Current Events

Whether in Russia or China, the secret police are defined by their unquestioning loyalty — as well as by their poor career prospects.

Smoke taint from wildfires is gross, even to wine amateurs.

Some Europeans really don’t want to use the internet.

Close to 70% of drugs advertised on TV offer little to no benefit over other cheaper drugs.

Rogue Putin is the biggest risk of 2023. Here are the other nine, explained by global political expert Ian Bremmer.

There is a strong case to be made that the China has moved too slowly to reverse the effects of its one-child policy.

It is estimated that as many as 488 million people worldwide were exposed to dangerously long working hours in 2016.

In just a few seconds, a gamma-ray burst blasts out the same amount of energy that the Sun will radiate throughout its entire life.

Computerized, job-focused learning undercuts the true value of higher education. Liberal arts should be our model for the future.

From COVID and cancer vaccines to a steady drop in the number of people living in extreme poverty, there are reasons for optimism in 2023.

While Costco warehouses may remind shoppers of Walmart, this membership-only retailer has a business model that more closely resembles Amazon or Netflix.

Concluding that Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest was caused by the COVID vaccine requires accepting highly improbable leaps of logic.

“Lethal autonomous weapon” sounds friendlier than “killer robot.”

The media sells bad news, but scientific evidence shows that we are making progress toward a greener planet.

2022 was another busy year in the realm of science, with groundbreaking stories spanning space, materials, medicine, and technology.

Retired astronaut Ron Garan believes that before we can begin solving our problems, we must understand our interrelatedness through the “orbital perspective.”

Hawaii is the most isolated volcanic hot spot on Earth, far away from any plate boundary.

Guess which country has 269% inflation.

There is more consensus on what heaven looks like than hell.

For the first time in nearly 1500 years, fewer than half the people in England and Wales consider themselves Christian.

Inequality should be measured in terms of the time it takes for us to earn the money to buy the things we need. And everyone is getting wealthier.

With economic turmoil looming, everyone wants a way to keep their funds safe. But is that really possible?

These ten maps provide a fascinating insight into the impact that soccer (sorry, football) has had worldwide.

Airports are like mini-cities: they have places of worship, policing, hotels, fine dining, shopping, and mass transit.

Proxy wars on the pitch.

Is science for everyone, or just the morally upright?

Three years after the pandemic began, we still don’t know the origin of COVID. A strange lack of curiosity has stifled the debate.

By exposing people to small doses of misinformation and encouraging them to develop resistance strategies, “prebunking” can fight fake news.

Late-night shows, developed during the “golden age” of TV, are no longer as relevant in the age of streaming services and Donald Trump.

Many have argued that morals are relative, but Russia’s war crimes reveal the hollowness of that belief. Morality is universal and objective.