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Do Elephants Have Souls?by Caitrin NicolA wealth of recent research on animal intelligence, emotions, and awareness calls into question much of the conventional wisdom about what separates man and the animals. What does this evidence mean, and how does it affect our obligations to other creatures? Caitrin Nicol explores the biology and history of that most bewitching and impressive creature of them all, the Elephant.
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 by Ari N. SchulmanThe sci-fi adventure movie Jurassic Park, released 20 years ago, captured the imagination of a generation. As Ari N. Schulman explains, the film conveys both the thrill of science and its dangerous temptations — but does it mislead? |
The Possibility of Progress
by Jeremy Kessler
What is imagination and why does it matter? It can be an escape, a way to abandon the real world. It can also be an inspiration, a way to create the future. As Jeremy Kessler explains, even the great fantasist Nathaniel Hawthorne failed to see how imagination could be a force for social and moral reform.
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 How to Think About Our Steroid Supermenby Jeremy RozanskyWith Lance Armstrong’s tearful televised confession and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens denied election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it seems that the era of steroid supermen is over. Unfortunately, the public discussion of the problem of doping lacks a clear understanding of the moral meaning of sports and athletic achievement. |
 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fiftyby Matthew C. ReesThe publication five decades ago of Thomas Kuhn’s famous book transformed our understanding of how science works and gave rise to the term “paradigm shift.” Matthew C. Rees assesses the influence — and the shortcomings — of Kuhn’s classic work. READ MORE |
 Yucca Mountain: A Post-Mortemby Adam J. WhiteDecades ago, after extensive review, Congress chose Yucca Mountain as the site for a permanent repository for nuclear waste. Today, the Yucca project is effectively dead. Adam J. White recounts how the Obama administration went around the normal legal process to kill the project, leaving a permanent waste solution more distant than ever. |
by Yuval Levin
Our obsession with health and medicine can be traced to the very founding of modernity, back at least to Descartes, who described health as “the primary good.” Yuval Levin shows how health has come to overshadow other goods we esteem — like justice, responsibility, and human equality — thereby warping today’s political debates.Image via ShutterstockREAD MORE
 The Sources and Uses of U.S. Science Fundingby Joseph V. KennedyHow much does America spend on science, and where does the money go? How much comes from the private sector, how much from taxpayers? And how does it compare to the rest of the world? Joseph V. Kennedy addresses some basic questions about research and development in the United States. READ MORE |
The Record of Our “Scientist-in-Chief”
How has President Obama’s inaugural promise to “restore science to its rightful place” fared? The president’s record on issues from energy to bioethics to R&D budgeting shows a failure to put science above politics. But is it ever possible for such policy debates to escape politics?
St. Francis, Christian Love, and the Biotechnological Future
by William B. Hurlbut
The new Pope chose to name himself after Francis of Assisi, “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.” As William B. Hurlbut explains, the humility of St. Francis stands in stark contrast to the hubristic aims of modern science, and his understanding of suffering and redemption offers a needed corrective to our appetite for biotechnological perfection.
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The Marvelous Marie Curie
by Algis Valiunas
Marie Curie, a co-discoverer of radiation, is famous in no small part for being a woman in a field dominated by men. But this kind of feminist fame shortchanges her remarkable accomplishments as a great experimental scientist. Algis Valiunas brings us the real Marie Curie: her life and loves, her science and scandals.
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by Rand Simberg
Private individuals and companies hope someday to develop and even settle outer space — but what legal protections do they have? Rand Simberg looks at the space treaties now on the books and examines a proposal to recognize claims staked on the Moon, Mars, or asteroids.
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The Folly of Scientism
by Austin L. Hughes
In recent years, many scientists, pop-science writers, and philosophers have espoused the view that science provides the only valid path to knowledge. Evolutionary biologist Austin L. Hughes reveals the profound failures of this “scientism” and the persistent need for philosophy to guide the scientific quest.
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Mental Disorder or Neurodiversity?
by Aaron Rothstein
A growing number of advocates and psychologists argue that we should celebrate mental differences — from ADHD to autism — under the rubric of neurodiversity. Aaron Rothstein explores this idea and its consequences for how we think about the mind.
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Experiments in Democracy
by Jeremy Rozansky
In his 2012 book Uncontrolled, Jim Manzi recommends that policymakers conduct more experiments and rely less on too-simple econometric models. Manzi’s approach will not give us perfect policies — but, argues Jeremy Rozansky, it will better fit the American cast of mind and better suit our democratic politics.
Latest tweets from @TNAjournalThe Imperfectionist
by Christine Rosen
Let’s make government smart. “Like” this page to save the world. There’s an app for that. These are the mantras of Internet-centrism and the follies of “technological solutionism,” says Evgeny Morozov in a new book reviewed by Christine Rosen.
Doctors Within Borders
by Caitrin Nicol
Medical emergencies can be scary enough, but imagine if all your doctors spoke a different language and 
held radically different beliefs. One of the most influential works in the field of cross-cultural medicine, Anne Fadiman’s The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, just marked its fifteenth anniversary. Caitrin Nicol reviews the new edition of this classic book. READ MORE
Image: Drawing of Lia Lee, the book’s subject. She passed away in 2012.
Bioethics Without Ethics
by Brendan Foht
In a review of Jonathan D. Moreno’s book The Body Politic, 
Brendan Foht argues that progressive bioethics fails to think seriously about the basic moral aims of the modern scientific-technological project.
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The Blessing of Children
by Gilbert Meilaender
In her new book, philosopher Christine Overall offers some strained arguments against reproduction. Gilbert Meilaender reads Overall’s Why Have Children? and makes a case for procreation that is grounded in gratitude for life.
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by Lauren Weiner
The late Ray Bradbury is remembered for his imaginative science fiction, like the dystopian Fahrenheit 451 and his tales of man’s future in space. Lauren Weiner guides us through the sunny Americanism and haunting shadows of Bradbury’s writing.
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