The open access Journal of Science Communicationhas published several outstanding commentaries authored by a diversity of European, UK, and U.S. scholars assessing growth and trends in the academic discipline of […]

Using the tools of philosophic inquiry to ask questions about the world around us can bring clarity of thought of clarity of expression.

Cognitive science forces philosophers to think much more clearly about to what extent emotion and affect play a role in our cognitive economy.

Physicists should find it frustrating and upsetting that they don’t really get what this fundamental mathematical theory tells us about the world.

Traditional philosophical questions are about the way the world works—and the best way to find out how the world works is to observe it in well-defined experimental situations.

If you’re only interested in physics as a tool for engineering, you don’t necessarily need to understand the true nature of what you’re studying. But why wouldn’t you want to?

When they ask the very basic conceptual questions about the physical world, mathematicians, physicists and philosophers are addressing many of the same issues.

A conversation with the Rutgers University philosopher.

Technology is replicating and replacing functions long held in the brain. What does offloading your brain to technology mean for such vital human as memory and creativity?

The higher-order capacity for inwardness and intimacy is vital for humanity, yet these characteristics are evolving away as technology advances.

With a smart phone always at arm’s length, we are connected to the point of addiction. Is the solution more technology, or a digital detox?

NIH has to play a larger role in working with the private sector to get more effective treatments through the development pipeline, approved by the FDA, and into the hands […]

“Whether or not scientists are believers should not have a whole lot to do with how they conduct science,” says Collins. He wishes more scientists were willing “to stand up […]

Some scientists see religion as a threat to the scientific method that should be resisted. But faith “is really asking a different set of questions,” says Collins.

The NIH chief talks about attempts to factor an individual’s genetic profile into the way the person is diagnosed and treated.

The former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute describes how researchers compare DNA sequences to pinpoint which genes cause which diseases.

Recent uncertainty about whether federal funds can be used for for human embryonic stem cell research has “cast a cold chill” through the field, says Collins.

We must confront our national obesity crisis, warns NIH director Francis Collins, or face a decrease in life expectancy.

Having a smaller budget is forcing the NIH to be even more specific about how it sets priorities, and, in some instances, to close down productive programs.

The real “return” on research investments is in clinical benefits, diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventive measures. The lead time on those is often measured in years, so they can be hard […]