Scientists worldwide have watched Brazil's budget cuts in shock. We, too, could see trouble ahead if flat U.S. federal spending without additional corporate funding continues, says Marcelo Gleiser.
Acts of altruism — like saving swimmers caught in a riptide from drowning or donating a kidney to a stranger — are among the thorniest puzzles of human nature, says guest blogger Abigail Marsh.
A paper published this summer shows gun ownership relates to beliefs about mass shootings and points to gun ownership as a powerful driver of motivated cognition, says psychologist Tania Lombrozo.
We can thrive with AI if we win the race between the growing power of our technology and the wisdom with which we manage it, but we must ditch the idea of learning from our mistakes, says Max Tegmark.
Once a technology that treats emotions as data becomes pervasive, we may soon find that data is the only aspect of emotion we come to recognize or value, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
Empathy for people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder can come about by reading first-person accounts and by knowing the facts from science, says anthropologist Barbara J. King.
Three scientists won the prize after a 25-year-long search of the cosmos for gravitational waves — the waving of space — the one test missing for Einstein, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.
Children's initial, funny, sometimes troubling, and always-sloppy lies are signs that they have discovered something important about how other people's minds work, says guest blogger Marjorie Rhodes.
Facing unresponsive brain-injury victims is a real-world example of the fact that we are locked out of the minds of others — but new research shows promise in restoring consciousness, says Alva Noë.
Apes' intelligence tests vary so much from kids' that comparative results may be invalid. Anthropologist Barbara J. King explores new insights from psychology.
Just as two kids jumping on a trampoline around each other send waves rippling outwards on the fabric, black holes distort space as they orbit around each other, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.
In his new book, Robert Wright explores Buddhism's take on our suffering, our anxiety and our general dis-ease — where he sees it lining up with scientific fields, says blogger Adam Frank.
Not all feelings of curiosity are the same. A study finds that one factor affecting the balance of negative and positive when it comes to curiosity is time, says psychologist Tania Lombrozo.
Monuments play a different cultural role than do other kinds of artworks: To let a monument stand, or to take it down, is to take a political stand on its subject matter, says blogger Alva Noë.
People can't simulate realistic, internal sensations, like temperature change or pain — which is a reason why more people aren't terrified by climate change, says guest blogger Lisa Feldman Barrett.
It is a principle of most modern thought about language that the relation between signs and meanings is arbitrary. But a new study finds a connection between sounds and ink on "paper," says Alva Noë.
A project called the Event Horizon Telescope is analyzing data taken earlier this year using interferometry — and we may be remarkably close to "seeing" a black hole, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
Following on Cassini's discoveries, NASA aims to probe Jupiter's Europa for potential life. With every new world we discover, we should look back at our own planet with awe, says Marcelo Gleiser.
Technology allows mapping of wildlife movements with new precision — and a fresh approach to conservation — as evidenced by Where the Animal Go, released Tuesday in the U.S., says Barbara J. King.
A new study shows that deep neural networks, DNNs, can determine sexual orientation from facial photos with high accuracy. Blogger Alva Noë examines what this might mean — and the potential pitfalls.
Yes, President Trump's words tend to be simple and oft-repeated. The real question, says anthropologist Barbara J. King, may be what happens when we adopt them.
Biblical literalists affirm in The Sign that Sept. 23 is the day the end comes as prophesied in Revelation. Fortunately, the film doesn't only present this version of the story, says Marcelo Gleiser.
Classification of planets offers a way to see how Anthropocenes — and a successful route through them — might be part of a continuum of planetary evolution, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.
In the child's world of Twenty Questions, it's pretty easy to evaluate what makes a good question. But producing good questions in the real world can be a more complicated affair, says Tania Lombrozo.
