Facts So Romantic

Last year, I was in Paris for the International Convention of Psychological Science, one of the most prestigious gatherings in cognitive science. I listened to talks from my field, human…

For many of us, finding the “right” career can feel like an impossible feat. When my little sister was in her last year of high school, she took a career aptitude test. Her top career?…

Philip Pullman is once again having a moment, thanks to the new blockbuster adaptation of His Dark Materials by the BBC and HBO. His fantasy classic—filled with witches, talking bears…

I recently discovered panpsychism. That’s the idea that all matter—animate or inanimate—is conscious, we just happen to be somewhat more conscious than carrots. Panpsychism is the…

Forget for a moment that you know the meaning of “quantum supremacy,” the idea of a quantum computer outdoing its conventional counterpart. What does the phrase instantly bring to mind?…

Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine’s Abstractions blog.One sunny day in the summer of 2019, Mathias Kolle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, took…

Nina Strohminger, perhaps not unlike many fans of raunchy comedies and horror flicks, is drawn to disgust. The University of Pennsylvania psychologist has written extensively on the feeling…

David Bowie and Beyoncé never shared a stage, but they share the distinction of having cleverly eponymous species names in their honor. Bowie, the British glam-rock and pop sensation,…

Not too long ago, I briefly met Elizabeth Warren in a restaurant in Cambridge, near Harvard, where I’m now a postdoc in psychology. My dad and I saw the Massachusetts senator, a 2020…

Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine’s Abstractions blog.In early 2003, Chuck Bennett learned the precise contents of the cosmos.By then, most cosmologists had concluded that…