Guest Thinkers

Given current technology, the vast distances between objects in outer space prohibit interstellar travel—missions to and from foreign stars—but a fusion powered spaceship could change that. 

Today marked the publication of the new book Infinite Reality: Avatars, Eternal Life, New Worlds, and the Dawn of the Virtual Revolution by Jeremy Bailenson and Jim Blasocovich. Infinite Reality gets inside all of the […]

Despite its significant downsides, nuclear energy is still absolutely vital for America’s (and the planet’s) future. This will become all the more true when cleaner fourth generation reactors become available.

Did you know that within six hours the world’s deserts receive more energy than humankind consumes within a year? How awesome would it be to be able to tap into […]

While natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes have captured our attention this summer, the scale of destruction is very slight compared to the worst man-made disasters.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot in Memphis forty-three years ago yesterday. Around the country, labor unions and civil rights held commemorative rallies protesting efforts in Wisconsin, Ohio, […]

The abolition of the sex trades will only happen when countries eliminate (as opposed to relocate) demand for sex workers. 

The first time I came across this new phenomenon was in my interview with Jeff Evans, one of the co-founders of MindSnacks back in August 2010. When I asked him […]

Yesterday I mentioned the Auckland Volcanic Field – the cluster of volcanoes underneath New Zealand’s largest city. Although the Auckland Volcanic Field is a region to monitor for activity, it […]

Before Copernicus, it was widely believed that everything – including the Sun – revolved around the Earth. In the same way, it might be quaint one day to believe that everything once revolved around the PC rather than the mobile device.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s recent abduction is a testament to how powerfully the Chinese government fears the combination of art and communication technology.

The situation at Fukushima has stabilized—if your conception of stable is hanging off a cliff by your fingernails. 

Corporate America’s ability to create value the past few years has underwhelmed us. That, coupled with many other environmental effects, has led to many new players entering our consumer technology community. […]

I’m as surprised as you are, but it is already Monday. Busy week for me – students getting ready to register for Fall Semester courses and a talk to give […]

Salih’s demise has long been self-evident. The Obama administration’s dithering has only put U.S. security interests more at risk.

Afghanistan’s annual bumper opium crop neither benefits the Taliban nor affects America as much as is believed. It is an Asia-centric trade that lines the pockets of corrupt government officials. 

As new polymers keep radioactive water from the ocean, Japanese officials have warned that the nuclear crisis could drag on for months, the first time that they have offered a timescale.

If democracy is to take root in the Arab world, governments must make the youth unemployment crisis their highest priority, says Columbia economics professor Jeffrey Sachs.

The United Nations has started to evacuate its staff from Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, ahead of a bloody final battle for the city that is expected to start today.    

In a reversal of the long support Yemen’s president has received from the U.S., the Obama administration has quietly told allies it is time for regime change in the Gulf state.

One of the many advantages of You Tube and the social networking sites, is that it is possible to get a real measure of the de-regulated, ‘opinion led’ television the […]

One would expect the 150-year anniversary of the Italian state be something of a celebration. One would be wrong. The country is divided culturally, politically and economically.

Chinese authorities have detained Ai Weiwei, an outspoken critic of China’s government and one of its most famous contemporary artists—he is one among dozens recently held by the state.

“Disorientation is lost of the East,” novelist Salman Rushdie has written, reminding us of the original meaning of “Orient.” In The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918, which […]

John Jeremiah Sullivan has written a beautiful, beautiful piece about David Foster Wallace in GQ. It isn’t easy to write about Wallace; how Sullivan chooses to do it is illuminating. […]

Believing in a supernatural being who monitored and judged anyone at all times encouraged people to avoid acting on their immoral impulses, helping them survive, says author Jesse Bering.

When faced with the thought of death, people are more likely to believe in intelligent design, the idea that life on Earth can be explained by an “intelligent being” guiding the process.

Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton revolutionized the modern world through scientific advance; these very different men had one thing in common: an unshakable belief in God.

In a front-page story at today’s Washington Post, David Brown spotlights research on the comparative risks of nuclear and coal power.  As Brown reviews, nuclear power is far less of […]

China, the world’s largest consumer of cigarettes, is having another crack at kicking the habit. The Chinese government has announced it will ban smoking in enclosed public venues from May.