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Science & Nature

The Why of the World

Allured by the promise of Big Data, science has shortchanged causal explanation in favor of data-driven prediction. But ultimately we must ask why.

Tim Maudlin

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Science & Nature

Science & Nature

Defensible Space

“Megafires” are now a staple of life in the Pacific Northwest, but how we talk about them illustrates the tension at the heart of the western myth itself.

Jessie Kindig

Science & Nature

Programming My Child

Through the experience of parenting his daughter, a software developer came to see Google and Facebook as the first digital children. 

David Auerbach

Science & Nature

Nature Defends Itself

A new book on climate change deploys an old theme, pitting man against nature. This is not only wrong; it stands in the way of a just future.

Dayton Martindale

Philosophy & Religion, Science & Nature

The Defeat of Reason

Two new books—one on quantum physics, one on Thomas Kuhn—seek to reestablish the authority of reason and evidence.

Tim Maudlin

Science & Nature

“Could You Do Any Better Than We Did?”

Ted Hamilton interviews William Vollmann.

William T. Vollmann, Ted Hamilton

Science & Nature

Democracy vs. the Algorithm

As it turns out, self-government and social connection are not the same thing.

Clara Hendrickson

Science & Nature

Headset Hypocrisy

By the 2020 election, the market for virtual reality is projected to increase twentyfold. That's great news for VR's proponents who relish the technology's persuasive powers, but what does it mean for those inside the headset? 

John Tinnell

Arts in Society, Science & Nature

Introducing “What Nature”

The poems collected in What Nature were written in the predawn of the Sixth Extinction Event.

Timothy Donnelly, BK Fischer, Stefania Heim

Science & Nature

Gamifying the Ocean

Silicon Valley has turned the problem of marine plastic waste into yet another avenue for “disruption.” But why should clean oceans have to make good business sense?

Matthew King

Science & Nature

What New Zealand’s “Unfortunate Experiment” Can Teach Us About Medical Abuse

New Zealand’s response to medical misconduct should be a model for the rest of the world.

Carl Elliott

Law & Justice, Science & Nature

For American Corporations, Winning Is Not Enough

Standing Rock shows us that businesses don't simply silence protestors, they also discredit and bankrupt them.

Lauren Carasik

Science & Nature

Who Owns the Wind?

There is more than enough wind energy to power our future. But our model of paying for it is stuck in the past.

David McDermott Hughes

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