CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – As the autumn sun warms the historic campus outside, a professor specializing in ancient and modern political philosophy guides undergraduate students through the seemingly ruthless nuances of Machiavelli’s 16th-century philosophy of morals. In another class, a professor specializing in political theory offers students a guided tour of the early American republic, as seen through the… Continue reading These Upstart Classes Hold a Woeful Lack of Civics Education to Be Self-Evident
This ‘Human Computer’ Created a System for Measuring Vast Distances in Our Universe
Attention Is Discovery, visual artist Anna Von Mertens’s thoughtful new exploration of astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt, describes and illuminates Leavitt’s decades-long study of stars, including the groundbreaking system she developed for measuring vast distances within our universe simply by looking at photographic plates. Leavitt studied hundreds of thousands of stars captured on the glass plates… Continue reading This ‘Human Computer’ Created a System for Measuring Vast Distances in Our Universe
End the 1619 Project Indoctrination
The reelection of Donald Trump is rightfully being seen as repudiation of “woke”—DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and CRT (Critical Race Theory). Trump is planning to root out the toxic, often deadly, ideology in federal departments. First comes the abolishment of fake history, work Trump started toward the end of his hoax- and impeachment-beleaguered first… Continue reading End the 1619 Project Indoctrination
There’s Bird Flu in California Wastewater. What’s Next?
Since the first avian influenza outbreaks hit the U.S. early this year, health and agriculture experts have struggled to track the virus’s spotty path as it spreads in dairy cow herds and an unknown number of humans. Infection risk still seems low for most people, but dairy workers and others directly exposed to cows have… Continue reading There’s Bird Flu in California Wastewater. What’s Next?
What Can Birdsong Teach Us About Human Language?
It’s fair to say that enjoyment of a podcast would be severely limited without the human capacity to create and understand speech. That capacity has often been cited as a defining characteristic of our species, and one that sets us apart in the long history of life on Earth. Yet we know that other species… Continue reading What Can Birdsong Teach Us About Human Language?
What Might Happen to Public Health under RFK, Jr.
Many scientists at the federal health agencies await the second Donald Trump administration with dread as well as uncertainty over how the president-elect will reconcile starkly different philosophies among the leaders of his team. Trump has promised he would allow Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “go wild” on medicines, food, and health. With that, a… Continue reading What Might Happen to Public Health under RFK, Jr.
What If Adam Didn’t Bite the Apple? (Weird Questions)
Podcast: Download MYS340: It’s a fifth Friday, so Cy Kellett of Catholic Answers Live is asking Jimmy Akin weird questions from listeners, about topics like the serpent in the Garden of Eden; Time Lords and Sunday obligation; Adam and the apple; and more weird questions. Get all new episodes automatically and for free: Follow by… Continue reading What If Adam Didn’t Bite the Apple? (Weird Questions)
How Astronomers Tried to Communicate with the Cosmos
[CLIP: Sound of Arecibo message being sent] Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. On November 16, 1974, humanity sent an unprecedented message into the stars. [CLIP: Frank Drake gives a speech on the day of the Arecibo transmission: “If we go as far away as Mars or the other planets and… Continue reading How Astronomers Tried to Communicate with the Cosmos
In the Quantum World, Even Points of View Are Uncertain
To see how, consider two reference frames; we’ll label them A and B. Let’s say that A’s origin is anchored to a quantum object that has probabilities of being found in various locations. From the perspective of B, A’s location is smeared over some region. But from the perspective of A, the distance to B… Continue reading In the Quantum World, Even Points of View Are Uncertain
The People’s Champ Has Lost His People
Picture this, because it really happened: Dwayne Johnson stands in an IMAX theater, taking Christopher Nolan’s seat. “I even asked to let me sit where Chris sits,” he said in a recent interview with Imax. “They said, ‘Chris sits here.’” He watches Oppenheimer, then does something peculiar. He texts his movie director a picture of… Continue reading The People’s Champ Has Lost His People