"The life of the creative man is lead, directed and controlled by boredom. Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes." - Susan Sontag (born on this date in 1933)

In theory, a genetics research firm could enable parents to choose 'smart embryos.'

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: "The risk of civilization-threatening technological catastrophe remains high."

"It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right."- Molière

Men have adapted to deliberately use anger to gain advantage and get what they want. 

A federal ruling might be a big win for broadband companies who could cut deals with large content providers — Disney or Netflix — to ensure that their web content is delivered faster and more reliably than other sites. 

The psychologist Christopher Ryan says sex scandals ought to be treated as a private matter, and that would represent a "more realistic understanding of human nature."

"People don't choose their careers; they are engulfed by them."- John Dos Passos (born on this date in 1896)

Illustrations of the wonders of weightlessness by the artist Graham Booth. 

"I like the fact that I'm living in the world rather than in a university."- Jay McInerney (born on this date in 1956)

Prisoners are strongly influenced by the self-enhancement motive (i.e., the desire to see themselves in positive light)...no matter what objective circumstances might be.

For one thing, if you upload your brain to a supercomputer you will have a backup copy of your bioself and you could make unlimited copies.

Geniuses like Isaac Newton and Richard Feynman both had the ability to concentrate with a sort of intensity that is hard for mortals to grasp. 

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, captured the X-ray glow of a pulsar wind nebula that is shaped like a hand - or at least appears that way as ejected particles interact with nearby magnetic fields.

What does it mean when Big Data can make a prediction that someone has a high likelihood of committing a crime? Should the criminal justice system intervene?

"I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet." - Jack London (born on this date in 1876)

"Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint." - Alexander Hamilton (born on this date in 1755)

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." -George Washington Carver (born on this date in 1864 - we think)  

A team of researchers has measured the current size of "baryon acoustic oscillations" (BAOs) from the early universe in order to determine the distances to galaxies more than 6 billion light-years away to within 1 percent accuracy.

"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay."- Simone de Beauvoir (born on this date in 1908)