Disbanding the PKK: Political Engagement as the Key to Ending Insurgencies

The recent decision by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disarm and disband has important lessons for any country facing a seemingly intractable insurgency. On May 12, the group stated that following its 12th Congress it will “dissolve the PKK’s organizational structure and end the armed struggle method.” The organisation has said that it will… Continue reading Disbanding the PKK: Political Engagement as the Key to Ending Insurgencies

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A New Pyramid-Like Shape Always Lands the Same Side Up

Achieving the right balance between the weight of the loading zone and the weight of the rest of the tetrahedron is easy in the abstract realm of mathematics — you can define the weight distribution without a care for whether it’s physically possible. You might, for instance, let parts of the shape weigh nothing at all,… Continue reading A New Pyramid-Like Shape Always Lands the Same Side Up

We’ll Be Arguing for Years Whether Large Language Models Can Make New Scientific Discoveries

When OpenAI released its newest AI models o3 and o4-mini in April, its president Greg Brockman made an intriguing claim: “These are the first models where top scientists tell us they produce legitimately good and useful novel ideas.” If AI can indeed make scientific discoveries, that would not only have practical impacts for society but… Continue reading We’ll Be Arguing for Years Whether Large Language Models Can Make New Scientific Discoveries

Are You Flourishing? This Global Study Has Surprising Takeaways

Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. How are you doing today, listeners? Would you say you’re flourishing? I’m guessing you probably wouldn’t—unless you have a particularly florid vocabulary. But researchers are increasingly focused on the idea of “human flourishing,” a multifaceted measurement that aims to take a holistic look at our… Continue reading Are You Flourishing? This Global Study Has Surprising Takeaways

John F. Kennedy Assassination Hearings (Lee Harvey Oswald? Conspiracy? CIA? Coverup?)

John F. Kennedy Assassination Hearings (Lee Harvey Oswald? Conspiracy? CIA? Coverup?) < !- end of Google Analytics Code Snippet by GA4WP–> // tabnab protection window.addEventListener(‘load’, function () { // make all links have rel=”noopener noreferrer” document.querySelectorAll(‘a[target=”_blank”]’).forEach(link => { link.setAttribute(‘rel’, ‘noopener noreferrer’); }); }); ]]> Podcast: Download MYS373: The 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy… Continue reading John F. Kennedy Assassination Hearings (Lee Harvey Oswald? Conspiracy? CIA? Coverup?)

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Reimagining School Meals to Improve Health for All Children

Some may think free school meals are a welfare issue, but they are so much more. Free school meals are a major investment in our country’s future. Nutrition and healthy diets are important parts of children’s health. Obesity is one preventable diet-related disease that continues to affect too many children in the United States. The… Continue reading Reimagining School Meals to Improve Health for All Children

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The Wagner Group Is Leaving Mali. But Russian Mercenaries Aren’t Going Anywhere

The June 6 announcement by the infamous Wagner Group private military company that it will end its three-and-a-half-year-long deployment in Mali is an important development in Russia’s evolving mercenary landscape. Even as one Russian mercenary group is leaving, the country’s presence in Africa is not going anywhere. The Kremlin seized control of Wagner’s operations, most… Continue reading The Wagner Group Is Leaving Mali. But Russian Mercenaries Aren’t Going Anywhere

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Why Potential Weather Radar Outages Have Meteorologists Worried

Outside every National Weather Service (NWS) office around the U.S. stands what looks like an enormous white soccer ball, perched atop metal scaffolding several stories high. These somewhat plain spheres look as ho-hum as a town water tower, but tucked inside each is one of modern meteorology’s most revolutionary and lifesaving tools: Doppler radar. The… Continue reading Why Potential Weather Radar Outages Have Meteorologists Worried

As U.S.-China Trade Talks Continue, Europe Needs a Plan to Navigate Uncertainty

U.S. and Chinese officials convened in London on 9 June for the first meeting of the economic and trade consultation mechanism—a channel of communication agreed upon during their first negotiation in Geneva this past May. The framework agreed in London on the one hand offers temporary relief to businesses and markets, and time for both… Continue reading As U.S.-China Trade Talks Continue, Europe Needs a Plan to Navigate Uncertainty

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