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Ben Carson has recently surged in the polls. Should we be concerned about his apocalyptic visions? 

Open borders would lead to a massive wave of immigration and probably the collapse of American constitutional democracy… though one economist says that’s not a bad thing.

The scattered toponyms that delight us by their unvarnished expression of downheartedness, defeat and despond.

After hydrogen and helium, the periodic table is full of surprises. “The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” –Harlan Ellison One of the most remarkable […]

Out beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper belt, whose residents we can see. But what’s out there beyond that? “The great oak of Astronomy has been felled, and we are lost […]

Each day, each of us faces 500 billion opportunities for genetic civil war to break out. Thankfully we’ve also evolved good ways to police and suppress these rogue parts, their mutinous mutations, and their declarations of independence.     

Place matters, and it may matter more in older age than at any other stage of life. Where we live shapes the contours of our daily experience, determining our access […]

Many don’t have a leg to stand on where their understanding of evolution is concerned. David Sloan Wilson (head of the Evolution Institute) says “natural selection is life Monopoly.” But, it could be more like basketball…

Urbanization is increasing rapidly, worldwide. It’s good for innovation, but is it good for people? 

Before you tout the next exoplanet as “the most Earth-like ever,” ask whether that’s true, and whether that’s even a good thing. “You can spend too much time wondering which […]

Increased stress from an unstable home environment can stunt cognitive growth, leaving kids at a disadvantage before they even begin kindergarten.

Evolution can be seen as a process of discovering logic that works well in a particular environment. But evolution can’t see what our foresight can grasp. In some cases the logic inherent in relationships of need (e.g. within groups) can be decisive. 

The origin of life is one of the biggest open questions. Could it all have started before our planet was even born? “When you arise in the morning, think of […]

If dark matter is the most abundant form of mass, and has gravity, where are all the dark matter structures? “All enterprises that are entered into with indiscreet zeal may […]

Division of labor creates a need for others. And it logically connects your interests with the interests of those needed others (which complicates evolutionary trade-offs). 

The “constant points of light” in the sky are often anything but. “To be is to be the value of a variable.” –Willard Van Orman Quine We look up at […]

If you took all the energy out of something, you’d reach absolute zero, the coldest temperature of all. But is there a highest temperature? “Nothing is lost… Everything is transformed.” […]

Call it the psychology of the job search: The typeface you choose for your résumé communicates much more to the hiring manager than you’d think.

Some supposed rationalists would have us believe we are ill-fated idiots. An ancient Greek myth of Prometheus can help us see how to avert this modern tragedy of reason (whereby a sub-natural view of rationality risks making ancient idiots of us).

Pluto’s moons, Nix and Hydra, are the first with irregular rotations, and hence unpredictable sunsets and sunrises. “Movin’ right along.You take it, you know best.Hey, I’ve never seen the Sun […]

While many people believe sugar makes kids hyperactive, this theory has long been debunked by research. However researchers are only just beginning to understand the complex relationship between glucose and learning.

Can a running start really improve your driving distance in golf? “What a shot by Happy Gilmore! <aside> Who the hell is Happy Gilmore?”–Announcer, from Happy Gilmore As I prepare […]

See as far back in the Universe as our greatest telescope’s eyes will take us. “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. […]

Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Deny Evolution If adults want to deny evolution, sure. That’s fine. Whatever. But those adults better not make their kids follow in […]

We’ve only ever seen 2nd-generation stars and later. Until, just maybe, now. “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” […]

Govert Schilling’s new book deserves a place in everyone’s life. “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” –Carl Sagan Imagine the […]

Image credit: © 2015 MotorTrend Magazine, via http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/1110_mopar_underground_jeep_and_ram_run_wild_at_moab/photo_06.html. How gravity teaches us that the mountains we see extend far underground. “Journalists often ask me when I go to the field, […]

Stars are born, live and die, but their light tells a remarkable story that changes over time. “Aristotle taught that stars are made of a different matter than the four […]

The online tool Start A Garden offers amateur green thumbs useful tips for growing veggies no matter where they live.

The first human colonies might not be on the surface of Mars, but amidst the clouds of Venus. “I remember as a kid having a balloon and accidentally letting the […]