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America's economy is getting swallowed up by middlemen — and it's driving people crazy
The real winners in today's economy are the middlemen — rich intermediary companies like Walmart, Airbnb, and Lyft that connect buyers and sellers.
Oregon Says It’s ‘Open for Business’; Let’s Hope This Time It’s Real — Columbia Community Connection News Mid-Columbia Region
Governor Kotek is saying the right things. She’s acknowledging real problems. Now comes the hard part: steady, practical, bipartisan work to restore predictability, rebuild trust, and confront the housing, addiction, and mental-health challenges that touch every corner of the state.
Winter Meetings will show if Twins are serious about competing
Minnesota must choose a real direction and stop drifting through another season.
Justin Bieber is just like us: He's really mad about this annoying iPhone design feature
Justin Bieber's remark that he'll "find everyone at apple and put them in a rear naked choke hold" came as the company weathers a series of setbacks.
Country Music Has Long Been Political
The controversy about Zach Bryan's latest song taps into a half century of political realignment and country's evolution.
Earth’s early oceans hid the secret rise of complex life
Scientists have discovered that complex life began evolving much earlier than traditional models suggested. Using an expanded molecular clock approach, the team showed that crucial cellular features emerged in ancient anoxic oceans long before oxygen became a major part of Earth’s atmosphere. Their results indicate that early complexity developed slowly over an unexpectedly long timescale.
Trump struggles to persuade Americans to ignore affordability issues
A president who has often seemed to float above the laws of politics confronts a new political reality.
The 30 Most Unforgivable Betrayals in Sports
When you think about it, nobody in sports is really that loyal. It is a completely selfish world. And why shouldn't it be? No one is as dedicated to the team as a fan, so it is no ...
Meta delays release of Phoenix mixed-reality glasses to 2027, Business Insider reports
Meta is delaying the release of its Phoenix mixed-reality glasses until 2027, aiming to get the details right, Business Insider reported on Friday, citing an internal memo.
Meta delays release of new mixed reality glasses code-named 'Phoenix' in order to 'get the details right'
Meta plans to release a new wearable device codenamed "Malibu 2" in 2026, according to an internal memo viewed by Business Insider.
Local business warns about AI scam
These days, everyone is an online shopper, but a website can be riskier than a real storefront.
4 ChatGPT Prompts To Turn Your Business Idea Into Reality In 2026
Learn how four practical ChatGPT prompts can help anyone refine a business or side hustle idea, avoid common mistakes, and gain traction in 2026.
Health AI hits point-solution burnout
As the health AI market matures, the pressure to deliver real value for all stakeholders is intensifying.
Miley Cyrus Tells Jimmy Kimmel Her Most Gag-Worthy Aversion — Then Realizes It's Sitting On His Desk
The singer opened up about a surprising fear that makes the holiday season especially uncomfortable for her.
AI deepfakes of real doctors spreading health misinformation on social media
Hundreds of videos on TikTok and elsewhere impersonate experts to sell supplements with unproven effects
This week in HS Sports: The real secret to Saraland’s run to another title game
Jeff Kelly said Saraland's undersized and underrated offensive line has been an underpublicized key to his team's success.
Where the hell is Samsung's Ballie robot?
Ballie has been promised to us multiple times over the last few years, but we're still waiting to see if it becomes a real product.
GTA Online: A Safehouse in the Hills Coming December 10
Prime luxury real estate comes to GTA Online in A Safehouse in the Hills, the monumental new update arriving December 10 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Trump national security strategy calls for ‘cultivating resistance’ in Europe and changing US’ role in Western hemisphere
The White House quietly released President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy late Thursday, a 33-page document that elevates his “America First” doctrine and sets out the administration’s realignment of US foreign policy, from shifting military resources in the Western Hemisphere to taking an unprecedentedly confrontational posture toward Europe.
Atropos Health Expands Oncology Precision Medicine Capabilities with Publication of New AI Algorithms for Rare Disease and Integration of ASCO Guidelines
PALO ALTO, Calif., December 05, 2025--Atropos Health, a pioneer in translating real-world clinical data into personalized real-world evidence (RWE) and insights, today announced the publication of additional AI tools for patient monitoring for existing paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH)—a rare, serious blood disorder. The progression monitoring tools are in addition to the previously-published algorithm to improve earlier diagnosis that was announced prior.
