Larger mysteries left unsolved: Where the Truth Lies, written and directed by Atom Egoyan, based on the novel by Rupert Holmes
A controversial study suggests that continents formed—and conditions for life arose—much earlier than was previously thought. [National Geographic News]
Telegraph | Opinion | God isn’t big enough for some people
God isn’t big enough for some people
A previously unpublished letter shows that the author of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would have vehemently rejected adaptation. [nthposition]
Does the future of classical music lie in China? International stars like Lang Lang and Yundi Li are just the tip of the iceberg. On tour with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmoniker, Claus Spahn reports on the classical craze in the People’s Republic. (Photo: Berliner Philharmoniker/Andreas Knapp) [Sign and Sight]
For Henry James’s characters, the city is primarily a place from which to escape as quickly as possible. [IHT Arts and Leisure]
Global warming threatens to leave a billion people high and dry as mountain runoffs decline, says a team of U.S. climate scientists. [National Geographic News]
A New Scientist investigation reveals that finding gunshot residues on a suspect does not mean they fired a gun [New Scientist]
The core provides direct samples of the Earth’s atmosphere for the last 650,000 years – levels of CO2 have never been as high as today [New Scientist]
From meditation to diet, life experiences profoundly change the structure and connectivity of the brain [New Scientist]
Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Supernovae Back Einstein’s “Blunder”
The sultry moves of Argentine tango dancing can help the aging brain. McGill researchers have discovered that the fancy footwork required to perform the tango bolsters brainpower and improves balance. [Physics Org]
If the government has nothing to hide about UFO sightings then why is it keeping so many UFO records under lock and key? Because it could. [Space]
In our current evening sky we have one of the earliest soap-operalike stories, with two independent plots becoming intertwined into one. [Space]
A Manchester professor believes that graphite from a pencil could help to probe the greatest theory ever devised. Science Editor Roger Highfield reports. [Telegraph Connected]
The answers to seemingly trivial everyday questions can reveal the secrets of the cosmos, says Robert Matthews. [Telegraph Connected]
Philosophy: Descartes by AC Grayling – Books – Times Online
THE 20TH CENTURY produced an unprecedented avalanche of scientific discoveries-more than enough to make selecting a mere two dozen or so of the period’s greatest breakthroughs a daunting project. But that is the task Alan Lightman assigned himself for his new book, ‘’The Discoveries” (Pantheon), a work that surveys exactly 22 crucial achievements in science from 1900 to 1972 and … [Boston Globe]
Profane Illuminations
EDGE 3rd Culture: Jared Diamond
War, Peace And Arms Control In The Bronze Age By Stephen Edward Seadler
Rush to record memories of few WWI vets who remain. [BBC Magazine]
Lament the loss of British culture – Guy Fawkes. [BBC Magazine]
Can carrots boost eyesight? We test old wives’ tales. [BBC Magazine]
The dark side of America’s race to conquer space. [BBC Magazine]
Mao Tse-tung once compared the people of China to a blank piece of paper. "With a blank sheet of paper," he wrote, "many things can be done." [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Aiming for Oscar: The gender gimmick – Arts & Leisure – International Herald Tribune
The versatile Rubens, in art and life – Arts & Leisure – International Herald Tribune
Accelerated Rise In Sea Levels Blamed On Global Warming By Steve Connor
Can “Tipping Points” Accelerate Global Warming? By Alister Doyle
Science & Theology News – God as big bang
Weekly book reviews and literary criticism from the Times Literary Supplement
Weekly book reviews and literary criticism from the Times Literary Supplement
Why America is different
U.S. Racing The Clock To Find Alternate Fuels By Greg Gordon
Health & Medical News – Mosquitoes are fussy eaters – 24/11/2005
Environment & Nature News – Chemicals may suppress boys’ hormones – 23/11/2005
Space & Astronomy News – Lichen love space – 22/11/2005
News in Science – Newton beats Einstein in new poll – 24/11/2005
