The empty set may seem a bit feeble, but appearances deceive; it provides a vital building block for the whole of mathematics.
In The Better Angels of our Nature, published last month, Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argues that we have misread the evidence, which in fact shows we are becoming less violent as time moves on, due largely to the forces of modernity, or civilization. In The End of War, science writer John Horgan also challenges our…
People who have more traits of autism are less likely to believe in God that those that do not have such traits, according to new research that suggests that belief is boosted by the ability to see into the minds of others. This ability, often called theory of mind, or mentalizing, is diminished in people with…
Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation is awarding two special prizes of $3 million each to British cosmologist Stephen Hawking for his work on black holes and to seven scientists at the world’s biggest atom-smasher for their roles in the discovery of a new subatomic particle believed to be the long-sought Higgs boson….
In 1915, an exceptionally bright Italian youngster walked the two miles from his home to the Campo dei Fiori in Rome to hunt for science books in the weekly market fair. His step was determined and his face was grim. His countenance hid the fact that he was trying to recover from a great tragedy,…
A small study raises more concern about the long-term consequences of brain injuries suffered by thousands of soldiers — suggesting they may be at risk of developing the same degenerative brain disease as some retired football players. Autopsies of four young veterans found the earliest signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in their brain…
Five years ago, a report called “Nation Under Siege” illustrated the vulnerability of 31 U.S. coastal cities to flooding. But not just to any kind of flooding—to the flooding of a permanent kind from sea level rise. What will happen to these cities, the report asked, as sea levels continue to increase from global warming?…