Guest Thinkers — August 16, 2010

MinnPost.com: Localized, Non-Profit Science Coverage

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

At Knight Science Tracker, Charlie Petit has the details on one of the first examples of non-profit, localized coverage of science, a trend I have argued is necessary and worthy of investment on the part of universities, foundations, and government agencies.

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Abstract illustration of a figure reaching for a yellow sphere on the left, with colored overlapping circles and concentric arcs—evoking themes of physics and consciousness—set against a vibrant multicolored gradient background.

Starts With A Bang

Does physics truly have anything to say about consciousness?

Many, from neuroscientists to philosophers to anesthesiologists, have claimed to understand consciousness. Do physicists? Does anyone?

A man in a suit holds up a Hurricane Dorian forecast map in an office, tracing the storm’s projected path and intensity over several southeastern U.S. states and the Bahamas—echoing the urgent clarity of a 1938 science manifesto defending democracy.

Starts With A Bang

This 1938 pro-science manifesto defended democracy against fascism

As democracy recedes and fascism rises in the USA and around the world in 2025, history provides a lesson in how science can fight fascism.

Black-and-white photo showing a disc-shaped object with a shadowed underside, floating in a blank sky—an iconic image from the UFO craze.

Books

Science fiction, Project Blue Book, and the beginnings of the UFO craze

In this preview from “The Saucerian,” author Gabriel Mckee explains how the combination of fantastical stories and obscure bureaucracy launched the “space age of the imagination.”

An astronaut stands proudly on the moon's surface near scientific equipment and a lunar lander, as the American flag waves in the background, symbolizing a pioneering USA nation.

Starts With A Bang

Science’s value, unlike NASA, cannot be destroyed by politics

After drastic cuts to the NIH, the FDA, the NSF, and the DOE, NASA science faces down its smallest budget ever. All of society will suffer.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Couldn’t COVID-19 have originated in a Chinese lab?

In theory, scientists could’ve produced a deadly virus that accidentally infected lab workers. In practice, we know that didn’t happen.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

A Look Back at AAAS 2008: “The Scientist Delusion” Column Receives Science & Society Journalism Honor

In a provocative article published last year, Nature columnist David Goldston tackled the topic of science and religion, focusing on the implications for public engagement and emerging policy debates. In […]