Outbreak
Superintelligent, Amoral, and Out of Control
AI is no longer playing games. Are we prepared?
The Case Against Thinking Outside of the Box
Social, cultural, economic, spiritual, psychological, emotional, intellectual: Everything is outside the box. And this new sheltered-in-place experience won’t fit into old containers.Photo Illustration by Africa Studio / Shutterstock Many of us are stuck now, sheltered in our messy dwellings. A daily walk lets me appreciate the urban landscaping; but I can’t stop to smell anything […]
Friendship Is a Lifesaver
Science is showing us the best remedy for aging is friends.
Why False Claims About COVID-19 Refuse to Die
Tracking the information zombie apocalypse.
How a Nuclear Submarine Officer Learned to Live in Tight Quarters
You get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Summer Won’t Save Us from COVID-19
Why SARS-CoV-2 will threaten us for months to come.
Can a Battery of New COVID Tests Stem the US Debacle?
Medical testing has been a Pearl Harbor. But the war could be won.
The Pandemic Can’t Lock Down Nature
The wilderness offers not just escape but reassurance.
Prayer in the Time of COVID-19
In a recent viral news segment on CNN, cars are shown exiting what a narrator says is a church parking lot—dozens of people, including children, had just attended an evening service. A reporter asks a woman in her car why, when the COVID-19 pandemic has convinced many to stay home, she went anyway. “I wouldn’t […]
It’s the End of the World and This Physicist Feels Fine
I promise I have no intention to propose a quantum-model for disease spread, but like everyone else I have been wondering if I can make myself somewhat more useful in these difficult times.Screengrab via Sabine Hossenfelder / YouTube It’s week three of COVID lockdown here in Germany. Schools are closed, my institute is closed, my […]