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Read more: Art and Science: Three Celebrity Geniuses
We often draw a sharp line between art and science, imagining on one side the free-spirited artist and on the other the meticulous scientist. Yet history and human creativity frequently defy this division. In truth, the same spark that drives a musician to compose a melody or an actress to inhabit a role can drive…
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Read more: The Samurai Crab – Evolution, Myth, and the Face in the Shell
On the shores of Japan, there lives a little crab with a big reputation. Its shell, rugged and textured, bears a striking pattern that to human eyes looks uncannily like a face – not just any face, but the fierce visage of an ancient samurai warrior. Bulging eyes, a furrowed brow, a grimacing mouth: the…
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Read more: The Rise and Fall of Roadside Attractions
In the golden age of the American highway, before fast interstates stitched the coasts together in unbroken asphalt, travelers could find magic on the margins of the road. Neon-lit giants and oddball museums rose from cornfields and deserts, luring families out of their cars to stretch their legs and imaginations. These were the roadside attractions…
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Read more: Meltdown: Ocean Climate, Politics, Trade Routes
In the far north, where the world’s oceans meet the polar ice, a profound transformation is underway. The Arctic—once sealed by thick, unyielding sheets of ice—is thawing. Summer by summer, the white expanse that crowned our planet is shrinking, revealing blue water where there was none before. Where explorers of old once dreamed of a…
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Read more: Angkor Wat: Temple of the Flooded Forest
Every year, monsoon rains drench the plains of Cambodia. Rivers swell and burst their banks, turning fields into temporary lakes. To most ancient cities, such seasonal flooding would be a curse, a destructive force washing away homes and crops. Yet at Angkor Wat, the deluge was not an enemy to be feared but a heartbeat…
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Read more: Inventing New Gods and Reimagining Old
Despite living in an age of scientific marvels and secular philosophies, humanity’s fascination with gods and the divine has not vanished – it has merely shape-shifted. We continue to invent new gods, even as we reinterpret the old ones to find a place for them in our modern lives. This enduring phenomenon raises a compelling…
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Read more: The Spectacle of Evolution
In the late 20th century, philosophers warned of a coming Spectacle – a world where reality would be eclipsed by images and appearances. They saw modern life turning into an immense show, a perpetual carnival of impressions. In this spectacle, everything that was directly lived began to move into representation, as one thinker famously put…
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Read more: Is There a Moral Obligation to Grant Rights to Artificial Life?
Moral progress often involves expanding our circle of concern beyond our own kind. In past centuries, basic rights were denied to many humans on the basis of race, gender, or class; over time, these distinctions have been eroded as we recognized shared personhood. In recent decades, we’ve begun to seriously discuss rights for non-human creatures.…
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Read more: Spinosaurus: A Story about Scientific Truth
Jurassic Park: Rebirth gives us fully aquatic sail-backed dinosaurs terrorizing our main characters. This is a departure from two decades ago when the franchise first tackled Spinosaurus. But how did we get here? In the parched Sahara over a century ago, a set of peculiar fossil bones emerged from ancient rock. The creature hinted at…
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Read more: Why Do So Many Cultures Invent Protection Talismans?
Let’s imagine we’re at the mouth of a dimly lit cave in prehistoric Siberia, a hunter threads a bear’s tooth on a sinew cord and hangs it around his neck. He believes this fierce creature’s tooth carries some of the animal’s strength, guarding him against harm. Across the world and millennia apart, a mother in…
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Read more: Does Transcendental Meditation Improve Creativity?
A soft morning light spills into a cluttered studio. In the corner, a famous songwriter sits quietly with eyes closed, a gentle rise and fall of breath the only motion. No audience applauds this scene; no camera captures it. For twenty minutes, the artist lets the world fall away, repeating a silent mantra. In that…
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Read more: Growing Beyond the Competitive Lens: Reframing Human Nature Toward Cooperation
On a sunny playground, a group of children races toward a finish line… Nearby, a teacher posts gold stars on a chart for the top test scores, while parents speak proudly of their kid being “ahead of the others.” Scenes like these play out every day, teaching us a powerful lesson early on: life is…
