsidering. “It was a long festival of affirmation for middle-class white Christians.”
Acute Screen/Life Confusion, LOLpets Disorder, Generalized Trolling Compulsion, and Comments Derangement Syndrome. Just some of the online maladies you may suffer.
“One of the advantages of looking back on Asimov’s work from the remove of several decades…is that one can see how deeply enmeshed he was in the history of his own time.”
Richard Posner warns it’s not just Greece that risks seeing its government default on debt. The U.S. has dug itself in deep and also faces that possibility, he says.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki addresses the stoning of adulterers, the consequences of Western sanctions against Iran and the risk of a military strike.
Hoping for a workable alternative to using ‘he or she, him or her’? Dennis Baron says wordsmiths have long been coining gender-neutral pronouns, all to no avail.
“Nothing undermines the credibility of any sport more than the suspicion that what you are watching is in fact a fix,” intones The Guardian’s editorial as a new cricket scandal emerges.
As the waters recede, and the immediate crisis passes, the challenge will be to repair Pakistan’s infrastructure and catalyze its economic recovery, says the New Yorker.rn
Media consultant Frédéric Filloux rejects the notion that the internet has been taken over by mobile applications and that the web as we know it will soon be dead.
When Roland Penrose began buying artwork after returning to England in 1935, he focused on purchasing the works of the Parisian Surrealists—the circle of artists that had embraced him as […]
Most people do not come to Hollywood for deep conversation, but as we explained with respect to “serious games,” the entertainment universe is producing an impressive array of products that can […]
At the age of 14, amidst poverty and famine, a Malawian boy by the name of William Kamkwamba built a windmill from scrap to power his family’s home. Living on […]
The secularist Center for Inquiry issued a press release on Friday headlined: “The Center for Inquiry Urges That Ground Zero Be Kept Religion-Free.” The press release outraged many CFIsupporters, including […]
Beverly Willett spent five years and thousands of dollars contesting her divorce in court and lost. Now that New York has become the 50th state to adopt no-fault divorce, she’s […]
Greg Miller and Joshua Partlow report in The Washington Post this week that the CIA has a “significant number” of members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s administration on the agency’s […]
Glenn Beck’s appeal is that he makes it all look so easy. I mean, all you have to do is wave your American flag, pledge allegiance to God (the white […]
“Swiss health care is a blend of public and private, free to those who need it but with extra options for those who can afford them.” The Adam Smith Institute asks: “Would it work here?”
Given the world economic slump, the chronic problem of exorbitantly expensive weapons is becoming acute, says The Economist. Western governments are cutting defense spending.
“English does oblige you to specify certain types of information that can be left to the context in other languages.” A researcher at the University of Manchester explains how language affects thought.
“Move over solar, wind and wave power—there’s a new renewable on the block. Researchers are experimenting with devices that can pull electricity from the air.” Wired Science explains.
“New Orleans has gone through a boom while other cities have suffered during the recent recession.” But don’t be fooled, says Slate. Katrina exiled many of the city’s poor.