Science
Why Does Bernie Sanders Think Billionaires Should Get Out of Space?
Today's highly successful space race "is not something for two billionaires to be directing," says Sanders, who favors the government spending taxpayer money to do the same damn thing (but more slowly).
Nicholas Christakis: How To End the Covid Pandemic
Misinformation and bad policy can only be defeated by robust, open debate in the public square.
There Would Be a Lot More Good News if Government Would Get Out of the Way
"The quality of life we have even during COVID is so much higher than anything humanity experienced, and it's only going to get better."
Steven Pinker: Rationality Saves Lives
The Harvard linguist says Enlightenment reasoning is central to both material and moral progress.
The Last Duel Is More Than a Medieval #MeToo
Ridley Scott's jousting film is also a slyly subversive take on cultural perspectives.
Can Antibiotic Goop and an Army of Divers Save Florida's Ailing Coral Reefs?
How an innovative collaboration could help bring back America's only barrier reef from the brink of destruction.
FDA Vaccine Approval Delays Are Deadly
The vaccines seem to be working well, but the FDA isn't.
40 Ways Things Are Getting Better
"What has gotten materially better in America in, say, the last twenty years?" So! Much!
The CDC's Framing of Homicide and Suicide As 'Public Health' Issues Provides Cover for Biden's Gun Control Agenda
The agency returns to a research area where it has caused much controversy in the past.
A New York Times Reporter Claims Americans Distrust the Government's COVID-19 Advice Because They Don't Understand How Science Works
If so, public health officials have compounded the problem with disingenuous arguments, dubious policy shifts, and misleading statements.
Plastic, Perfected
Researchers have developed a promising and "infinitely recyclable" plastic called polydiketoenamine.
Is Face Mask Skepticism Beyond the Pale?
A rational debate requires acknowledging both the strengths and the weaknesses of the scientific evidence.
Resist De Blasio's Vaccine Passport
De Blasio's dataless call to create a class of citizens barred from civic life is an intolerable imposition on New Yorkers' liberties.
The U.S. Is Trying To Keep Out Mexicans Who Want To Sell Their Blood Plasma
Paid plasma donation is a financial lifeline for Mexican donors and a medical lifeline for plasma-dependent patients.
AOC Says Amazon Abuses Market Power, Ignores Fact That Customers Shop at Amazon Because They Want To
After returning from space yesterday, Jeff Bezos thanked Amazon customers who made his fortune possible.
Bezos Launching Into Space Will Probably Make Your Life Better Too
May our new space billionaires produce spinoff technologies for the rest of us to enjoy in due time!
Humans Defeat A.I. in Debate. For Now.
An IBM team led by A.I. researcher Noam Slonim has devised a system that does not merely answer questions; it debates the questioners.
Federal Science Funding Won't Accomplish Anything the Private Sector Can't Do Better
A bipartisan bill aimed to help the U.S. “compete” with China would only slow down scientific progress.
Study on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Finds 'Conclusions Were Often Erroneous'
Bloodstain pattern analysis is one of several forensic techniques that has come under scrutiny in recent years for its lack of established error rates.
The Doubling of Life Expectancy Is the Greatest Achievement in 100 Years
Science writer Steven Johnson, author of the new book Extra Life, on vaccines, medical breakthroughs, and life after Covid.
Anthony Fauci Says His Critics Are Attacking Science Itself
"A lot of what you're seeing as attacks on me quite frankly are attacks on science."
Anthony Fauci May Not Have 'Lied' About Face Masks, but He Was Not Exactly Honest Either
The COVID-19 adviser's unsatisfying explanation of his conversion feeds skepticism about the value of a sensible precaution.
Lingering COVID Requirements for NYC Bars and Restaurants Amount to Pointless Hygiene Theater
Theatrical safety checks don't keep people safe—vaccines do.
Photo: Fun With Frozen Ferrets
Elizabeth Ann, a black-footed ferret, was cloned from cells of another ferret that were cryopreserved at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Frozen Zoo.
Plexiglass Barriers Are Everywhere, but They're Probably Useless
There's a good chance they haven't been preventing the spread of COVID, and they might even be counterproductive.
An Epidemiologist Confirms That the CDC Director Misrepresented Her Study of Outdoor COVID-19 Transmission
A co-author of the article that Rochelle Walensky cited says outdoor settings probably account for "substantially less than 1 percent" of infections.
New Life for Wuhan Lab Leak Hypothesis
Plus: Protesters increasingly hit with "civil disorder" charges, why cryptocurrency prices are falling, and more...
The CDC Director Misrepresented the Study She Cited To Justify Her Misleading Estimate of Outdoor COVID-19 Risk
Rochelle Walensky's gloss is puzzling in light of the evidence presented in the systematic review on which she relied.
Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists
From "power poses" to the self-esteem movement to implicit bias tests, we want to believe one small tweak will solve our problems, says Jesse Singal.
Jesse Singal: Why We Keep Falling for Psychological Quick Fixes
From "power poses" to the self-esteem movement to implicit bias tests, Americans are suckers for bad ideas from psychologists.
Stewart Brand: We Are (Still) As Gods
The former Merry Prankster and Whole Earth Catalog founder talks about psychedelics, computers, bringing back woolly mammoths, and his new documentary.
The Great Vaccine Fiasco
Federal predictions that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of 2020 were off by an order of magnitude.
Will Biden 'Listen to the Science' on GMOs?
The USDA under the Trump administration streamlined some outdated and scientifically unwarranted regulations of modern biotech crops.
Is America Too Bound by Red Tape to Support Space Entrepreneurs?
Regulators haven't kept up with the times when it comes to the changing nature of ventures into space.
How the CDC Bungled Testing of Early COVID-19 Quarantine Patients
Plus: Commemorating the first U.S. sex worker protest, why Parler is a success story for Section 230, and more...
Biden Pledges to Rejoin Paris Climate Agreement
His plan says that by 2035, no electric power should be generated by burning fossil fuels, and the U.S. should commit to zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Space, the Final Smuggling Frontier
In a glimpse of a gloriously rule-breaking future, contraband has boldly gone where more is sure to follow.
Humanity and Wild Nature Will Likely Both Be Flourishing in 2100
Human ingenuity is enabling us to get ever more goods and services from fewer and fewer resources.
Should We End the Lockdowns? A Soho Forum Debate
Harvard's Martin Kulldorff vs. Andrew Noymer of UC Irvine
End the COVID-19 Lockdowns? Two Epidemiologists Debate
Harvard's Martin Kulldorff vs. Andrew Noymer of UC Irvine
The Ultimate 2020 Libertarian Gift Guide
Reason's writers and editors share their suggestions for what you should be buying your friends and family this year.
Solar and Wind Power Struggle as California Faces Blackouts
The state's electricity grid operators warned in 2019 that power shortages might become increasingly common when heat waves hit in the coming years.
Rapid Home COVID-19 Tests Are the Best Path to a New Normal. They're Illegal.
Delivering rapid at-home testing kits to 330 million Americans is "something we can actually do at warp speed."
A Group of Scientists Wants To Reopen Society. Here's What Everyone Is Getting Wrong About What They Said.
The Great Barrington Declaration asks how much collateral damage is too much.
Unlock the Damned Playgrounds, Already
Playing outside is one of the safest group activities kids can do, yet Gavin Newsom and other pols are extending the pandemic misery indefinitely.
