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Sardine-inspired washing machine filter removes 99% of microplastics
The home appliance can easily generate as much as 500 grams of microplastics each year.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Transfers the Majority of its Equity Investment in Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation to Sprott Mining for a Net Consideration of $24.1 million
AMC converted the majority of its Hycroft investment into cash, receiving an amount approximately equal to the original capital invested in…...
Shop Local: Black Mountain welcomes local business traffic this holiday season
The holidays have never been more important to Black Mountain than perhaps this year.
Pallone Welcomes Health Board Move To Defer Decision That Would Close Long Branch’s Hospital
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-6) today welcomed the decision by the State Health Planning Board last night to defer their decision to issue a recommendation on the closure of Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) hospital in Long Branch. The decision by the Board to postpone issuing their final recommendation comes after the State’s final hearing[...]
Giant sunspot on par with the one that birthed the Carrington Event has appeared on the sun — and it's pointed right at Earth
A massive new sunspot complex, dubbed AR 4294-4296, has emerged on the sun and is facing directly at Earth. The dark patch is on par with the infamous sunspot that birthed the 1859 Carrington Event — but, for now, it's staying quiet.
A Hospital Was Slated To Open in 2025. Amid a Legal Battle, It’s Still a Field of Dirt.
By Andrew Jones | KFF Health News Madison County, tucked in the mountains of western North Carolina, has no hospital and just three ambulances serving its roughly 22,000 people. The ambulances frequently travel back and forth to Mission Hospital in Asheville, the largest and most central hospital in ...
Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72 billion
The acquisition, announced Friday, would bring two of the industry’s biggest players in film and TV under one roof and alter the entertainment industry landscape.
Netflix secures deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery studios, HBO Max
Paramount's ambitions for a sports-TV superpower to rival Disney's ESPN are tabled — at least for now.
Dec. 5, 2025: 'If you can keep it' on unprecedented politics; Maintaining Mustang; Tech firm commits to downtown
Our series continues about unprecedented politics, named for the famous Benjamin Franklin line in 1787: "A republic, if you can keep it." University of Denver political scientist Seth Masket provides historic context. Then, it takes a lot of work to keep Mustang standing strong outside DIA. Also, tech firm Ibotta makes a 10-year commitment to downtown Denver, which other businesses have fled. And the family stories behind Denver's Little Saigon at History Colorado Center.
ObamaCare anxiety rising among House GOP centrists: ‘To do this is buffoonery’
Frustration is mounting among moderate House Republicans as various competing health care plans appear to be going nowhere, with less than 10 working days left on the calendar before millions of Am…
Netflix reportedly closes in on Warner Bros deal
The streaming giant has emerged as the top bidder ahead of rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance, reports say.
Who Gets to Mourn? Rethinking Grief, Resistance and the Everyday Politics of Peace in Colombia
What does it mean to resist when there are no slogans, no marches, no chants, only grief? This piece argues that the Women, Peace and Security agenda—despite its historic contributions—has often reduced women’s political agency to visibility, voice, and institutional participation. A feminist lens invites us to look beyond this framing and recognise the everyday, intimate, and affective forms of resistance through which women remember the dead, survive violence, and hold broken communities together.
US investigating Waymo after footage captures self-driving cars illegally moving past school buses in Texas
The federal safety agency NHTSA investigating Waymo's autonomous vehicles after 20 citations for illegally passing stopped school buses in Austin, Texas.
Arts and Entertainment Agenda, Dec. 5-12
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet ‘The Nutcracker,’ Dec. 5 Aspen Santa Fe Ballet returns in its 35th anniversary year to perform “The Nutcracker” between Dec. 5-7 at Aspen District Theater. The highly-anticipated performances will take place...
AI chatbots used inaccurate information to change people’s political opinions, study finds
A paper published in the journal Science found that chatbots become more persuasive when they share large amounts of information.
