July 02, 2009
A Global Agenda
Paris will be the center of global higher education next week, as more than 1,000 scholars and government officials, including about 100 ministers or vice ministers, descend on the city for the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education: The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development.
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July 02, 2009
Did Cooking Make Us Human?
A new book argues that cooked food is the key to our evolution.
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July 02, 2009
When Will Computers Be Smarter Than Us?
Superintelligence is on its way.
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June 30, 2009
Your Brain on Music: The Science
Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia is the focus of a new episode of NOVA.
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June 30, 2009
Born Again in Brooklyn
A poet and mother on the problems and passions of being "Catholic under protest."
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June 30, 2009
Does God Hate Women?
A new polemic has all the answers, but asks the wrong questions.
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June 26, 2009
Mistress of the Return
An excerpt from Peter Manseau's Songs for the Butcher's Daughter.
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June 26, 2009
Beauty and Desecration
We must rescue art from the modern intoxication with ugliness.
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June 26, 2009
Human Nature Today
Has there ever been a time when there were so many different views of human nature floating around all at once?
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June 24, 2009
God is Becoming
"[I]f God is the ultimate exemplar of process, of the focus on becoming rather than being, then God absorbs and is affected by all that happens..."
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June 24, 2009
Why Heidegger Matters
Simon Critchley on Being and Time
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June 24, 2009
Not Every Child Is Secretly a Genius
Christopher Ferguson avers that the theory of multiple intelligences is based more on intuition than on science, and "it's time we begin to work with the reality we have, not the one we wish we had."
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June 23, 2009
Too Complex to Exist
In all the excitement we tend to overlook a fact that should be obvious - that once everything is connected, problems can spread as easily as solutions, sometimes more so.
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June 23, 2009
Is God a Mathematician?
The certainty that the secrets of the world are sitting out there waiting to be discovered turns out not to be a settled notion at all. What if our discoveries instead turned out to be our own creative -- and inalterably human -- inventions?
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June 23, 2009
Seeking Not Angels, But Data
The idea is not to watch for omens or angels but to do workmanlike astronomy that fights the perception that science and Catholicism necessarily conflict.
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June 19, 2009
The Earth Under the Microscope
The universe from 10 million light years away to 100 attometers.
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June 19, 2009
Science and Religion: A History of Conflict?
"It's popularly imagined that the history of science and religion is one of violent conflict, but the facts don't bear this out."
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June 19, 2009
Brain Energy Use Key to Understanding Consciousness, Yale Researchers Find
“'You can think of consciousness not as a property of the brain, but of the person.'”
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June 18, 2009
What Ever Happened to Reason?
"The very reasoning that sets out to destroy the ideas of objective truth and absolute value imposes political correctness as absolutely binding and cultural relativism as objectively true."
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June 18, 2009
The Culture of Sharing: Why Releasing Copyright Will Be the Smartest Thing You Do
Why authors actually benefit from uncopyrighting their work.
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June 18, 2009
Bug Resurrected After 120,000 Years
"Scientists have brought a newly-discovered bug back to life after more than 120,000 years in hibernation. It raises hopes that dormant life might be revived on Mars."
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June 17, 2009
Most Powerful 'Sound Laser' to Shake Up Acoustics
Scientists invent the "saser."
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June 17, 2009
Top 10 Religion Stories
Time Magazine's top 10 religious stories of 2008.
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June 17, 2009
“Chris Mooney Has Abandoned Science, Reason, Logic”
Chris Mooney disagrees.
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June 16, 2009
CRAP Paper Accepted by Journal
Computer-generated hoax paper accepted by a journal which charges its authors a publication fee.
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June 16, 2009
Holes of Silence
Scientists create a "black hole" of sound.
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June 16, 2009
Reason vs. Faith: the Battle Continues
"The resurgence of political theology suggests that the promises of secular modernity have played themselves out and been found to be severely wanting."
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June 15, 2009
Has the Mystery of Sex Been Explained at Last?
What advantage does sexual reproduction have over cloning?
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June 15, 2009
Could Human Altruism Have Evolved Because of War?
