Science Policy
Will Superintelligent Machines Destroy Humanity?
In a thoughtful new book, a philosopher ponders the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence.
Why Reducing U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Is a Risky Move in a Global Economy
Will China and the rest of the world follow our lead or take a free ride?
Environmentalists Have Lost the Climate Change Debate
Admitting that executive power is the only way to move (tepidly) forward on climate change policy is basically admitting defeat.
Can a Carbon Tax Solve Man-Made Global Warming?
In theory carbon taxes are a good idea. But the practical reality is a different story.
How to "Spin" Conservatives Into Worrying About the Environment
Make them feel disgust, say researchers.
Study Shows Smart Liberals, Conservatives, and Libertarians Are Easiest to Fool
We reason to persuade, not to find truth.
Who's Afraid of Your Genome?
Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey files his second dispatch from the Consumer Genetics Conference.
Virtual Children, Genome Sequencing for Everyone, and Forget Genetic Privacy
Ronald Bailey sends his first dispatch from the Fourth Annual Consumer Genetics Conference
Half of the Facts You Know Are Probably Wrong
A review of The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date by Samuel Arbesman.
Silent Spring's 50-Year History of Selective Data
Rachel Carson, more than any other person, created the politicized science that afflicts today's public policy debates.