Women’s Health Is Chronically Understudied and Underfunded. It’s Time for a Change
For millions of women, TikTok has become a doctor's office: Scroll through the app and you'll see endless videos about menopause, joint pain, hormone therapy – featuring no small amount of pseudoscience. Though misguided, this digital quest for medical knowledge is only a symptom of a larger issue:
Sports books 2025: Gridiron battles, a racing phenom, historic swimmer, more
Sports titles that came out in 2025 tell the stories of moments on fields and courts across the world. From famous to lesser-known athletes, books crossed multiple sports and eras.
Vermont Catamounts to host Bucknell Bison Friday
The Vermont Catamounts will play host to the Bucknell Bison
Why science says smelling your own farts could be good for you
Certain amounts of hydrogen sulfide can help protect aging brains from Alzheimer’s disease, according to a 2021 study
Mid-Ohio Valley Winter Sports: Parkersburg South boys have an abundance of depth
PARKERSBURG — Now that Parkersburg South is a member of the Mountain State Athletic Conference, the past is the past. With a balanced conference schedule, no longer can teams dodge playing Parkersburg South on the Patriots’ home floor. “Joining the MSAC was a big plus for us, – both game-wise and travel-wise,” said Parkersburg South […]
Wolfe Mountain Entertainment presents holiday radio play in Pomeroy
Wolfe Mountain Entertainment will present “It’s a Wonderful Life, a live radio play” next weekend at New Beginnings United Methodist Church.
PEOPLE: Jeff Shultz to join Radial Entertainment’s C-suite next year
Also, Kidscreen alum Nelson Huynh will manage content sales in the Americas for Mattel on contract in 2026, and Paramount has added LatAm to franchise director Lee Harris-Gibbs' remit.
Why science says smelling your own farts could be good for you
Certain amounts of hydrogen sulfide can help protect aging brains from Alzheimer’s disease, according to a 2021 study
Amy Schumer dropped 50 pounds to battle disease that 'can kill you' if untreated
Comedian Amy Schumer opens up about her health journey, Cushing syndrome recovery, and using Mounjaro medication after losing 50 pounds for her wellbeing.
Business entrepreneurs present pitches to public Friday
The gathering will not exactly be the long-running “Shark Tank” television show, yet business entrepreneurs, supporters or investors are invited to attend a presentation of business pitches during the High Country Accelerator Boat Launch Celebration...
Saint Louis earns 91-70 win over Loyola Marymount
LOS ANGELES (AP) Trey Green scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Saint Louis to a 91-70 victory against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday night.
Satellites Detect Seasonal Pulses in Earth’s Glaciers
From Alaska’s Saint Elias Mountains to Pakistan’s Karakoram, glaciers speed up and slow down with the seasons.
Ignore the Jets tanking alarmists and focus on the bigger picture
To borrow from Herman Edwards’ famous rant: Play to win the game.
'Story that isn't a story': town official states amid businesses' outdoor area closures
More business owners in Black Mountain say sudden enforcement changes by the town are threatening their livelihood.
Paramount throws in more cash in bid for Warner; Comcast wants to combine assets with NBCUniversal
Jockeying for HBO-owner Warner Bros. Discovery has intensified as the auction appears to enter its home stretch.
Colorado seeks at least $500 million in rural health funding from federal Republicans’ megabill
Colorado health officials are seeking at least $500 million in health care funding over five years for rural communities, as cuts to Medicaid and other safety-net services are set to take hold. The funding would...
Paramount & Pluto Vet Jeff Shultz Named CEO Of Radial Entertainment, Parent Of Shout Studios And FilmRise
Jeff Shultz, a former Paramount and Pluto TV exec, has been named CEO of Radial Entertainment.
Imran Khan In Good Health After Concerns Mounted for Weeks
Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in good health after concerns mounted since nobody met him for more than three weeks, according to his sister.
Radial Entertainment Taps Jeff Shultz, Former Paramount Streaming Exec, as CEO (EXCLUSIVE)
Jeff Shultz, former head of strategy for Paramount Streaming, has been named CEO of Radial Entertainment, the FilmRise and Shout! Studios.
Coco Gauff, Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley Lead Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports Class of 2026
From NFL quarterback to tennis star, the 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports class showcases dominant Black talent and global influence.
