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"Is cosmology a form of theology for a secular age? Cosmology is so popular, not just because of the science, but because it allows us to ask the big questions. It’s metaphysics by other means."
Imagine everyone decided to stop producing fossil fuels tomorrow. Global warming thresholds calculated by climate change scientists would not be crossed. Danger lies in future production.
"The sequel to the 30-year-old 'The Official Preppy Handbook' reminds us that you don't necessarily need to have money to have class." Columnist Megham Daum on her favorite book.
"Too expensive, too heavy and unnecessary: Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer hold copilots in low regard. So, now the company plans to replace them with a computer."
Former CBS news correspondent Jere Van Dyk talks about the survival skills he used to get through a 45-day kidnapping ordeal in Afghanistan where his life was threatened daily.
"My problem is that consumer technology moves in a single direction: It’s constantly making it easier for us to perceive the content." Jonah Lehrer laments the rise of e-books.
"Basically, we’ve bought into several misconceptions about excellence, which are not only wrong but affirmatively counterproductive." Peter Orszag on how to be successful.
"American investors have filed several lawsuits to pressure Germany to honor bonds issued by the Weimar Republic. Berlin says a deadline for registering the bonds passed decades ago."
"We have entered the post-art era, Kundera declares in Encounter—'a world where art is dying because the need for art, the sensitivity and the love for it, is dying.'”
"A unique particle physics detector will be attached to the space station to study the universe and its origins." The machine will be carried on the last scheduled shuttle launch next February.
"We shouldn't forget that the modern market economy is the greatest communal enterprise ever undertaken." Jonah Goldberg praises free market capitalism for its complexity.
"Study shows that fatter men last longer in bed. Should Americans rejoice?" Slate covers Turkish research concluding that the less masculine a man's body, the better lover he is.
"Most artists have shied away from 9/11 as a theme in recent years, and who can blame them?" Art critic Richard Woodward says artists should again take on the events of 9/11.
"Google has announced that it will begin to roll out 'Instant' search results around the world." The Telegraph reports on the Internet giant's innovation in search technology.
Forget height and social status when you are on the dance floor, it is all about how you move. New research identifies the dance moves that make men most attractive to women.
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa wasn’t fazed after a gang of baseball-bat-wielding Gambino crime family members nearly beat him to death for making disparaging comments about John Gotti Sr. on […]
"Can the Ten Commandments be understood apart from religion?" William Galston reviews a new book which argues the Ten Commandments are not religious in nature.
While philosophers of yore postulated on human nature, today's thinkers approach tough questions with the tools of cognitive science. A philosophy professor on 'experimental philosophy'.
"Heavy drinkers also live longer than abstainers. In other words, consuming disturbingly large amounts of alcohol seems to be better than drinking none at all." The Frontal Cortex explains why.
"Despite being pilloried by the public lately, a banker's lot can't be all that bad. At least, that's what Wal-Mart executives must be thinking." Forbes on the retail giant's new banking ideas.