Engineering, Science, and Humanities

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Issues in Science and Technology

  • The Rise of Deadly Fungal Pathogens
    by Kimberly Quach
    Fungi are ubiquitous in nature—in fact, you’re likely breathing in fungal spores as you read this. Most fungi are harmless to healthy people. But changes in the global climate, in human settlement… Read More The post The Rise of Deadly Fungal Pathogens appeared first on Issues in Science and Technology.
  • When Nuance Is the Enemy
    by Jay Lloyd
    There has been a proliferation of books aiming to help scientists communicate their work and expertise to nonspecialists. By and large, these books provide similar and sensible advice, and it’s reasonable to… Read More The post When Nuance Is the Enemy appeared first on Issues in Science and Technology.

The Markup

Nautilus

  • How Pebbles Form Planets
    by Tom Metcalfe
    It starts with static electricity and dust swirling around young stars The post How Pebbles Form Planets appeared first on Nautilus.
  • What Caused the Devastating Earthquake in Myanmar?
    by Amanda Heidt
    A seismologist walks us through the region’s tectonic history The post What Caused the Devastating Earthquake in Myanmar? appeared first on Nautilus.

New Humanist

  • Stephen Fry: Why uncertainty can be a superpower
    Stephen Fry is an actor, comedian, writer and presenter. He is also a patron of Humanists UK and a vocal advocate for mental health. Why is uncertainty an important intellectual value to you? I’m very lazy when it comes to intellectual things, and therefore I almost don’t bother with reasons, because I am pretty much […]
  • How to topple a tyrant
    How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive (John Murray) by Marcel Dirsus As late as November 1989, Nicolae Ceausescu probably thought things were motoring along pretty nicely. He was 71 years old, and had been the uncontested overlord of Romania since 1967. The 14th Congress of the Romanian Communist Party had just awarded him another […]

Inside The New Space Race, with Nicholas Schmidle – With Reason

As mainstream space tourism grows ever more likely, New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle tells Niki Seth-Smith about life inside the new space race, as explored in his new book 'Test Gods'.  What motivates men like Bezos, Branson and Musk? How does the approach to risk in private business compare with that at NASA? And should we be looking to space at all, with so much unresolved here on planet earth? Plus, Nicholas reflects on fatherhood and masculinity, including the life of his father: a fighter pilot and Top Gun grad. Podcast listeners get a year's subscription to New Humanist magazine for just £13.50 by using the offer code WITHREASON. Subscribe now.**Recorded in August 2021**Further reading: 'Test Gods: Tragedy and Triumph in the New Space Race' (2021), Nicholas Schmidle'The Right Stuff' (1979), Tom Wolfe'In Praise of Astronauts' (2013) Paul Sims for New Humanist magazine
  1. Inside The New Space Race, with Nicholas Schmidle
  2. Black Resistance and Racist Policing, with Adam Elliott-Cooper

The Institute of Art and Ideas – IAI

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SF – Tor

  • The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Gets Screenwriter and Production Date
    by Vanessa Armstrong
    Suzanne Collins’ latest Hunger Games novel, Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, just came out in March. The book, unsurprisingly, has already sold more than 1.5 million copies in its first week, which is triple the sales that Mockingjay—the third book in the original trilogy—saw back in 2010 when it was first released. Given the […]
  • Yeah. John Wick 5 Is Officially Happening; Donnie Yen to Direct Caine Spinoff
    by Vanessa Armstrong
    So much Wick news! We just posted about the John Wick anime feature coming out of Lionsgate, but that’s far from the only announcement the studio made about the franchise at CinemaCon today. Perhaps the biggest news is that the much-rumored John Wick 5 is officially happening—with Keanu Reeves reprising his titular character, something that […]