Science

Gravity could be the definitive clue that the universe is one giant computer

May 11, 2025

Modern ideas about reality sometimes sound like a wild story. The notion that everything around us might be bits and bytes is easy to brush aside, yet it continues to intrigue many curious minds. This perspective has led some researchers to wonder if physical forces might be signals of an underlying information system. According to […]

Jurassic Park, Black Mirror, dire wolves: A foreshadowing worth revisiting

May 11, 2025

Dire wolves are back — not the pack that prowled the halls of Winterfell but the real things, in flesh and blood. When George R R Martin chose the sigil of House Stark in the Game of Thrones, he took a cue from the Pleistocene era. The dire wolves that feature in the blockbuster fantasy […]

The real scandal is that any journalist ever believed Joe Biden in the first place

May 11, 2025

Sometimes, a plea of “not guilty” is worse than a simple admission of guilt. The latest round of defenses and explanations for the press’s abject failure to cover Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline represents such an instance. Former CNN analyst Chris Cillizza volunteered some very thin gruel last week, suggesting the political press’s subconscious […]

New Jersey Democrats brace for nail-biter with governor’s primary

May 11, 2025

The Democratic primary for the New Jersey governor’s race is a jump ball just more than a month before voters head to the polls. Public polling of the race has been sparse, but the available public and internal surveys have shown Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) with a small lead over the other five candidates running. […]

French Minister Says Ukraine Defeat Could Spark World Atomic Arms Race

May 10, 2025

As Russia steps up its missile attacks on Ukraine, and nuclear threats against the Western allies, … More more countries could contemplate producing their own atomic arms to safeguard their independence. Shown here are Kremlin ICBMs parading through Red Square AFP PHOTO / DMITRY KOSTYUKOV (Photo credit should read DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP via Getty Images) AFP […]

Opinion – Trump’s attack on ActBlue violates the First Amendment

May 10, 2025

President Trump is at it again, accusing his political opponents of fraud and corruption. This time, he is targeting ActBlue, a major fundraising platform for Democratic candidates at the local, state and national levels. Since 2004, when it was established, ActBlue has collected almost $17 billion for Democrats and affiliated causes. In the 2024 election […]

FA to ban transgender women from women’s football under new rules

May 10, 2025

Play Brightcove video The FA has U-turned on its transgender inclusion policy. ITV News Sports Editor Steve Scott reports from Wembley Stadium The Football Association has changed its longstanding inclusion policy on trans women footballers and will ban them from playing in the women’s game in England from June. The U-turn comes after legal advice […]

‘The Accountant 2’ review: It’s a leaner, stranger, sharper sequel that finally adds up

May 10, 2025

Even in a fictional world filled with glum antagonists and antiheroes, Christian Wolff certainly stands apart. The forensic accountant with autism whose skillset belongs in a Jason Bourne movie and not an IRS audit, Wolff—played again by Ben Affleck—returns in The Accountant 2, a sequel which manages to let some of the eccentricities breathe while […]

NASA JPL director quits for ‘personal reasons’

May 9, 2025

Laurie Leshin, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is stepping down in June and will be replaced by JPL veteran David Gallagher. JPL directors come and go, but Voyager flies on… Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech Leshin was appointed to the top job in 2022 and has faced multiple challenges during her tenure, not least dealing with […]

Ukraine’s economy has greater staying power than Russia’s, but the US mineral deal shows how fragile its advantage is

May 9, 2025

Despite Russia’s occupation of its territory, missile attacks on its infrastructure and the enormous human costs of the war, Ukraine’s economy has been impressively resilient. Its effective military resistance against a much stronger adversary is in fact underpinned by this successful economic management. Rather than face institutional sclerosis or even collapse, Ukraine’s state capacity has […]