"Evolutionary biologist Samuel Bowles argues that prehistoric culture may have selected for individuals who behaved altruistically towards other individuals in their social groups."
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June 15, 2009
Farewell to Judgment
"We judge Shakespeare plays in terms of their expressiveness, truth to life, profundity, and beauty. And that is how you justify the study of English, as a training in this other kind of judgment, which leaves politics behind."
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June 12, 2009
New Element for Periodic Table
Scientists welcome atomic number 112.
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June 12, 2009
Can You Outsmart Your Genes? An Interview with Author Richard Nisbett
Interview explores the importance of education and culture for intelligence.
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June 12, 2009
More on Mooney and Accommodationism (with a Note on Rosenhouse)
Jerry Coyne states why the methodological naturalism ("MN")/philosophical naturalism ("PN") distinction is overplayed.
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June 11, 2009
Seven Things that Don't Make Sense about Gravity
What still baffles scientists about gravity.
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June 11, 2009
Is God Dead? Or Just Not Riding the Bus?
The atheist bus campaign moves from Europe to the US.
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June 11, 2009
Words to a Fellow Atheist
"Consider that for a lot of people out there who have doubts about their faith, but who unlike you are unable to go all the way to atheism, the moderate ground can be a very welcoming place to stop for a while (maybe for a very long while)."
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June 10, 2009
10 Scientific Objects That Changed the World
"To mark its centenary, the Science Museum in London had its curators select the ten objects in its collection that made the biggest mark on history."
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June 10, 2009
Designing Religion
The challenges of implementing religion in the game "Civilization."
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June 10, 2009
Why Evolution is True, But Coyne is Wrong About Religion, Part III: Understanding the Limits of Methodological Naturalism
Chris Mooney emphasizes the importance of methodological naturalism ("MN") and philosophical naturalism ("PN") for reconciling religion and science.
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June 09, 2009
Why Evolution is True, But Coyne is Wrong About Religion, Part II: Lessons of Dover
Chris Mooney defends the compatibility of evolution and religion, opposing Jerry Coyne.
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June 09, 2009
Quantum Mysticism: Gone but Not Forgotten
Contrary to the title, an article recounting the history of whether observation affects quantum particles (dubbed "mysticism controversy").
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June 09, 2009
What Are Your Chances of Being Born In…
"I’m very often fascinated with the thought that the most influential event that will shape our lives, is the geographical location of our birth on this planet."
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June 08, 2009
Near-Death Experiences: Heaven Can Wait
Scientists expound new theory to explain near-death experiences.
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June 08, 2009
Coyne Debate Link-Ins: Hullabaloo, Klinghoffer, Rosenhouse, Moran, Laden, Coyne, Rosenhouse….
The debate between Chris Mooney and Jerry Coyne over atheists and religious moderates attracts attention.
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June 08, 2009
Tenure's Value ... to Society
"A judge ruled last week in Colorado that not only is tenure a good thing for the professors who enjoy it, it is valuable to the public."
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June 05, 2009
Time Travel Beats Quantum Mechanics
Using quantum mechanics to address the grandfather paradox, which in turn, reveals quantum states.
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June 05, 2009
The New Performance Enhancing Drugs
"Cognitive enhancers like Adderall and Ritalin... are now becoming popular 'performance enhancing' substances for healthy individuals trying to gain a competitive edge by boosting their overall cognitive function."
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June 05, 2009
Do I Contradict Myself? Very Well Then I Contradict Myself
Chris Mooney responds to Jerry Coyne's article (posted yesterday).
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June 04, 2009
Masterstroke: Man Who Couldn't Even Draw Stickmen Wakes from Brain Surgery... as a Talented Artist
"For most, stroke and brain surgery can be devastating but for Alan Brown it sparked a previously unseen talent... as an artist."
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June 04, 2009
Genetically Modified Crops Get the Vatican's Blessing
The Vatican approves of genetically modified crops to combat hunger.
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June 04, 2009
Chris Mooney and Barbara Forrest Love the Faithful More Than Me
Jerry Coyne responds to Chris Mooney's article on atheists being friendly to religious moderates (posted yesterday).
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