Commentary / World Jun 26, 2023

A fulfilling job is a luxury of modern times

The idea that your work should pay emotional dividends — and not just the bills — would have seemed strange to most people before the 20th century.

Commentary / World Apr 23, 2023

Magnets will be minting tomorrow’s billionaires

“Lodestones” started out as lightning-infused magical rocks that could cure baldness. Now they’re an essential part of our machine-driven world.

Commentary / World Feb 26, 2023

U.S. government has been dancing around UFOs for 75 years

A legacy of UFO hype, hysteria and fraud is undermining legitimate inquiry into those strange objects in the sky.

Commentary / World Feb 1, 2023

ChatGPT sounds exactly like us. How is that a good thing?

For 70 years, programmers have tried to make computers more like people. Now they’ve succeeded — sort of.

Commentary / World Dec 27, 2022

How Christmas has turned into an orgy of consumption

The Christmas holiday rooted in pagan rituals was transformed into a celebration of commerce by writers, artists, retailers and Madison Avenue.

Commentary / World Dec 26, 2022

Fusion skepticism follows a century of genius, fraud and hype

Before we shrug off the latest fusion achievement as just another small step on a long road, consider the miles we’ve come since the idea of tapping the power of the sun was first conceived.

Commentary / World Jan 30, 2022

American book-banning tradition is as old as the Mayflower

One activist said, "Why is everyone so upset? Controlling what children read is entirely different from controlling what adults read.”

Commentary / World Jul 23, 2021

Is air rage caused by class warfare?

In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration logs between 100 and 200 incidents. In the first three months of 2021, it reported a whopping 1300 despite few fliers.

Commentary / World Apr 14, 2021

How pandemics change the course of history

When COVID-19 first arrived last year, everyone’s go-to historical parallel was the 1918 influenza pandemic. Precisely because it was so fleeting, it’s hard to find evidence that it caused a sweeping reorientation of everyday life. In its wake, most people simply forgot what happened. ...