Guest Thinkers — November 6, 2009

The Commoditization of Female Sex

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Recreational intercourse isn’t anything new. But wouldn’t you think that today’s women are more in touch with their wants and desires in the bedroom? Gender expert Elizabeth Debold begs to differ.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Person sitting at a dimly lit table with a laptop, using a smartphone. Another person is visible in the background. There are buildings and lights visible through the window.

Neuropsych

Are you a workaholic? How to spot the signs

In a major shift, psychologists now view an out-of-control compulsion to work as an addiction with its own set of risk factors and consequences.

A fiery landscape with molten lava flows and a distant orange sky. Smoke rises from several volcanoes, the most prominent one in the middle emitting a large plume reminiscent of things sent into space. Rocky foreground.

Hard Science

The weirdest stuff we’ve sent into orbit

Fifteen human space oddities.

A child lovingly holds a dog’s face with both hands, gazing into its doggish eyes in an outdoor setting.

Life

More humans should learn to speak “Doggish”

It’s high time owners learned to speak their dog’s language.

Starts With A Bang

Why do we count the Universe’s age from 13.8 billion years ago?

The Universe is 13.8 billion years old, going back to the hot Big Bang. But was that truly the beginning, and is that truly its age?

A tablet displaying the cover of the book "Nothing to Fear" by Julie McFadden, RN, lies on top of stacked books next to a pen and a cup of coffee on a white surface.

Thinking

The 3 ways people choose to die

Hospice nurse Julie McFadden shares three examples where people hold off death, just for a bit.

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Guest Thinkers

United Nations Barcelona Climate Change Talks: Final Day

The top United Nations authority on climate change said that a binding treaty aimed at reducing the world’s carbon emissions is no longer a possible outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.