Is it impossible to pin down both where and when an event takes place, due to quantum gravity effects? Shahn Majid explains why this may be. In these posts I have emphasized ideas on the cutting edge of...
Forcing schools to spend more of their endowments on easing tuition burdens would put nonprofits on a slippery slope. In a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed, Cambridge authors Burton A.Weisbrod, Jeffrey P. Ballou...
This 5th and final installment in Don Albers’ long interview with Martin Gardner clarifies his philosophical theism, tackles pseudoscience, and glimpses what he’s up to now. Remember, he’s...
Thanks for all the fun entries! The past few weeks have been entertaining, to say the least. I saved one of my favorites, and one of the more tricky problems, for last. It’s not the simplest to...
The historic candidacy of Obama aside, the NY Times noted yesterday, in what it called “quiet political shifts,” that more and more black candidates are gaining ground in heavily white areas. The...
Rowan W. Hamilton Some of Fields medalist Alain Connes‘ revolutionary ideas shed light on how to understand the ‘zoo’ of elementary particles thrown up by accelerators like the LHC. If...
This continues Don Albers’ long interview of Gardner from last week. Or, start from the beginning. Adam, Eve, and Navels DA: In 1979, you talked about retiring from Scientific American that year,...
“Most counterterrorism policies fail, not because of tactical problems, but because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what motivates terrorists in the first place,” begins a WIRED piece by Bruce...
The New York Times Magazine reported a few days ago on the frustrations of lawmakers in Congress. ‘The way [Republican Representative] Davis sees it, the system has become dysfunctional. Bush has...
Last chance! You guys rock–it makes me sad that I don’t have enough spare copies to give to the great entries I’ve been getting. I will be back momentarily with this week’s puzzle....
Continuing his series of posts on space and time, Shahn Majid examines some of coauthor Roger Penrose’s revolutionary ideas. Could we, today, see remnants of a previous universe? Past lives and life...
“I can’t make hollandaise sauce—it’s too hard.” How many times have you heard that or said it yourself? No single recipe epitomizes everything people love and fear about French cuisine...