2025 Season In Review: Jack Perkins
Jack Perkins is an interesting case study in that he has a wide range of realistic outcomes. In his maiden voyage with the A’s in 2025 Perkins saw time both in the bullpen and rotation…and the IL. How Was He Acquired? Perkins is just another example of how you can find big arms well after […]
Life On Arsenic? Why Some Science Just Won’t Die - And Why It Matters For Real Discovery
Remember when a small bacterium from California’s Mono Lake was supposed to rewrite the very definition of life? Headlines screamed: NASA finds “alien” life on Earth! The organism reportedly swapped out precious phosphorus - one of life’s six essential building blocks - for arsenic, the toxic villain in murder mysteries.
2026 World Cup draw: 'Scotland braced for preamble & banterfest'
Scotland in a men's World Cup draw is not a dream. It's really happening - and the boring preamble will be worth it, writes Tom English.
Kevin O’Leary and Bill de Blasio debate: Are Democrats affordability worries real—or just a con job, as Trump claims?
Exclusive: Some AI dangers are already real, DeepMind's Hassabis says
The race to develop AI is changing society in real time, generally for good — but bad actors are taking advantage, too.
Broncos-Raiders Preview
LAS VEGAS (AP) It's certainly not pretty the way the Broncos are playing, and their 10-2 record has led many around the NFL to wonder if this team is for real.
'We Didn't Really Care About Balance' — How the Developers of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 Made Primarch Lion El'Jonson Playable In-Game
IGN interviews Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 developer King Art Games to find out everything you need to know about playable Primarch, Lion El'Jonson.
Cincinnati business teams up with YANI Collective for annual toy drive to help local families
This holiday season, Saturday Morning Vibes Cereal Bar is stepping up to help those in need by offering the restaurant as a toy drive drop-off spot.
How disappointing loss to Dallas represents harsh reality for Heat
After the Heat lost to the Mavericks in disappointing fashion, Erik Spoelstra speaks on the missed opportunity of their performance
Meta eyes budget cuts for its metaverse group as CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubles down on AI
Meta plans Reality Labs budget cuts up to 30%, weighing job cuts amid metaverse losses and renewed focus on AI technology.
Students Deliver Real-World Business Solutions
Wake Tech business management students gained real-world experience developing innovative business solutions thanks to an experiential learning project this semester.
Robot Musk Goes Full ‘Poop Mode’ in Unhinged Art Freakshow
Robotic quadrupeds with hyperrealistic billionaire heads churned out artwork in the most unsettling manner at Art Basel Miami.
I realise now that my view on mental health overdiagnosis was divisive. We all need better evidence
The surge in mental ill health is hugely distressing. That’s why I’ve commissioned a review to find out what’s driving it, says health secretary Wes Streeting
John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball, longtime Apple commentator John Gruber has since reacted to the news with some scathing commentary about Dye.
Jimmy Kimmel's Wife Just Gave Trump A Reality Check He Didn’t Ask For
Speaking at the Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment breakfast, Molly McNearney reflected on the significance of “freedom of speech.”
My family just stayed at our first all-inclusive resort. I really, really wish we'd done it sooner.
Our family enjoyed our first stay at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. The kids got more independence and we were pleasantly surprised by the food.
EBay's New Sports Card Price Guide Could Change The Game for Collectors
EBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is rolling out a comprehensive pricing tool designed to revolutionize how trading card collectors navigate the marketplace. New Pricing Tool Targets Trading Card Collectors The online marketplace giant is introducing a price guide for trading cards that draws on actual marketplace data from completed and paid transactions, collectible news site CLLCT reported last week. The feature offers "a clearer view of everything from rarity to real market value," eBay Vice President
iPhone Air's Resale Value Has Dropped Dramatically, Data Shows
The iPhone Air has recorded the steepest early resale value drop of any iPhone model in years, with new data showing that several configurations have lost almost 50% of their value within ten weeks of launch. According to a ten-week analysis published by SellCell, Apple's latest lineup is showing a pronounced split in resale performance between the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air. SellCell examined real-time trade-in pricing from more than 40 U.S.
Waynesboro went blue this year. Changing demographics have changed the city’s politics.
