Why We Overrate the Lifesaving Power of Cancer Tests
Science journalist Gary Taubes weighs in on PSA tests and mammograms
Stories by John Horgan
Why I Won't Get a PSA Test for Prostate Cancer
Physicians are still recommending the blood test for prostate cancer even though it harms far more men than it helps
How Quarks Turned into Cultures
Big-picture biologist Tyler Volk talks about his book on “How We Came to Be”
Second Thoughts: Did Thomas Kuhn Help Elect Donald Trump?
Scholars debate filmmaker Errol Morris’s attack on Kuhn’s influential philosophy of science
Second Thoughts on Whether Self-Knowledge Is Overrated
Intellectuals defend the value of being intellectuals.
Did Thomas Kuhn Help Elect Donald Trump?
Filmmaker Errol Morris claims Kuhn’s critique of science paved the way for a post-truth presidency
Is a Popular Theory of Cosmic Creation Pseudoscience?
Physicists battle over whether the theory of inflation is untestable, and hence not really scientific
Is Self-Knowledge Overrated?
Scientists and philosophers doubt the ancient claim that vigorous examination of yourself and others makes you a better person
Why String Theory Is Still Not Even Wrong
Physicist, mathematician and blogger Peter Woit whacks strings, multiverses, simulated universes and “fake physics”
What's Your Utopia?
Imagining an ideal world can help us make this world better
David Chalmers Thinks the Hard Problem Is Really Hard
Consciousness will still mystify us even if we scientifically solve it, philosopher predicts
Will Neuroweapons, Micro-Drones and Other Killer Apps Really Make Us Safer?
Americans should have a more vigorous debate over Pentagon’s relentless pursuit of “disruptive” innovations
R.I.P. Huston Smith, Religious Scholar Who Defended Psychedelics' Spiritual Potential
The advocate of "perennial philosophy" held that “entheogens” can provide glimpses of transcendent truths embodied in religions
Is Nuclear War the Only Cure for Inequality?
A historian claims only apocalyptic destruction can close the gap between rich and poor
Is Consciousness Real?
Philosopher Daniel Dennett tries, once again, to explain away consciousness
Polymath Stephen Wolfram Defends His Computational Theory of Everything
Creator of Mathematica and A New Kind of Science remains confident that he can transform science and other realms of knowledge
Why Freud Still Isn't Dead
Psychoanalysis still attracts adherents in spite of relentless criticism and the rise of psychopharmacology and other alternatives
Astronomy Writer Confronts Mysteries of Inner Space
Science Journalist Michael Lemonick answers questions about his new book The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love.
Philosophers Push Back
Philosophers react to a science journalist’s critique of their calling
What Is Philosophy's Point?, Part 5--A Call for "Negative Philosophy"
Philosophy’s chief value is countering our terrible tendency toward certitude
