Guest Thinkers

A volcanologist speaks with Scientific American about the rare case of Iceland’s disruptive volcanic eruption and how long it might last.

Oceanic absorption of CO2 is good for the air but turns the water acidic branding it climate change’s “evil twin”.

The English philosopher Andrew Flew who argued for the existence of God after a lifetime of atheism has died at the age of 87.

When it was announced early this month that Justice John Paul Stevens would retire from the Supreme Court, Grist’s Jonathan Hiskes published a green-themed take on the news with the […]

Since time immemorial people have considered two ways to be immortal: through one’s progeny or by displaying spectacular achievement in the sciences, arts or politics. Now there’s another way: Tweeting. […]

Yesterday we looked at three conclusions made by the Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media 2010 report published by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Today we look […]

Clicking “Like” on a Facebook page won’t meet the challenges that face our times, quips an editorial in The Christian Science Monitor.

The Catholic Church’s inability to find a satisfactory answer to its sex abuse scandal is a result of the Church’s Romanic political structure.

The other day I pointed out the conflicting motives of corporations that sell soda, snacks and fast food: They promote “wellness” because they want manageable health-care costs, but they also […]

The annual report released this week from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism begins by lamenting the effects of the recession on the news media. In 2009, […]

Roughly half of the heat that is believed to have built up on Earth in recent years due to global warming is unaccounted for, and scientists worry that it is gathering deep in the ocean or elsewhere.

Epicurus’s program for attaining serenity boils down to “Forget about God, death, pain and acquisition, and your worries are over,” writes Joseph Epstein. But would such a detached life be worth living?

Want to terminate your pregnancy? Under a new Nebraska law, you’ll have to prove you’re not crazy first. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed two new laws restricting abortions on Tuesday. […]

The new information age certainly isn’t without its fair share of clutter. The United Nations has even spotlighted the growing need to combat e-waste building up in a number of […]

When we think of the Internet of Things, we tend to think of our microwave talking to our mobile phone or our car chatting with our home air conditioning system. […]

Haiti. Chile. California. China. Is there something unusual going on in the earth’s crust, or is the recent spate of major earthquakes a statistical fluke? And do we have any […]

In TIME, science writer Maia Szalavitz dissects a recent rat study that was reported as if it showed that junk food is “as addictive” as crack. Some rats were assigned […]

We should arrest the Pope “only if that is where the operation of due process and the rule of law actually take the investigating and prosecuting authorities,” writes Allen Green.

Ever wonder what it’s like to lead a life of chastity? Jesuit priest and author James Martin explains. “I find people can be freer with me. When I become close […]

A rapidly forming stereotype about autistic people is that they can’t use stereotypes. In the words of this site about kids with Asperger’s Syndrome, for instance, “they are usually free […]

Years ago, back in 1994, when I returned to Atlanta to stay, I went to a reception for Judge Leah Ward Sears, who had been selected by Governor Zell Miller […]

“Hyenas … have been terribly misunderstood,” writes Constance Casey. “The creatures may not be beautiful, but they don’t deserve contempt.”

A new study suggests that birds, bats, and lizards may play an important part in preserving the Earth’s climate by eating insects that forage on plant life.

A recent study on college students’ preferences for dating vs. hookups is, unaccountably, generating national media attention. The authors found that a bunch of 19-year-old college freshmen in the South […]

If looking for ancient bones to dig up sounds like hard work, that’s because it is. According to anthropologist Donald Johanson, even modern tools such as GPS don’t save scientists […]

In Eastern Europe, “the open discussion of a tragedy represents a revolutionary change,” writes Anne Applebaum of reaction to the plane crash Saturday that killed members of the Polish government.

Nanotechnology, when perfected, may lead to developments including robotic muscles, solar cells, or synthetic muscles for humans.

It’s not something generally referenced in the discussion over China’s awesome growth, and it might only be marginally related. But the influx of Chinese students attending American universities hasn’t gone […]

I’ve been a New York Times junkie since I was thirteen years old. This in itself shouldn’t be a big deal, but if you grew up in a small Southern […]

Roland Martin makes the case that Confederate soldiers in the Civil War were domestic terrorists — and shouldn’t be honored any more than we honor Muslim extremists who try to kill Americans.