Science & Technology

"The nineteenth century believed in science but the twentieth century does not." — Gertrude Stein

Elites Against Extinction: The Dark History of a Cultural Paranoia
Our ideas about human extinction, including how human extinction might be prevented, have a dark history, explains Tyler Harper.
Tyler A. HarperSep 30, 2021
- Science & Technology
Why DNA Is No Key to Social Equality: On Kathryn Paige Harden’s “The Genetic Lottery”
A review of Kathryn Paige Harden’s “The Genetic Lottery.”
Anne O’Connor, Brenna M. Henn, Emily Klancher Merchant, Tina RulliSep 21, 2021
- Science & Technology
The Computer Says … What?
Reviewing “Making AI Intelligible,” Paul Dicken concludes it might be easier “to build a human that can talk to a computer, rather than the other way around.”
Paul DickenSep 13, 2021
- Science & Technology
Fair Play on the Marcellus Shale
Reviewing “Up to Heaven and Down to Hell,” Jonah Walters describes the tragedy of the commons from the inside, as a member of the community in question.
Jonah WaltersSep 11, 2021
- Science & Technology
The Bigoted Roots of Epidemiology
In reviewing “Maladies of Empire,” John Galbraith Simmons shows how an understanding of colonial medicine and slavery needs to better inform our present.
John Galbraith SimmonsSep 9, 2021
- Science & Technology
AI Critique 2.0
Leif Weatherby surveys the new frontier of AI critique.
Leif WeatherbySep 1, 2021
- Science & Technology
The Dream Economy
All the talk of colonizing Mars is a dangerous pipe dream that deflects from the less glamorous task of trying to keep Earth habitable.
Nicholas Agar, Stuart WhatleyAug 24, 2021
- Science & Technology
Dissecting “Noise”
Vasant Dhar considers “Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment,” the new book by Daniel Kahneman, Cass R. Sunstein, and Olivier Sibony.
Vasant DharAug 9, 2021
- Science & Technology
The Many Faces of Global Trauma
A newly minted doctor specializing in mental health finds Western concepts of trauma don’t have as much meaning when imported abroad.
Khameer KidiaJul 10, 2021
- Science & Technology
Of Viruses and Licenses: Lessons from COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Debates
Mario Biagioli takes on the heated debates currently being enacted in op-eds around the compulsory licensing of COVID-19.
Mario BiagioliJul 9, 2021
- Science & Technology
Grieving Earth
Olivia Schwob finds Nathaniel Rich’s latest collection, “Second Nature: Scenes from a World Remade,” a little “too easy.”
Olivia SchwobJun 30, 2021
- Science & Technology
Gods of Small Things
Victoria Lee reviews "Soju: A Global History" and "The Probiotic Planet: Using Life to Manage Life."
Victoria LeeJun 27, 2021
- Science & Technology