Guest Thinkers

Building on yesterday’s post, today I examine some more implications of the claim made by The Times of London that it found the names of Afghan informants in the secret […]

Charlatan is one of my top two goat-related works of narrative non-fiction. Brock Pope’s gripping account of the rise and fall of one of the most flamboyant and deadly quacks […]

I just had to sign a loyalty oath as a condition of my employment at a California state university. The California constitution requires all state employees to sign the oath. […]

Christopher Hitchens’ column this month in Vanity Fairreflects the best of the writer’s intellect and prose.  Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Hitch writes: “My father had died, and very […]

Today and tomorrow I’ll hopefully make peace with my curiosity about WikiLeaks and the accusation that it disclosed the names and locations of Afghan informants serving the U.S. and coalition […]

This morning I posted on a fascinating forthcoming study that concludes that generalized messages about science are more impactful on audiences than similarly framed messages that include details on scientific […]

Over at Dr. Kaku’s Universe here at Big Think, Michio asks for reader input on what they find compelling about science fiction including as I focused on yesterday, your favorite […]

When attempting to communicate effectively with the public about a science-related debate, which is more important, framing the message or conveying science-based facts about the topic?  A forthcoming study (Word) […]

I’m working on a new project and would love to hear some of your thoughts and opinions on the world of Science Fiction. If you would like to participate — Please […]

I always used to laugh at people who ignored the lyrics to “Every Breath You Take” by The Police and thought it was a lovely love song. If it’s about […]

Last week public radio’s On Point called upon a group of experts to discuss the top 10 science fiction films of all time.  Included on the show were the NY […]

Bloomberg reports this week that News Corp., which own both Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association in June—a contribution that dwarfs […]

By now you’ve probably heard about Fox News’ parent corporation giving a million dollars to the Republican Governors Association. Noteworthy, but not necessarily surprising. While leafing through the RGA’s IRS […]

Todd Purdum has a feature in Vanity Fair this month that is so rich with insight, color, and analysis regarding the communication challenges facing the Obama administration that I immediately […]

More than 50 years after the publication of CP Snow’s seminal Two Cultures, interdisciplinary partnerships between science and other academic “cultures” are being urged once again. Today, the focus is […]

London: Westminster sources claim that the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, has been discussing defecting to the Labour Party, with four or five Liberal Democrat colleagues. The […]

Mikhail Lyubansky doesn’t condone crime but feels compassion for those who rape or kill. He says being kind to the cruel does not imply cruelty for those deserving kindness.

The 21st century will not be dominated by America or China, instead it will be built on cities rather than states, predicts Parag Khanna, author of “How to Run the World”.

When Sting sang “Young teacher/the subject/of school-girl fantasy,” it may well have been that he was thinking about an English teacher in a certain place and time, having been one […]

On the road from Korea’s world-class Incheon airport, across the spectacular eight-mile long humpback bridge to the landmark new Songdo International Business District development, we encountered a heavy fog that reminded […]

At NPR today, writer Mia Mask argues that Eat, Pray, Love follows on the heels of Sex and the City as Hollywood’s latest return to Orientalism. Coined by the writer […]

According to the Voyager Interstellar Mission Web site, on June 28th of this year, Voyager 2 completed 12,000 days of continuous operation since its launch on August 20th, 1977. Each […]

“I don’t want to be married anymore,” writes Elizabeth Gilbert about the start of her pre-life crisis. “I don’t want to live in this big house. I don’t want to […]

“No vows for now,” read the headline in the San Francisco Chronicle. Tuesday night a three judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of […]

More signs of a shift in society towards time and space that is unplugged: Cafes are attracting customers by banning Wi-Fi access. “People come here because we don’t offer it. […]

Front-lighting technology similar to Amazon’s Kindle will eventually be standard on computers and up-coming e-devices, meaning the computer display currently burning holes in your eyes won’t last forever. The problem […]

Apple carved its way as a formidable innovator in everything from UI design to the app economy. Now, they’re taking the lead on materials innovation. The company recently acquired an […]

Earlier today, in response to Sheril Kirshenbaum’s query at Discover’s Intersection blog, I spotlighted the key influence of opinion-leaders on energy related behavior.  As a follow up, let’s take a […]

Over at Discover magazine’s terrific Intersection blog, Sheril Kirshenbaum asks readers: “How might we shift public attitudes to be less wasteful and save energy on a massive scale?” A major […]

While the Taliban’s recent proposal to form a joint human rights committee is highly suspect, it does raise questions about how to count civilian casualties and equally how to prevent them.