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Columbia professor of philosophy Akeel Bilgrami asks why we read literature when it contains information more readily found in non-fiction journals. The answer is in the medium's pathos.
"Experiments on a blind man who can ‘see’ to avoid obstacles could have huge implications for the visually impaired." The Independent reports on neurological research.
A new survey from the Mayo Clinic finds nearly half of its medical students engage in unprofessional practice and most have no opinion on pharmaceutical company policies.
"Among the winners: computer screens that can bend, adjustable eyeglasses, a low-cost genetic test, an online marketplace for receivables and a new way to battle malware."
"An ABC News/Yahoo News poll revealed that today, only half of us think the American dream—which the pollsters defined as 'if you work hard you'll get ahead'—still holds true."
In last week's cover story at New York magazine on the forthcoming Facebook biopic "The Social Network," the film's screenwriter Aaron Sorkin offers his pessimism about the nature and impact […]
In 1994, as part of their successful gambit to gain control of the House, Newt Gingrich and other GOP leaders issued the "Contract with America," a promise to pass eight […]
Three days ago, I predicted here that Ed Miliband would be elected leader of the UK Labour Party. He was, and on the narrowest of margins. Ed Miliband is of […]
When Dr. Francis Collins was nominated by President Obama to be director of the National Institutes of Health in the summer of 2009, there was little dissent in Congress. One […]
Who will be the Republican candidate for president in 2012? Sarah Palin recently said after a trip to Iowa that she would run “if nobody else stepped up” with solutions […]
"In sending troops into Somalia, the Ugandan president is doing Washington's bidding and endangering his country." England's The Guardian assesses U.S. foreign policy.
"Playing hours of video games won't necessarily turn your brain to mush. In fact, playing action video games rewires how the brain steers hand-eye coordination."
"The passive-building standard is only now getting off the ground in the United States—despite years of data suggesting that America’s drafty building methods are wasteful."
"Tariq Ramadan says [the Ground Zero Islamic Center] should be built elsewhere. He debates Mustafa Bayoumi, an associate professor at Brooklyn College."
"Historians say it is time to radically rewrite America’s slavery story to include its buried history in New England. More than we like to think, the North was built on slavery."
"The philosophy that became known as ‘Tolstoyism’ was essentially a form of Christian anarchism based on the doctrine of non-resistance."
"Now that twentysomethings cling on to adolescence and adults live in perpetual kidulthood, Susie Mesure finds sociologists need a new lexicology for adults."
"The process of death can damage organs, rendering them useless for others. Ethicists now debate whether transplant surgery should begin before the heart stops."
"New energy technologies blossom when oil gets expensive. We can raise the price of fossil fuels again without hurting consumers—if we implement a fee and rebate system."
"In the future, the computational module of a brain coprocessor may be powerful enough to assist in high-level human cognition or complex decision making."