Guest Thinkers

Arguing about whether Sarah Palin is a feminist is like arguing about whether a framed pile of cat puke is art. It’s a pointless semantic dispute. Why not save time […]

Last night, President Obama addressed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in an Oval Office speech. Estimates now suggest that as much as 60,000 barrels of oil may be flowing into […]

The tragic reality of most sustainability messaging is that it hangs haplessly somewhere between forgettable and toothless. UK-based nonprofit Do The Green Thing is a bold exception. Founded by a […]

Researchers have found that sperm whale waste stimulates carbon removal. More reason to protect whales and thereby marine ecosystems, explains Jennifer Viegas.

The Economist’s Charlemagne columnist declares Belgium to be a dying country and, for the first time, there’ve been no accusations of exaggeration. What’s going on?

Bernhard Zand explains why a “frustrated Ankara is turning away from the West and looking east toward Hamas and Iran.”

Research shows good luck superstitions can beneficially affect performance. How? They increase our confidence, explains Lin Edwards.

Don’t confuse the international confrontation between Islam and the West with the local problem of absorbing Muslims into European societies, says “Infidel” author Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Boston, Amritsar, Derry; names of places and events that the British Army would rather forget. For although the events that occurred in these places span the centuries, they have one […]

Many of us are addicted to Starbucks, but as any European will attest, it’s not because the coffee is delicious. We like the routine of the morning caffeine jolt, the […]

This past week, Thomas Kinkade, famed “Painter of Light,” found himself behind bars after an arrest based on suspicion of drunken driving (mugshot shown). That sad episode came on the […]

As the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico enters its third month, a variety of efforts to stop the flow of oil have come and gone, all inspiring governments […]

Solar Impulse, a Swiss venture launched by explorer/innovator/engineer/psychologist/businessmen Betrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, is shooting beyond the moon and aiming for the sun. Their mission: build a solar aircraft that […]

“In fact, it is often stated that of all the theories proposed in this century, the silliest is quantum theory. Some say that the only thing that quantum theory has […]

It is an event with which I am slightly ashamed—and even the excuse that it happened over twenty years ago and that I was only a bit player does not […]

By all officials estimates, the Earth’s population is scheduled to grow rapidly during the coming decades, but this long-term problem ill-suits short term political careers, says The Independent.

Skeptic Michael Shermer thinks we deceive ourselves because “we did not evolve a baloney-detection device in our brains to discriminate between true and false patterns.”

Contrary to popular belief, high crop yields created by industrialized farming have greatly slowed global warming by preventing deforestation for new farmland, says a new study from the Carnegie Institution.

More legislative oversight is needed to control the unofficial expansion of the U.S. forensic DNA database to ensure that innocent citizens are not unfairly implicated in crimes, says Slate.com.

Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly has served as a style icon for decades, but the subtle complexities of Truman Capote’s heroine are less discussed. Today’s Times review of Sam Wasson’s new […]

Toddlers in tiaras are so passe. Poodle pageants are this season’s hot new reality phenom. Extreme Poodles premiered on TLC yesterday. This is no ordinary dog show. We’re talking poodle […]

Astronomer Chris Impey surveys the possible causes of earth’s extinction. Whether it come from an asteroid or the sun’s implosion, the rock we live on is by no means an eternal home.

In between the extremes of being a slave to your whims and trying to master every emotion, there must be a middle road. Psychology Today talks of a “probabilistic approach” to expressing emotion.

Scientology’s religious order, Sea Organization, has been accused by its female members of forcing them to have abortions, the reason being that children make the women unproductive.

Lead paint has been banned in the states since 1978, but if you’re like me, you still wonder about the paint debris you inhale in your home, in your office, […]

When Sigmar Polke’s family crossed over to the freedom of West Berlin from the oppression of East Berlin on the subway in 1953, 12-year-old Sigmar feigned sleep to add to […]

“Having perpetual freedom in our romantic choices can be a mixed blessing,” says philosophy professor Aaron Ben-Zeév. “Boundaries are essential for human behavior.”

Chances are, you don’t know where Manning, South Carolina is. Chances are, you’ve never heard of this small southern town. I only know where it is because it was the […]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been in trouble all year. Pollster’s average of recent polls shows that 53% of Nevadans have an unfavorable impression of Reid compared to […]

In November 2009, nine researchers from MIT’s prestigious Media Lab were among the eleven authors of a paper* that espoused the value of programming as an essential skill for all.  […]