STEM requires the humanities to grow: why learning classics along with coding is the best way forward. From the editorial: Promoting science and technology education to the exclusion of the humanities may seem like a good idea, but it is deeply misguided. Scientific American has always been an ardent supporter of teaching STEM: science, technology, engineering and [...]
Merging Human with Artificial Intelligence: The Reality of Sam Altman. The co-founder of Y Combinator considers the consequences of technology. From the article: On a trip to New York, Altman dropped by my apartment one Saturday to discuss how tech was transforming our view of who we are. Curled up on the sofa, knees [...]
The Convergence of the Twain (Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"): a poet meditates on the fateful meeting of science, ambition, and nature I In a solitude of the sea Deep from human vanity, And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she. II Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her [...]
Kudos to our modernity: how science continues to transform our lives for the better, to the point that now is the greatest time in history to be alive. From the editorial: This kind of progress hasn’t happened on its own. It happened because people organized and voted for better prospects; because leaders enacted smart, forward-looking policies; [...]
On science and the humanities, of and in the world: how closely related are the investigations of the sciences and the humanities? They may begin at a common origin, but they diverge and specialize with different aims in mind where world making is concerned. Science attempts to make a world that remains invariant across human [...]
Education is useless (or rather: is education useless?): a neighborly discussion about what’s worth learning, and where one should learn what's needed -- or useful -- for life. Crimpet: Hello, neighbor. Crumpet: Why are you so happy, Crimpet? You look like you won the office pool. Crimpet: Nothing as wonderful as that. But I’m glad to [...]
The 17th-C. plague in London: now we know. How DNA (and Daniel Defoe) reveal the killer bacteria's identity in one of history's longest cold cases. From the article: Testing in Germany confirmed the presence of DNA from the Yersinia pestis bacterium - the agent that causes bubonic plague - rather than another pathogen. Some authors have previously questioned the [...]
The scientist, the thinker, and the artist: seeking truth though facts, ideas, and the shared but secret vision of humanity. A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice [...]
Contrasting the approaches in Eastern and Western medicine.
Healthy living from technology and modern science: how the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative would change history within the next generation. “Can we work together to cure, prevent or manage all disease within our children’s lifetime?” Chan said Wednesday onstage at an event in San Francisco for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “Mark and I believe that this is possible.” Chan, a [...]