The city voted Democratic for the first time in a governor’s race in 40 years. That realignment is being driven by an influx of new residents, many of them working in or around Charlottesvill…
Best Missouri sports betting apps: Top MO sportsbook apps to claim $3,000 in bonus offers, promos
Missouri betting apps are now accepting real-money bets, and this page will guide you through the best sports betting apps currently available in Missouri.
How TheWrap’s Power Women Summit Helped Entertainment Leaders Speak Up For Real Change
On December 2nd, hundreds of women from across the entertainment industry came together at The Maybourne Beverly Hills for a day filled with empowerment, thoughtful panels, and genuine connection for TheWrap's Power Women Summit, presented by STARZ.
Scientists capture flu viruses surfing into human cells in real time
Scientists have captured a never-before-seen, high-resolution look at influenza’s stealthy invasion of human cells, revealing that the cells aren’t just helpless victims. Using a groundbreaking imaging technique, researchers discovered that our cells actually reach out and “grab” the virus as it searches for the perfect entry point, surfing along the membrane.
Meta poaches Apple design exec Alan Dye to lead new creative studio in Reality Labs
Dye led Apple's user interface team for the last decade.
Valley elementary school brings science to life with virtual reality
A Valley elementary school is taking classroom lessons into the virtual world. The Prendergast Elementary School District is using the virtual-reality technology with the help of Arizona State University and its partner Dreamscape.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez Celebrate “a Real Sense of Community” at THR Women in Entertainment Event
Robert Downey Jr., Dakota Johnson, Regina Hall, Kerry Washington and Rachel Sennott also took part in the star-studded breakfast gala, presented by Lifetime.
Only social media platforms with 'real humanity' will survive, investor and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian says
"At some point, more and more people are going to realize just how compromised much of social media is," Ohanian told Fortune.
New UCF Mobile Health Clinic Increases Access to Care
The clinic also serves as real-world classroom for medical, nursing, speech-language pathology and physical therapy students.
Celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro will represent a CoStar competitor in the legal fight of its life
Celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro, who has represented Elon Musk, is now defending real estate data company Crexi in its legal battle with CoStar.
Let’s make a deal: UTC business students simulate sales meetings
Students in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recently practiced real-world sales pitches to build confidence and develop professional skills. Lecturer Libby Fakier organized the week-long exercise to practice pitches through a simulated meeting.
High mortgage rates come back to bite real estate investors who bet on rising rents
Landlords built mini-empires of rental homes using billions of dollar's worth of once-obscure DSCR loans. For some, the cash isn't flowing as planned.
Google is replacing Discover news headlines with laughably awful AI-generated titles
Google is replacing news headlines in Discover with downright awful AI-generated titles. Here's how bad they really are.
Analysis: Trump is talking about everything — but not two things that really matter
Amid a deluge of jokes, insults, social media rage and warnings of imminent military action that have spilled from President Donald Trump in an especially loquacious few days, there have been two startling omissions.
Luigi Mangioni claimed he was a homeless man named 'Mark' in surreal, newly revealed bodycam footage of his arrest
Handcuffs and Christmas carols feature in police bodycam video of Luigi Mangione's arrest, revealed in court Tuesday for the first time.
Is Claude really writing 90% of the code inside the company? Anthropic's own research suggests otherwise
The company releases a study that shows its own engineers use Claude more to debug code than to write new software.
Android’s new ‘Call Reason’ flags important calls before you even pick up
When you really need to go get burritos.
Millie Bobby Brown Has A New Name
During a YouTube interview entitled “Stranger Things Quiz On Me,” Noah Schnapp was asked if he knew his co-star’s real name.
A dementia vaccine could be real, and some of us have taken it without knowing | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Getting vaccinated against shingles could protect you from getting dementia, or slow the progression of the disease, says a new study.
Wait, did the Galaxy S26 Ultra just lose TWO of its only real upgrades over the S25 Ultra?
We were to get a 5,200 mAh battery – now that's history. Allegedly.
Best Missouri sports betting apps: Top MO sportsbook apps for $3,000 in bonus offers
Missouri betting apps are now accepting real-money bets, and this page will guide you through the best sports betting apps currently available in Missouri.
Intensifying Regulatory Pressures Force Seismic Shift in Health Plan Concerns for 2026 According to HealthEdge Research
BOSTON, December 02, 2025--As healthcare organizations navigate an increasingly complex policy environment, 85% of health plan executives say regulatory pressures are impacting their costs and margins, according to new research published today by HealthEdge®. The report, "The Great Rebalancing: Inside the New Realities Shaping Health Plan Performance," identifies the top challenges in the payer market, how they are evolving, and strategies health plans are deploying to overcome them.
