by Richard Dawkins Donald Trump was surely right when he said, in 2012, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy . . . A total sham and a travesty”. And he confirmed his sensible view on November 13th, 2016 (after winning the election by the Electoral College system, but losing the popular vote) …

Richard Dawkins 24 Oct 2017   I had tweeted an invitation to attend lectures in various parts of Britain by Saba Douglas-Hamilton, who grew up among wild African elephants while her father, Iain Douglas-Hamilton was conducting his pioneering studies of their ecology and behaviour, and he and his wife Oria were fighting the poachers. Saba’s …

By Andy Extance DNA and RNA, the two major modern forms of genetic code underpinning all of earthly biology, could have coexisted in strict pairings on our planet before life arose here, scientists in England, Scotland and Poland say. Using a hydrogen cyanide–based chemical system intended to mimic conditions in Earth’s early history, the researchers …

By Amanda Hollis-Brusky On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling for LGBTQ rights. The majority opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment “because of … sex,” can be read to extend protections to LGBTQ individuals. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision was written …

By Howard Friedman Suit was filed last week in a Louisiana federal district court by Holy Fight Ministries and its minister claiming that Louisiana’s ban on cockfighting violates their federal and state free exercise rights as well as the Establishment Clause. The complaint (full text) in Plumbar v. Landry, (MD LA, filed 6/12/2020), alleges in part: Reverend …

By Jeff Sharlet Yusif Jones, standing in front of a long row of porta-potties, slides his plastic Trump mask over his face. “I’m him!” he exclaims. He puffs up his chest in his homemade Trump shirt. It’s a short-sleeved American flag pullover, onto which he has ironed black felt letters across vertical red and white …

By Ryan P. Burge and Paul A. Djupe Since the beginning in this country, it has been socially desirable to be religious. Americans have positive feelings toward religious people, on the whole, and negative feelings toward those who reject religion, which puts pressure on individuals to at least pretend to be religious. That was the …

By Pallab Ghosh Scientists have discovered an astronomical object that has never been observed before. The object is more massive than collapsed stars, known as “neutron stars”, but lighter than black holes. Such “black neutron stars” were not thought possible and will mean ideas for how neutron stars and black holes form will need to …