Guest Thinkers

Oxford professor of economics Paul Collier says the biggest challenge facing Africa today is to reign in corruption during what is sure to be an era of massive resource extraction.

The newest geological time period—called the Anthropocene—is gaining recognition. It defines our industrialized era in which humans will indelibly mark the earth’s physical profile.

In the space of a month, the centre of gravity in the world has shifted back to the Middle—to Egypt and other young societies across the Middle East and North Africa, says history professor Mark Levine.

Amidst the radical change in the Middle East, JFK’s first inaugural address remains a prescient reminder that our nation is founded upon the ideals of revolution and social progress. 

Britain’s former prime minister made two unannounced calls to Colonel Gaddafi on Friday and asked him to stop killing protesters rising up against the regime.

Civil resistance usually cannot survive systematic and violent repression, and it is still often suppressed by authoritarian governments. At least in the Arab world, this seems to be changing.

Biologist and popular author Richard Dawkins says that human intelligence is undervalued these days. We must do away with rulebooks and start trusting our own judgment, he says.

Waq al-waq has decided, in keeping with protests in Yemen, to keep a running tally of people resigning from the ruling GPC.  It very much looks like people are abandoning […]

One of the unavoidable realities of going to look at art in a museum is the feeling that you the viewer are being viewed yourself—especially by your fellow patrons. In […]

The blogging scientist Minerva agrees with ME against the transhumanist on the future pressure to design or enhance your offspring or else.  She’s surprised that it’s possible to agree with someone […]

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s remarks last week were in keeping with his ongoing effort to restructure the armed forces and create what he has called a “truly 21st century” military. 

A little over a week ago I wrote a post on what I saw as the tribal jockeying that was taking place against the backdrop of the protests in Yemen.  […]

AS the United Nations Security Council meets in New York, Secretary General Ban ki moon is calling for “decisive” action to be taken against the Libyan regime. The UN Secretary […]

We all know that women like funny guys but empirical evidence for this phenomenon has been sorely lacking. Fortunately, a recent study tests whether humor helps men pick up women.

Defense Secretary Gates bluntly told an audience of West Point cadets on Friday that it would be unwise for the United States to ever fight another war like Iraq or Afghanistan.

Lawrence Principe of Johns Hopkins University wants to rehabilitate alchemy. He believes that most alchemists were respectable knowledge seekers working with well constructed theories.

We’ve finally made it to the weekend, so I thought I’d leave you with a shiny new image from the NASA Earth Observatory folks. The new ASTER image (below) captured […]

Are people naturally good or evil? How much of our mental life is unconscious? Are our desires hard-wired by evolution? On the evening of Monday, March 21st, renowned psychologist and […]

Two high-ranking ministers made headlines this week by falling out of line with the governments they represent. They are U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, and Libya’s Ambassador to the U.S., Ali Ojli. 

Avenues: The World School, a exclusive school set to open in 2012 in New York City, will be one of the most forward-looking and global schools on the planet. But will this model fix America’s educational system or just exacerbate inequalities?

It never ceases to amaze me how the media just loves to find bad in the good (or at least the interesting). I’ve seen a number of article or blog […]

Paul Cézanne painted slowly. Very slowly. The fruit in his still lives would ripen and even rot as he worked. Hortense, first his mistress and later his wife, visibly suffers […]

Listen, I’m too old to REALLY care about Lady Gaga.  But I’ve seen her on a couple of award shows and interviewed on SIXTY MINUTES.  I gotta admit it:  She […]

Squatting empty buildings is not a criminal offence. It is, in fact, an ancient right, a tradition that can be traced back over centuries of popular dissent and pragmatism.

Trees brighten city streets and delight nature-starved urbanites. Now scientists are learning that they also play a crucial role in the green infrastructure of America’s cities.

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, is struggling to maintain his authority in the country as vast swathes of territory in the east now appear to be under the control of pro-democracy protesters.

Last week I had the opportunity to moderate a world-class panel here on campus featuring AU film professor Larry Engel, science education advocate Eugenie Scott, and National Academies science education […]

Charles Spencer of American University Media services did a terrific Web story on the Google science communication fellows program I will be participating in this year.  Here’s an excerpt where […]

A Georgia Representative has introduced a bill to investigate all unsupervised miscarriages as crimescenes. Don’t believe me? Here’s the relevant language from HB 1, downloadable from legislature’s website: When a […]

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