Anonymous $50 million donation helps cover the next 50 years of tuition for medical lab science students at University of Washington
“I’m really shocked,” said Jasmine Wertz, eyes filling with tears. “Overwhelmed. Extremely grateful.”
BBC Studios Hires Fernando de Jesus to Lead New Unscripted Content Development Label
"I’m excited to lead the new label and create the next wave of ambitious entertainment formats and premium mischief – all with real heart, big humour and plenty of style."
Capitol agenda: The health care talks to watch
Many lawmakers now view Jan. 30 as the real deadline to figure out what to do about Affordable Care Act subsidies.
I watched scientists track interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS leaving the solar system in real-time: 'This is some prime-time science'
"These images are not just pretty."
I watched Bryan Johnson trip on mushrooms for 5 hours. I've lost my grip on reality.
I watched longevity influencer and entrepreneur Bryan Johnson
'The era of data-labeling companies is over,' says the CEO of a $2.2 billion AI training firm
Simple annotation work is no longer enough for advanced AI, says Turing's CEO, who says models need complex, real-world data.
2025 NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Who's Really the Best Team in Football?
Ralph Vacchiano sorts out the NFL's hierarchy after every week of the 2025 season.
Viola Nation 91: A New Hope (not really)
Mike, Mike, and Tito break down the start of a new Viola error that looks suspiciously like the preceding Viola era.
Science teacher bringing lessons to life with a touch of magic
Alexus Ables uses magic and real-life experiences to draw her students in to learning.
Opinion: Chicago's fiscal crisis demands a pro-growth strategy
Solving Chicago's $1.2 billion budget gap calls for pro-growth policies and real cost reforms to restore stability, writes the Chicagoland Chamber's president.
After a Witcher-free decade, CDPR still promises three sequels in six years
CD Projekt Red says shift to Unreal Engine allows for more rapid development.
Plain English BEST OF: How to Be Happy and the Science of Cognitive Time Travel
Throughout December and January, we’re going to be re-airing some of our favorite episodes of the past year and beyond. This list includes interviews that really stuck with me and some others that you guys had tons of feedback and thoughts on … including this one!
Seen but not forgotten: How citizen science helps document biodiversity in remote Borneo villages
When I, Erik Meijaard, worked as a wildlife consultant for a timber concession in Borneo, I often chatted with the logging truck drivers—and quickly realized that some of them knew far more about local ...
Best Missouri betting apps: Top MO sportsbook apps to use right now
Missouri betting apps are now accepting real-money bets, and this page will guide you through the best sports betting apps currently available in Missouri.
Exploring Denmark’s Tardigrade Fauna through Citizen Science
In a groundbreaking study that intertwines the realms of citizen science and systematic biology, researchers have successfully unveiled an intricate tapestry of tardigrade fauna residing in Danish cryptogams. Tardigrades, or “water bears,” are microscopic, water-dwelling ani
CNN Academy Brings Real-Time Sports Newsroom Simulation to Georgia Tech
ATLANTA—CNN and the Georgia Institute of Technology today announced the launch of the CNN Academy Sports Journalism Bootcamp and Simulation, a two-week immersive program designed to prepare the next generation of storytellers for the fast-paced world of sports media.
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.
Ham-handed politics with Virginia’s excellent universities risks ruin for them all
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"La Liga is corrupt": Real Madrid completely loses its cool!
