Lance Armstrong and doping. Marion Jones and steroids. Tanya Harding and a lead pipe. Scandal seems to inevitably follow on the heels of—or, in some cases, preclude—gold medals. So it […]

According to NASA, there is a green comet named Lulin approaching Earth. One astronomer calls it "a green beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now." […]

Libertarian music critic Nat Hentoff, one of the foremost authorities on the First Amendment, has joined the Cato Institute as a senior fellow. In a press release issued by the […]

The experimental psychologist discusses the quest for understanding what makes us tick.

The experimental psychologist examines himself.

The British neurologist and author Oliver Sacks recently chronicled the experience of losing his sight from ocular melanoma in a series of journals and an interview with Wired magazine. It's […]

I've more or less stopped paying attention to political news from Zimbabwe. As an increasing number of "talks" seem to end in reaffirmation of still President Mugabe's Reign of Terror, […]

The experimental psychologist says not all problems have to have a moralistic solution.

Steven Pinker deconstructs the evolution of speech.

"You’re kind of unclear as to why this Leviathan would just be kind of a fascist dictator, as if that would be better than life in the state of anarchy."

Demonstrated by his activity on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the official White House portal, President Obama is institutionalizing social networking as the interactive feature par excellence in American governance. The […]

The experimental psychologist confronts the contradictions of moralists.

The chief executive of Cisco, John Chambers, has emerged as one of Silicon Valley's few optimists, proclaiming that the U.S. economy will recover this year. Oh my! An article in […]

Steven Pinker's personal philosophy is based on reason.

Evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker's strangely optimistic forecast.

In an editorial that strongly echoes the inaugural address and his reminder to Congress last week that "we don't have a moment to spare," Barack Obama told Washington Post readers […]

Leaders can’t say that there’s something uniquely special about the United States because it’s the United States,

Pinker is a cautious optimist.

"How did we get here?"

It's important for universities to embrace new ideas.