Is Eating Synthetic Human Flesh Cannibalism?
A disgusting factor which separates consuming human flesh from consuming muscle tissue of non-speaking animals is that…
When Will Robots Deserve Human Rights?
Films and TV shows like Blade Runner, Humans, and Westworld, where highly advanced robots have no rights, trouble our…
Can a Pill Make You More Moral?
It’s a reasonable goal to want everyone on Earth to be more moral. Maybe there’d be less suffering, and people would be…
India and New Zealand Were Wrong to Recognize Rivers as Persons
Courts in New Zealand and India have granted legal personhood status to three rivers. The strange status is meant to…
Why Are We So Damn Nostalgic These Days?
It’s not the fault of Hollywood or Netflix or even the internet. Or, well, it’s not all their fault. We’re to blame for…
Generation Cryo: Fighting Death in the Frozen Unknown
In a vat of liquid nitrogen on storage platform 17, the youngest person ever to be put into cryogenic storage has been…
Want to Find Aliens? Look for Planets That Have Become Stars
Jupiter is often referred to as a “failed star,” leading some futurists to wonder if our descendants might set it…
10 Predictions About the Future That Should Scare the Hell Out of You
The future looks bright, except when it doesn’t. Here are 10 exceptionally regrettable developments we can expect in…
New Calculation Shows We’ll Make Contact With Aliens in About 1,500 Years
The disturbing Fermi Paradox suggests we should have made contact with an extraterrestrial civilization by now, yet we…
20 Crucial Terms Every 21st Century Futurist Should Know
We live in an era of accelerating change, when scientific and technological advancements are arriving rapidly. As a…
Gene-Editing, Aliens, and More: Experts Identify the Most Exciting Science of 2016
Each year, Edge.org editor John Brockman poses a provocative question to a select group of thinkers. For this year’s…
This Is Why We Want to Send CEOs to Prison
The Knobe Effect is a psychological double-standard that allows us to blame people for a bad outcome, yet not give them…
Watch as Performance Artist Stelarc Takes a Ride on a Giant Robotic Arm
Stelarc has made a career of blending his body with technology. In his latest work, the Australian performance artist…
Do Numbers Really Exist?
Here’s a nice, simple topic for first thing on a Friday morning: do numbers really exist? Well, do they?
Are Stories and Histories the Same Thing?
European languages often use the same word for “story” and “history,” but many English speakers regard these words as…
How SETI Will Understand Messages Broadcast by an Alien Intelligence
Imagine the day when we finally receive a signal from an extraterrestrial intelligence, only to find that there’s a…
The Animal-Lover's Dilemma: I Don't Eat Meat, but My Pet Does
When moral philosopher Gary Steiner first adopted his cat Pindar, the vet advised him to put the cat to sleep. A rescue…
How to Cope With an Existential Crisis
Despite the weirdness of existence, most of us are able to get on with our lives and avoid debilitating feelings of…
Which Reasoning Style Best Describes The Way You Think?
How rational are you, really? This comprehensive online quiz by ClearerThinking.org will not only provide you with the…
Can We Ensure That Our First Encounter With Alien Life Is Ethical?
In April, NASA Chief scientist Ellen Stofan predicted we would “have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a…