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Scientists say they may have finally solved the question of whether our universe is a simulation
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Cities put science in the spotlight
When three European cities launch an initiative next year to boost scientific excellence and collaboration, much of the action is likely to take place in public spaces rather than in the laboratory.That is welcome news for Ana Marušić. A medical doctor and professor at the University of Split Medical School in Croatia, Marušić champions close connections between “town and gown” to encourage citizen involvement in research, raise public health awareness and ignite young people’s interest in science. “Responsible research and innovation cannot be done in an ivory tower, answering only the questions that are relevant for scientists,” explains Marušić, who chairs the Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health and leads the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine. “The role of the university is to be a medium for transferring new discoveries in science to society, but also to listen to society about what is important and what is needed.”Three cities united by scienceMarušić’s efforts stand to gain traction through Science Comes to Town (SCTT), a new European project to highlight science’s role in society and strengthen cross-border collaboration in research, innovation and sustainability. With funding from the European Commission, three cities—Split, Brest (in France) and Kiel (in Germany)—plan more than 1,000 public events, workshops and competitions for citizens of all ages, researchers, businesses and policymakers. The year-long project kicks off in Spilt on 20 January with a conference involving partner institutions, community representatives and European policymakers. The three cities may be geographically far apart, but they share much in common. All are located on coasts and are home to top regional research institutions that are part of SCTT. Among the project's partners, the University of Western Brittany in Brest, Kiel University and the University of Split belong to the SEA-EU university alliance, uniting nine European coastal academic institutions to advance research, student exchanges and sustainable development. “These universities have a very strong connection between gown and town,” explains Marušić, who is one of Split’s SCTT ambassadors. “It's very important that these universities are there for the community so that we can learn from each other and grow together.”Tackling Europe’s STEM shortagesSCTT will also reinforce efforts to address Europe’s widening gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Studies show that nearly eight out of ten small- and medium-sized businesses cannot find enough workers with the skills required in advanced computing and artificial intelligence (AI)—hindering initiatives to boost European innovation and competitiveness. In healthcare, the European Commission has estimated a shortfall in medical professionals of 1.2 million, due to fewer young people joining the field and an ageing population that needs more care.Strengthening knowledge and dialogue can also help build trust between scientists and the public at time when disruptive technologies are reshaping research and clinical practice, but are also sparking questions about ethics and accuracy. With experience in the classroom and in clinical epidemiology—a discipline involving monitoring and controlling public health problems—Marušić sees the potential risks of over-reliance on AI and chatbot answers for both research and learning. “AI is a very good tool, but one has to be very critical about it,” she adds. “Delegating brain activities will definitely diminish your neural capacities because you are not developing the circuitry that is important for higher-level cognitive engagement.” She stresses the importance of critical thinking and encourages students to use AI as a researcher’s tool to reinforce rather than supplant human discretion and brainpower.The power of outreachSplit’s experience in bringing scientists and the public together has provided a platform for discussing research ethics and explaining science in simple terms. Local efforts to expand health literacy and awareness have helped reduce cardiovascular disease among women, according to Marušić’s research. The city’s university also hosts events to introduce schoolchildren to science, using hands-on experiments to spark curiosity.Marušić’s own love of science began with an interest in studying molecular biology. “But my parents told me, why don't you study medicine?” she recalls. “I said, OK, why not? And that was the best decision that I made.” Marušić is not a practicing physician, but teaches anatomy and public health. She also co-edits ST-OPEN, an overlay university journal that works on capacity building for research publishing among students and their supervisors. Balancing teaching, research and editorial work, she is a strong advocate for medical studies, urging high school students to consider medicine “because later on it gives you a really wide perspective about human life and about society” as well as many career opportunities.As SCTT prepares to bring science into daily life in 2026, Marušić hopes that it will build permanent bridges between scientists and citizens across Europe. “We can be a showcase for making collaboration with the community stronger to share knowledge, attract young talent and integrate critical and scientific thinking into everyday life,” she explains, adding that "collaborating with businesses to improve cities and communities is also an important aspect of this project."Science|Business, which connects policymakers, academics and industry through its news reporting, analysis and events, is an SCTT partner.
Using network science to evaluate landslide hazards on Big Sur Coast, California, USA
Abstract. Landslides, ranging from slips to catastrophic failures, pose significant challenges for prediction. This study employs a physically inspired framework to assess landslide hazard at a regional scale (Big Sur Coast, California). Our approach integrates techniques from the study of complex systems with multivariate statistical analysis to identify areas prone to landslide hazards. We successfully apply a technique originally developed on the 2017 Mud Creek landslide and refine our statistical metrics to characterize landslide hazard within a larger geographical area. Our method is compared against factors such as landslide location, slope, displacement, precipitation, and InSAR coherence using multivariate statistical analysis. Our network analyses, which incorporates spatiotemporal dynamics, perform better as a monitoring technique than traditional methods. This approach has potential for real-time monitoring and evaluating landslide hazard across multiple sites.
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Orange Juice May Do Much More For Your Body Than Scientists Ever Realized
We need to rethink this.