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Personalities are typically thought to be genetically determined; not so, says the New Scientist: "We may learn our personalities, and adjust them to situations we find ourselves in over time."
"Scientists are trying to regulate the weather with ambitious experiments that may even tackle global warming. Is this a great step forward?" The Independent looks at the strangest of these ideas.
The author of a new book on race begins with a controversial hypotheses: it was desegregation that destroyed thriving black schools and created a culture of underperformance.
"New research finds that attractive people in the business world or academia may be at a disadvantage when they’re evaluated by a member of the same sex." More at Miller-McCune.
The language police at Salon lament the rise of "No problem" over "Thank you" because, they say, the former shrugs off bonds created by social interaction instead of affirming them.
Jeffrey Wasserstrom gives five reasons why we need not fear the rise of China. Among them: "Some of the really scary things about China have U.S. parallels," such as environmental disregard, he says.
Jagdish Bhagwati, professor of economics and law at Columbia, dispels five common myths about free trade such as, "Free trade may increase economic prosperity, but it is bad for the working class."
Prior to the famous extinction of the dinosaurs, another mass extinction paved the way for their emergence, an emergence that happened much faster than previously thought, says The Economist.
Be an individual, just like everyone else. Laurie Essig at True/Slant says American culture prioritizes creativity in romantic relationships in a way that dictates conformity and materialism.
New York magazine’s cover story on the (negative) impact of children on happiness begs a larger question—and one appropriate so near to Independence Day (“life, liberty, and the pursuit” etc.): […]
In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson referred to his fellow Americans as “citizens.” But in an early draft of the document, it’s clear that he originally used some other […]
The vuvuzela is not a popular instrument outside of South Africa. World Cup players from other nations complain that it breaks their concentration, broadcasters have trouble making their commentaries heard […]
"Those who haven’t abandoned Juárez may be watching the death of it, both day and night." Sarah Hill gives a tragic account of the Mexican city gone from boom to bust to nearly dust.
One of the big business stories this side of the pond, is Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to buy the 61% of shares in Sky Television that he doesn’t own. Mr Murdoch, […]
"It seems like we in the West have made a tradeoff between self-reliance and physical comforts and social well being. So, which is more important?" asks a Notre Dame psychology professor.
"What exactly is the Iranian threat?" asks Noam Chomsky in his latest article. The linguist turned political activist finds glaring hypocrisies in U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.
"Fiction has now become a museum-piece genre most of whose practitioners are more like cripplingly self-conscious curators or theoreticians than writers," says the polemical Lee Siegel.
In just 3,000 years, an evolutionary microsecond, Tibetans have developed a unique version of a gene that helps them adapt to living at high altitudes. This according to a study published in Science.
"Just as healthy optimism can turn into irrational exuberance, a clear-eyed realism about the challenges facing the United States can gradually inflate a pessimism bubble," says Ross Douthat today.
If Americans have an impending sense that our present moment represents a capitalized End of Something, let us take the moment to exhale and appreciate the tranquility of finality.