A conversation about the nature of consciousness with neuroscientist Christof Koch.
Why do shoelaces untie themselves? A mundane question and one that I often ask myself when I'm hiking, but the answer could lead to better fibers and surgeon's knots.
How lizards get their spots. I knew that the skin pattern of various animals can be described by a set of Turing equations, but the ocellated lizard develops its labyrinthine palette in an unusual way.
Links gehen rechts stehen or not? New research suggests it is more efficient if nobody walks on the escalator. I nearly always take the stairs to get some exercise.
What happened to Google Books? It could have been amazing. Update: the same story told by someone else.
How big a problem is the zero lower bound on interest rates? Ben Bernanke discusses the implications for monetary policy of the fact that interest rates cannot fall (much) below zero.
Why people prefer unequal societies. There is no evidence people are bothered by economic inequality itself. They are bothered by economic unfairness, at least, according to this study.
Some useful heuristics to test the validity of a statement from the analytical philosophy tool kit. I would add another question, which often came up when I was studying philosophy. Whenever someone says "we" or "us" always ask "who, we?" Who is included in (and excluded from) this "we"? Does the author refer to all of humanity? All people alive today? Anyone capable of rational thought? I mean, blood runs through your veins that's where our similarity ends
Rei Kawakubo, Interpreter of Dreams. In recent years the main collections of Comme des Garçons have become increasingly theatrical and less wearable. I still don't know what to think. While some creations are spectacular and would look great on stage there's something facile about this kind of unbridled creativity. If you abandon the constraints of wearability anything goes.
The French social thinker Christophe Guilluy has crafted a convincing narrative tying together France’s various social problems - immigration tensions, inequality, deindustrialization, economic decline, ethnic conflict, and the rise of populist parties.
With negative mass, if you push something, it accelerates toward you. No, really. Of course, the result only holds under extreme laboratory conditions.