Like Civilization? Thank Tectonic Plates
Mesopotamia is Greek for “land between rivers” and indeed it sat between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, what is now basically modern Iraq.
Anthropology
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Archaeology
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Is This The D'Artagnan Made Famous In 'The Three Musketeers' By Dumas?
“I have lost D’Artagnan, in whom I had every confidence,” wrote King Louis XIV to his Queen Consort, Maria Theresa of Spain, after he received news that his right-hand man, Charles de Batz de...
Psychology
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Repressed Memories Nonsense Is Making A Comeback
Have you heard someone say online or in casual conversation, when responding to someone’s struggles, “well, the body keeps the score”? For many people, this phrase is a useful way to name the...
Science Education & Policy
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Even With Unlimited Student Loans, College Is Unaffordable
In the 1980s, universities lobbied Congress to make student loans unlimited, so everyone could get a college education and have higher earnings. Now, college is more unaffordable than ever.
Science History
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The Scorched Cherry Twig And Other Christmas Miracles Get A Science Look
Bleeding hosts and stigmatizations are the best-known medieval miracles but less known ones, like a scorched cherry twig miraculously sprouting, a diseased swamp becoming fertile land, and healing...
Philosophy & Ethics
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Editorial: This Week’s LA Non-riots
A Facebook friend opined that Los Angeles protesters could “turn LA into another Portland.” I expand for you my rejoinder to his post:
And Since You Mention SNAP,
Among others oozing angst about “democratic socialist” Zohran Mamdani’s election were two refugees from the USSR (one was Garry Kasparov) speaking on an anti-semitism panel Tuesday. Socialism, they…
Drugs, Crime, And… Homelessness?
A commenter contested my statement that gang murders are a much greater menace to public safety than homelessness – at least, here in Albuquerque. So let’s unpack.
Preliminaries
We’ll first…
The Birth Paradox
Surely you’ve noticed that many countries are subsidizing births – and others are banning abortions – even as tech lords lament the number of “useless people” in the world. You’ve noted the…
The Right Of Return Is Complicated
My June 28 column on the Middle East drew a comment concerning Palestinians ejected from their homes by the post-WWII influx of European Jewish refugees to what’s now Israel. Eighty years after the…
Lost In Austin - The Evolution Of An American City
The book is author Alex Hannaford’s lament about changes in Austin, Texas, since his initial visit to the city in 1999. This at first spurred your reviewer, who moved to…
The Notion Of Nations: Does A Nationalist Pol Know What A Nation Is?
Our outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is due to our
preference for democracy over autocracy, and to the danger of Russia
pushing further westward into Europe. Perhaps most of all, we…
Is The Dunning - Kruger Effect An Artifact ?
Ever had a nervous breakdown by reading Facebook threads where absolutely incompetent people entertain similar ignoramuses by providing explanations of everything from quantum physics to the way…
Demands To End The George Floyd Protest, Amend The Constitution Make Black Lives Truly Matter.
Black people are no angels but when we are not being angelic, we still should have rights. All people should have the same rights when under the power of law enforcement that they do when they…
The Drug Chemistry White Box Study - An Interview With Jeremy Triplett
A fascinating development has emerged in the forensic testing of controlled substances. A "white box" study aimed at establishing error rates for this commonly-practiced forensic discipline is…
Forensic Evidence In Paul Frampton's Drug Smuggling Case
A few weeks ago, in an article where I discussed some new ideas for fundamental physics research, I briefly touched on an incident in which Paul Frampton, a well-known theoretical physicist, got…
