The Great Hunger and the Randomness of the World
A science journalist walking through Lower Manhattan ponders the meaning of the Irish Hunger Memorial
Stories by John Horgan
Okay, Maybe Proofs Aren't Dying After All
Experts argue that proofs are doing fine, contrary to a controversial 1993 prediction of their impending demise...
The Horgan Surface and the Death of Proof
Mathematicians take revenge on the author of a controversial article about proof by naming an object after him...
Meta-Post: Horgan Posts on Poverty and Other Social Problems
Cross-Check columns on poverty, inequality, racism, sexism and violence. Plus progress and Noam Chomsky
Revolt against the Rich
Nobel laureates, a new congresswoman and others urge raising taxes on the ultrawealthy to counter surging inequality...
Are Cyborg Warriors a Good Idea?
The Pentagon is funding brain-implant research aimed at creating neurally “enhanced” soldiers
The Deep Roots of Fake News
A new history of the U.S. traces mass media’s destabilizing effects back to the nation’s birth...
Dear Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Please Work to End War
A science writer urges a progressive young congresswoman to lead a broad peace movement
Should Reality Make Us Glad or Sad?
Some sages say seeing things as they truly are should make us feel fantastic, but others demur
Cypher's Choice: Painful Reality or Pleasant Delusion?
The care of people with dementia poses an agonizing philosophical dilemma
A Former Java Junkie Ponders Coffee's Upside
After a science writer kicks caffeine to reduce his anxiety, a wellness expert assures him that coffee is good for you...
Visions of a Better World
Noam Chomsky, Richard Dawkins, Martin Rees and others answer the question: What’s your utopia?...
Can Art Solve the Hard Problem?
A play dramatizes the deepest of all mysteries, the mind–body problem
Dark Days
A science writer struggles to stay upbeat in a troubled time
Facing the End of Science
Physicists and others confront science’s limits
Thanksgiving and the Myth of Native American "Savages"
Prominent scientists exaggerate the violence of Native Americans, whom European invaders ravaged.
The Twilight of Science's High Priests
Books by physics titans Stephen Hawking and Martin Rees recall a bygone golden age, when science seemed capable of anything
Don't Make Me One with Everything
The mystical doctrine of oneness has creepy implications
Noam Chomsky Calls Trump and Republican Allies "Criminally Insane"
The great linguist and political critic remains hopeful that we can overcome global warming and other threats
Philosophy Has Made Plenty of Progress
Philosopher Tim Maudlin sees advances in free will, morality and the meaning of quantum mechanics
