Search Results

Shakespeare never visited America, yet the map of the U.S. is dotted with references to his work. 

A big part of our current mess has to do with how little about religion we actually know.

Sponsored by 92nd Street Y

It’s getting bigger over time, but is there anything it’s displacing, or expanding into? “Mathematicians deal with possible worlds, with an infinite number of logically consistent systems. Observers explore the […]

Is it how the Universe began, or just how our observable Universe began? They’re not the same! “These theories were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe […]

And, at a fundamental level, it can never be one. “Even when Darwin’s teaching first made its appearance, it became clear at once that its scientific, materialist core, its teaching concerning […]

Warhol may be dead, but Pop Art is not—it’s more international, relevant, and alive than ever.

It’s extremely difficult for new technologies to also envision the ways we will relate to each other in the future.

Experimentation-out-of-love is often inefficient and hard to measure. It isn’t always “solution-oriented.” But it’s as necessary and natural to us as breathing, and all too easily swept under the rug. 

How do you map a half-discovered country? You make up the other half!

Not water, not ice, and definitely not aliens. Here’s how we know. “You are the salt of the earth. But remember that salt is useful when in association, but useless in […]

Don’t know Ellsworth Kelly or his art? Now’s your chance — he’s dead.

Imagine a device implanted inside your body which can detect heart disease, diabetes, cancer, an infection, and more, down at the genetic level? Scientists at UC San Diego have just created one.   

Knowing how to code becomes the next phase of literacy.

A live-blog event of a fabulous public lecture given by Katie Freese on the unseen components in our Universe. “If you take everything we know… it only adds up to […]

The conflict between East and West predates America and Islam, says a book full of cool maps

Star Trek’s ideal view of medicine is closer than we think.

Imagine cancer is no longer an issue, HIV is wiped out, and the signs of aging come on so slowly, one appears young forever. Gene editing promises much. Incurable diseases could become curable, new drugs could be created to battle cancer, and genetic diseases could be corrected. It has potentialities for research too. But we aren’t there yet. And there are lots of pitfalls we need to avoid.   

Planets, Stars, Galaxies, Groups and Clusters are all real. But Superclusters? They’re nothing more than optical illusions. “It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.” –Virginia Woolf […]

Albert Einstein gives his surprising perspective on truth to Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore.

Is inertia of prior ideas the only thing keeping us from the next major revolution in science? This post was written by Brian Koberlein. Brian is an astrophysicist and Senior Lecturer […]

By Ethan SiegelImages: NASA, Francis Godwin, OSA As part of the Space Glass project — Ethan Seigel, astrophysicist, science communicator & NASA columnist explains how technology, imagination and our desires come together […]

Which makes you wonder what other “candidate worlds” aren’t worlds after all. “These types of systems could be ubiquitous in the universe. This is a really exciting time for planet hunters.” […]

Religion is part of the problem. But the bigger picture is much larger than any one book. 

Despite its many weaknesses, the U.N. has been successful in one of its main pursuits: linking the countries of the world in a way that promotes peace. Could a similar model work for religion?

We really did design the world in our own image. “Every great work makes the human face more admirable and richer, and that is its whole secret.” –Albert Camus Whenever we […]

The most powerful accelerator in the world found the Higgs, but might not find anything else. What should come next? “It is no good to try to stop knowledge from […]

We build tools, and those tools determine, construct, and guide our lives. Should we welcome the assistance that artificially intelligent machines provide?  

There were two periods of exponential expansion in the Universe: one today and one long ago. Are they related? “What is wild cannot be bought or sold, borrowed or copied. […]

Today’s video is part of a series on female genius, in proud collaboration with 92Y’s 7 Days of Genius Festival.