Author: nick

This article, presented here in abridged form, was originally published in Skeptic magazine Vol. 20 No. 4 For a scientist there is the act of studying life and the process of living it, and I have never wanted the one to overwhelm the other. Yet that is exactly what a life devoted to science will tempt you into—a life of studying and, otherwise, not much living. Yes, you may have a family and a few good friends, but most scientists embrace a sedentary life, often solitary and intensely internal. You concentrate on experiments and theory and perpetual reading. Your small…

Major Strategic Shift in Global Energy Market Favors United States Source link

I WANT FREE MINDS AND FREE MARKETS! Help Reason push back with more of the fact-based reporting we do best. Your support means more reporters, more investigations, and more coverage. Make a donation today! No thanks I WANT TO FUND FREE MINDS AND FREE MARKETS Every dollar I give helps to fund more journalists, more videos, and more amazing stories that celebrate liberty. Yes! I want to put my money where your mouth is! Not interested SUPPORT HONEST JOURNALISM So much of the media tries telling you what to think. Support journalism that helps you to think for yourself. I’ll…

Iran isn’t just trading blows with the US and Israel. According to our guest, the fight is turning fixed American advantages like bases, radars, and regional headquarters into fragile targets, forcing withdrawals and relocations across the Middle East. We walk through what it means when places like Al-Udeid, Bahrain’s Fifth Fleet footprint, and multiple high-end radar sites take hits and why “no massive casualties” does not automatically mean “no massive damage.” From there, we connect the battlefield to the economy. Oil and LNG infrastructure disruption is framed as the kind of shock that can ripple into global inflation, shipping risk,…

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair When I was in High School, I used to wonder how the German people put up with Hitler and his regime. Was there something about the German language that destroyed empathy? Had someone spiked their water? And so on. I wasn’t wondering about the lunatics. I wasn’t wondering about the macho, sadistic souls gone bad. I wasn’t wondering about the top mongrels either, not about Hitler, nor Himmler, nor the rest. I was wondering about what I had sometimes heard called “Good Germans.” Normal citizens. Nice people. Among the most educated and cultured in the…

Trump's Strategic and Moral Failure in Iran Source link

With the Pentagon potentially seeking a $200 billion supplemental package to fund the ongoing war with Iran, President Donald Trump defended that figure in part by saying U.S. ammunition “was taken down by giving so much to Ukraine.” He then exaggerated the amount of aid to Ukraine and falsely said that former President Joe Biden “didn’t rebuild anything” in the defense stockpile. Trump speaks to Hegseth at a roundtable event at the Tennessee Air National Guard Base on March 23. Official White House photo by Molly Riley. Trump has a point that the military assistance provided to Ukraine reduced the…

The Spiraling Cost of Making AI Source link

So much has been happening in UFOOLogy of late, stuff that is so silly and so widely-reported elsewhere, that I can’t see any reason to write about it. Many have finally woken up to the fact that David Grush and other “whistleblowers” tell dramatic tales, but have no proof at all – a situation that has persisted for decades. (In the 1970s and 80s, Len Stringfield of MUFON was telling almost identical tales – also without proof). The Peruvian “alien mummies,” presented to the Mexican Congress by Jaime Maussan, are being soundly and deservedly mocked as the frauds they are.…

Neuroscience terms are everywhere. If you log into social media, you’re likely to be bombarded with advice on how to “increase neuroplasticity.” You might be told to “stop chasing the dopamine” or given instructions on how to “regulate your nervous system.” Meditation works because it “rewires your brain.” Self-help gurus and productivity coaches love these terms. They signal depth. They suggest that beneath the surface of our messy behavior there are precise mechanisms that have been identified that can give us the answer to our problems, whatever those problems may be.The trouble is, despite their suggestion of a mechanism, most of these…