When J.D. Salinger passed away recently, many casual fans who only remember him from tattered copies of The Catcher in the Rye lost long ago seemed shocked that he was […]
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Some morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA according to new research, which conjectures that such genetic problems could actually cause a propensity to obesity.
Alberto Giacometti’s “Walking Man 1” sculpture has smashed global auction records by selling for the equivalent of $104.4m at Sotheby’s auction house in London last night.
The Winter Olympics in Canada this month will be a chance to see more than just the figure skating, as the games are showcasing a “thought-controlled” lighting experiment.
While world leaders struggle to find a solution for climate change in a gas guzzling world, American researchers claim to have found a simple way to cool cities- painting them white.
The beleaguered chairman of the UN’s Nobel Prize-winning climate change panel, Rajendra Pachauri, has defended the panel’s credibility, calling climate skeptics’ criticism “skulduggery”.
The Nickel tax on disposable bags in Washington has inspired a trend of re-usable totes with local shoppers assembling a wardrobe of bags which are functional and fashionable.
Self-styled spiritual guru James Arthur Ray has been arrested and charged with three counts of manslaughter for a trio of deaths which happened after a sweat lodge ceremony in 2009.
Patients left in a “vegetative” state after suffering serious brain injury may still be able to understand and communicate according to groundbreaking new research.
A Pakistani neuroscientist who trained at an elite American university has been found guilty on two charges of attempted murder for trying to kill US agents in Afghanistan in 2008.
What impact will Disney’s first black princess have on kids? The Independent’s Paul McKenzie asks why even watching the advert has got his daughter so excited.
I’m standing in the entrance lobby to the European Parliament in Brussels, and suddenly there is a flurry of activity. A group of middle-aged Middle Eastern men, bunched together and […]
Can the gap between religion and science ever be bridged? Maybe not, but the conflicting desire for factual truth and spiritual “transcendence” is one many of us feel anyway, and one that only art can fully dramatize. […]
Tod Machover thinks that the future of music could be scary. Composers are going to be able to measure more and more of peoples’ particular mental structures, their particular reactions […]
In a world that seems to be governed more and more by hard data, the search is on to find the fastest and easiest way for collecting that data. With […]
While magazines and newspapers head into the red, the textbook industry seems to be heading into the green these days. Online textbook rental startups are gaining momentum, and Kindle is […]
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation announced quarterly profits of $254 million today. It’s a sure sign that, as the industry leader plans to make readers pay for the online content of […]
I buy books. I also have written a book. So I have a more-than-idle interest in this week’s giant-monster fight over ebooks, which pitted Amazon against the big publisher Macmillan […]
The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints may be set to meet in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami next Sunday, but a side bet between the Indianapolis Museum of Art […]
Mutation of the gene dubbed the “guardian angel” for its ability to protect the body from genetic instability leads to cellular changes responsible for triggering premature birth.
Failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is calling on the White House to fire Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for using the word “retarded” during a strategy session last year.
The Financial Times' columnist Martin Wolf writes that this year’s World Economic Forum at Davos was like sitting at the bedside of someone who had survived a heart attack.
Signs point to “a cultural shift on gays in the military” according to The Washington Post, which says that “arguments against it have lost traction over time.”
British psychologists have discovered that people who spend a considerable time online are less likely to be happy than those who don’t, claiming there’s “a dark side” to web surfing.
Two of the most reviled professions, spies and bankers, have joined forces to create an even scarier beast as Wall Street firms begin hiring CIA agents to root out lying colleagues.
The leader of Malaysia’s opposition party, Anwar Ibrahim, has gone on trial for sodomy in Kuala Lumpur after his DNA was found on the male aide making allegations of rape.
The dispute over the will of one of Asia’s wealthiest women, Nina Wang, was found in favor of her family’s charitable foundation despite her feng shui expert lover claiming a stake.
The United States has reacted warily after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran appeared to accept a deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.
Scientists have uncovered powerful evidence showing the connection between intelligence and madness, revealing that high-achievers are far more likely to be manic depressives.
There’s a reason why the subtle trivialities of office life have long been a springboard for some of our most absurd humor: much of our day-to-day duties are arbitrary, unnecessary, […]