How on earth did a car called the Nissan Cedric ever make it on to the market? Perhaps as an act of desperation because all the best names had been taken [FT]
Jet-powered cars never took off. Nuclear-powered ones bombed too. With internal combustion still reigning supreme, the future has been a long time coming for the automobile industry. [FT]
Producers are criticised for rewriting a Marlowe play to avoid upsetting Muslims, it is reported. [BBC Arts]
bfi | Sight & Sound | Tickets (2005)
bfi | Sight & Sound | Songs For Swinging Lovers
bfi | Sight & Sound | Script Special: The Man Who Wasn’t There
Wilson Quarterly @ the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Invention & Technology
Space Building
Invention & Technology
Invention & Technology
The Planes With No Engine
The New Criterion — Manicheanism a la mode
The New Criterion — Rediscovering Siegfried Sassoon
The New Criterion — Science versus scientism
Michelangelo’s David can cause “mind-bending symptoms” in onlookers. [Discovery Channel News]
Is it really a good thing? [Slate Magazine]
Children, Apples of Parents’ Eyes, Face Arrows on TV - New York Times
Scotsman.com Entertainment – the complete entertainment, culture and arts guide to Scotland
bfi | Current bfi Film Releases | Black Orpheus
Bookslut | Our Inner Ape: Sexy, Violent, and, Yes, Kind
In a time when success breeds endless clones, some artists show they’re still thinking outside the box
The genius of Albert Einstein, who added a "cosmological constant" to his equation for the expansion of the universe but later retracted it, may be vindicated by new research. [Rednova News – Space]
The riots could only have happened in France
The Anti-Anti-Americans
Think
Perennial Problem of Evil
Think
Swinburne’s Argument from Design
Think
Richard Swinburne’s Is There a God
Think
Thinking about Telepathy
Think
Paranormal, Miracles and David Hume
Think
Are they playing our tune
Think
Are we good enough for democracy
Think
Did you hear the one about the philosopher writing a book on humour?
Think
Could a machine think?
The unintelligent design of penguins [Scientific American]
New research shows that the special training of music conductors seems to enhance the way their senses work together – enabling them to quickly tell who played a wrong note, for example. Scientists hope the research will lead to new discoveries about how music training may change the brain. [Medical News]
Announcements blare from overhead speakers. Electronic devices beep. Heating and cooling systems rumble. Employees and visitors speak loudly. [Medical News]
November 17: The world’s poorest countries face a dramatic rise in deaths from disease and malnutrition as a direct result of climate change driven by wealthier countries. [Guardian Unlimited Life]
November 20: Global warming hits Himalayas. [Guardian Unlimited Life]
Scientists celebrate the centenary of Albert Einstein’s best known mathematical equation: E=mc². [BBC Science/Nature]
The New Criterion — A war without heroes
Global Warming Hits Himalayas By Robin McKie
He had planned to enter the ministry, but his discoveries on a fateful voyage 170 years ago shook his faith and changed our conception of the origins of life. [Newsweek Technology]
November 18:  Organisms live six times longer in laboratory tests  Cells genetically ‘tricked’ into slow-ageing mode [Guardian Unlimited Life]
Exactly 60 years after Arthur C. Clarke predicted communications satellites, Heather Couper visits Sri Lanka to find out what lies inside the mind of this leading science fiction writer and science guru [First Science]
Japan Focus Article
Japan, the Ryukyus and the Taiwan Expedition of 1874: toward reconciliation after 130 years
Japan Focus Article
Whither East Asia? Reflections on Japan’s Colonial Experience in Taiwan
Japan Focus Article
Unit 731 and the Japanese Imperial Army’s Biological Warfare Program
Ugly Images of Asian Rivals Become Best Sellers in Japan – New York Times
Technology makes it possible for us to work harder than ever. If you’re lucky, you get paid more for your labors. Then you consume more. And the cycle repeats itself. Is this the sign of a healthy society? Ummmm … no. Commentary by Tony Long. [Wired News Technology]
Why Should Businessmen Read Great Literature?
American History. From Colony to Superpower. Part I: 1776-1876. Essay on American History. History of the United States.
The role of the machine in twentieth century art.
Fear: A Cultural History – Joanna Bourke Interview