Evidence mounts: Medically tailored meals improve health outcomes and lower total cost of care
As the nation faces rising chronic disease rates and accelerating health care costs, a new peer-reviewed white paper featured in MDI Healthcare spotlights the critical role of food as medicine in improving outcomes for high-risk individuals. The analysis, supported by insights from Mom's Meals®, shows medically tailored meals can reduce hospitalizations, lower emergency department use, and lower the total cost of care, which reveals evidence of widening action gaps in how these nutrition solutio
“It kind of feels like we’ve opened Pandora’s box”: Jenna Ortega spoke about AI in the entertainment industry
"It's unacceptable, and many famous people are being victimized."
Replay Sports Cards Awards First-Ever Franchise to Business Partners Josh Stigdon and Jason Buckel
Replay Sports Cards ("Replay") – America's first national franchise dedicated exclusively to the hobby – has signed its first-ever franchise agreement with business partners Josh Stigdon and Jason Buckel, marking a pivotal moment in the company's growth and franchise expansion. The duo will open a new Replay shop in Seymour, Indiana, bringing the brand's modern, community-first take on the local card shop to collectors and families in the region.
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."
Cancer. COVID. Strikes. After a 9-year journey, 'A Little Prayer' was still worth the wait
Writer-director Angus MacLachlan explains how his tiny indie surmounted so many hurdles — and why he still feels the 'Movie Gods' smiled upon him.
Marcos vs. Marcos: The New Front in Philippine Politics
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is under fire for an enormous graft scandal that is unfolding under his watch. One prominent voice is his sister Senator Imee Marcos.
Mexico Political Risk Hits Peru Level as Sheinbaum Support Sags
Mexico’s political risk has crept up to levels seen in Peru, as Mexicans voice mounting frustration over cartel-fueled crime, corruption and a stagnant economy.
Developer plans to bring daytime business to St. Mary’s Strip in San Antonio
A developer plans to renovate some aging homes amid the bars that make the St. Mary’s Strip synonymous with San Antonio nightlife to bring some different bustle to the area.
'Keep your mouth shut.' Mark Kelly hits back at Trump, Pentagon investigation
Mark Kelly alleged Donald Trump has “no regard for the rule of law" after the Pentagon announced investigation into the Democratic senator.
UW: Anonymous $50M gift will cover tuition for med lab science students
The anonymous gift is estimated to bring $50 million over the next 50 years to UW's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.
Scoop: Inside the sudden shuttering of home care provider Inbound Health
The closure underscores mounting uncertainty around the hospital-at-home sector.
Colorado businesses concerned about increased costs, supply chain issues as a result of tariffs, report finds
Colorado businesses face mounting headwinds amid a suite of tariffs enacted this year, with concerns about elevated costs, supply chain disruptions and consumer backlash, according to a new state report. The study is the second...
With new bids, Warner Bros. Discovery looks to narrow the auction field
Paramount, Comcast and Netflix are poised to submit a second bid on Monday, kicking the auction into high-gear.
Trump MRI results drop as White House confronts mounting questions over president’s health
President Donald Trump's October MRI scan found no cardiovascular abnormalities and confirmed excellent overall health, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced.
Think the viral meme of that legislator is funny?
Political philosopher says rampant schadenfreude among electorate poses risk to democracy.
Johnson and Trump Try to Avoid an Upset House Loss in Tennessee
Speaker Mike Johnson put the president on speakerphone during a Monday stop in the state, underscoring the unusual amount of national attention on a House special election.
'Do it right:' Trump posts cryptic message after ballroom setbacks
President Donald Trump and his chosen architect have clashed over the enormous construction project at The White House.
Goodman: Lane Kiffin is the biggest villain in SEC sports history
Tommy Tuberville famously lied about leaving Ole Miss before going to Auburn. What Kiffin has done is so much worse.
New study finds cancer-linked compounds in common foods
Scientists have found that common foods can contain hidden contaminants formed during cooking or through environmental exposure. A new testing method called QuEChERS helps identify these chemicals more quickly and with greater ease. The research showed strong accuracy and high sensitivity across multiple food samples. This streamlined approach could improve food safety checks while reducing chemical waste.
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.
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