"Even within the seemingly homogeneous sphere of the university English department, a schism has opened up between literary scholarship and creative writing."

"People vary in their locations in social networks in part, we think, because there is no one location that is best, for us as individuals or for us as a species."

"A Wall Street Journal investigation has found that popular children's websites install more tracking technologies on personal computers than do the top websites aimed at adults."

"People consider work of just about any kind to be better than no work at all, and it improves their mental health in most cases, several studies have found." The L.A. Times reports.

Princeton philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah stopped by the Big Think offices this past week to talk how the concept of “honor” can be mobilized as a force for change.  […]

After successfully employing Islamic law in the U.S. court system, a writer at Guernica realizes that Sharia and feminism aren’t always mutually exclusive.

"How do we use the technologies of computation, statistics and networking to shed light—without killing the magic?" Jaron Lanier asks if digital classrooms are good for education.

How does the brain figure out what it doesn't know? Scientists say introspection, the process of the brain cross-examining itself, requires more gray matter and more neural connections.

"The Obama administration has been tardy to tackle economic misery, but looks set to lose to a GOP that would do even less." Who will tackle America's poverty problem?

A small dose of Prozac has been found effective at treating the physical and mental pains of premenstrual syndrome and could be widely available within two years, The Independent reports.

"In 1960 a spirited animal lover with no scientific training set up camp to observe chimpanzees. Today Jane Goodall’s name is synonymous with the protection of the species."

"The World Trade Organization has found that much of the $22 billion benefit Boeing enjoyed from tax breaks and defence and research contracts was also an illegal subsidy."

"Immersive theatre is billed as a thrilling and intimate alternative to traditional drama, but it smacks of triviality and low-level fascism." Prospect magazine on the steadiest theater trend.

"In regions scarred by intractable poverty, innovative programs to build new sources of wealth through these four businesses are providing lessons for entrepreneurs."

"The next X PRIZE competition, the Google Lunar X PRIZE, is offering $60 million to land a robotic rover on the moon and use it to complete certain objectives."

How is it that we're able to focus on a distant conversation while ignoring the person who is speaking right in front of us? Tony Zador, a neuroscientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, breaks down the brain mechanisms that allow us to have selective auditory attention.

“Positive psychology is a movement in social psychology which attempts to change the way that we think about humans,” explains positive psychology expert Shawn Achor. “Instead of focusing merely on […]

"Science validates the notion that people with a strong social network live longer. It's not yet clear if the benefits apply to those who turn to the Internet for friendship."

"Just a few small changes in the social behaviors of even solitary animals may set in motion an evolutionary cascade ending in massive, globe-spanning migrations."

The Boston Globe says more must be done to ferret out conflicts of interest in peer-reviewed journals, which are a key way doctors keep informed of cutting-edge research.