by Faye Flam | Sep 12, 2017 | Opinion
In a recent talk about his new book, “Scale,” physicist Geoffrey West described climate change as a form of entropy –- disorder that’s created as the price of all the order and creative energy pent up in cities. In this view, climate change is not, as some argue, just...
by Faye Flam | Aug 13, 2017 | Opinion
In handling some kinds of life-or-death medical judgments, computers have already have surpassed the abilities of doctors. We’re looking at something like promise of self-driving cars, according to Zak Kohane, a doctor and researcher at Harvard Medical School. On the...
by Faye Flam | May 25, 2017 | Opinion
Yes, collective missteps happen. But if anything, history shows how hard it is to get scientists to agree in the first place. Following the pack is not part of the scientific method. The point is to follow the evidence. And that leaves room for ambiguity in...
by Faye Flam | Apr 25, 2017 | Opinion
The people who know the most about life on Earth tend to be the most impressed by its staying power. Harvard professor Andrew Knoll marvels that our planet has sustained life continuously for four billion years — most of its 4.5 billion years in existence. This...
by Faye Flam | Apr 3, 2017 | Opinion
People aren’t getting dumber, despite what a prolific writer of fake news told the Washington Post last fall, but something funny is going on with American media. There’s been an apparent surge in fabricated stories, while the president has accused the New York Times...
