Policy
Cosmic Thinker Worries about Ends of Science and Humanity
Cosmologist Martin Rees holds forth on multiverses, biothreats, AI, utopia, God and “posthuman” science
Stories by John Horgan
Space & Physics
My Alarming, Inspiring Encounter with the Late Stephen Hawking
After having a seizure in my arms at a meeting in Sweden, the paralyzed physicist lectured on how we live in a “superspace” with infinite dimensions
Climate Change
Should We Chill Out about Global Warming?
Two “ecomodernists” argue that continued progress in science and other realms will help us overcome environmental problems
Space & Physics
The More We Know, the More Mystery There Is
Physicist Marcelo Gleiser muses over the paradoxes of scientific progress
Neuroscience
A Modest Proposal for Solving the Solipsism Problem
Philosopher Colin McGinn proposes that “brain splicing” could allow us to experience the consciousness of others
Biotech
How Technology Can Make Valentine's Day Much, Much Better
Brain implants could eliminate miscommunication between lovers
Cognition
Who Invented the Mind–Body Problem?
Germans were debating the “body–soul problem” by the mid-19th century, but Socrates pondered the problem first
Behavior
Is Science Infinite?
Science will never tell us who we really are, and that is why it will last forever
Policy
The Infinite Optimism of Physicist David Deutsch
The quantum theorist thinks we’ll solve war, global warming and consciousness—and that will be just the beginning
Culture
The Weirdness of Weirdness
Is weirdness only in the eye of the beholder or is it an objective quality of reality?
Policy
Do Women Want to Be Oppressed?
Evolutionary theorists propose that female desire for domineering males helped create a patriarchal world
Biology
We Have Souls, and So Do Crows
A meditation for the Winter Solstice
Policy
Darwin Was Sexist, and So Are Many Modern Scientists
For far too long, Darwinian theory has justified sexist attitudes and behavior
Cognition
Jellyfish, Sexbots and the Solipsism Problem
As long as we lack a "consciousness meter," we can’t resolve debates about what is or isn’t conscious
Cognition
Do Fish Suffer?
Speakers at a meeting on animal consciousness dive into a deep ethical debate
Cognition
What Does It Feel Like to Be Enlightened?
Over lunch, a philosopher and suburban dad tries to describe the highest state of mystical consciousness
Biotech
Do We Need Brain Implants to Keep Up with Robots?
Neuroscientist Christof Koch calls for a “crash program” in brain technologies to make us smarter
Behavior
Does Buddhism Give Us Answers or Questions?
An encounter with a Buddhist teacher provokes a meditation on the nature of spirituality
Behavior
Bizarre Brain-Implant Experiment Sought to “Cure” Homosexuality
In 1970 a psychiatrist at Tulane University electrically stimulated the brain of a gay man while he had sex with a female prostitute
Public Health
Nobel Prize for Efforts to Ban Nukes Should Inspire Efforts to End all War
Eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons once and for all will require ending the threat of conventional war, too.
