Politics

Georgia Republican: Big Bang Theory, Evolution and Embryology are “Lies Straight from the Pit of Hell”

Okay, I sort of get hating the Big Bang Theory and evolution, because they contradict the Biblical account of creation… but embryology? Really? In this video of a recent speech, obtained by Talking Points Memo, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) explains: All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang Theory,…

How To Talk About the Election Online Without Pissing Everyone Off

Barack Bin Laden Obama is a socialist who wants to tax this country into oblivion and pay lazy people not to work. Mittens Mormon Romney is a stale snake who only cares about rich white people. The election is near, and we’re going to want to talk about these things online. But there’s a way…

It was Syfy’s idea to have a gay character on Warehouse 13

One of the many cool things about Warehouse 13 is that the cast now includes Steve Jinks, a gay man who’s a three-dimensional character and isn’t defined by his sexuality. And Steve is apparently here to stay, after a very close call a while back. When we were on a conference call with the showrunner…

Like the GOP primary debates before them, the upcoming presidential debates will be streamed live on YouTube. Civics!

Will one Iron Man 3 villain be cut out of the Chinese version?

Looper opens in the United States today, but Chinese audiences will be seeing a somewhat different cut of the film. Director Rian Johnson filmed a key sequence in Shanghai, because Looper is a U.S.-Chinese co-production — and Chinese audiences will see a lot more of that Shanghai footage than we will. (In a similar fashion,…

Two Competing Theories as to Why Americans Have Stopped Gaining Weight

Do you think obesity rates in the United States are on the rise? Despite what you’ve heard, they’re not. The Centers for Disease Control says obesity rates plateaued for men, women, and children in the late 2000s. In addition to the CDC report, a recent Journal of the American Medical Association article points out that…

Do You Actually Care About a Politician’s Social-Media Presence?

Seriously. I mean, we rag on these politicians all the time for their social media gaffes, but does anyone really care? Does it matter to you, when it comes to actually punch your ballot, whether Romney’s app misspelled America or Obama was a little loose with his volunteers’ kinda private information? https://gizmodo.com/will-someone-please-teach-chuck-grassley-how-to-put-his-5916412 At the end…

Could super-realistic avatars of dead presidents influence election results?

A new technology called cognitive video regeneration has seemingly brought Ronald Reagan back from the dead — a potential glimpse into how politics might be played in the future — if not the present. The technology was developed by a company called Seyyer, who has created the Reagan “Live From the Other Side” series of…

What would it take for America to be optimistic again?

This has been an unusually depressing election campaign, even by recent American standards. The overwhelming emotion among our political classes and pundits appears to be bitterness, laced with weary fake-outrage. There’s been almost no attempt at even feigning optimism. No “Morning in America.” Hardly any sign of that happy can-do spirit. Are we just finally…

Read Obama and Romney’s answers to the country’s top science questions

Where do the two men who would be President stand on crucial questions about science? Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have released their answers to a series of incisive, science-themed questions assembled by ScienceDebate. https://gizmodo.com/its-time-to-bring-science-to-the-fore-of-political-disc-5927757 So now, it’s your chance to judge the two major-party candidates based on the pressing questions about science and technology…

Michelle Obama’s speech was blocked by democrat streaming partner YouTube over copyright last night. Oops. [WIRED]

Obama and Romney Tackle Science’s Toughest Questions

It’s well-known that Obama and Romney don’t see eye-to-eye on science and engineering, or the policy surrounding it. But now Scientific American has joined forces with ScienceDebate.org to quiz the pair on their views over some of the most important scientific issues of our time. In total Obama and Romney were asked 14 questions, covering…

Why Romney and Obama’s Written Science Answers Aren’t Enough

Romney and Obama have agreed to answer questions on science and science policy, but it’s a bittersweet victory. A few weeks ago we told you about ScienceDebate, an independent citizens’ initiative devoted to having Obama and Romney face off over fourteen questions about science in a publicly televised debate. Now, ScienceDebate.org reports both presidential candidates…

The FBI Suspected Ray Bradbury of Being a Communist

The FBI file on Ray Bradbury reveals the federal government was investigating the legendary author for being a communist in the 1950s and 1960s. Using a Freedom of Information Act Request, the Huffington Post received a copy of Bradbury’s file, and it turns out the FBI checked Bradbury’s passport records and staked out his house.…

Facebook Is Counting How Many Times You Mention Mitt Romney’s Hair

Election election election is all you’re going to hear about from now until November 6. In partnership with CNN, Facebook is making sure no one stops talking about presidential race, with the launch of its real-time election insights. The new tool can be found at CNN.com/FBinsights. Basically it’s pretty similar to the election tracker Twitter…

They Live IRL: Australian politician calls opponent a “jerk off” in subliminal ad

Subliminal campaign advertisements are a staple of dystopian science fiction, but trust reality to send the electorate a hidden message so nefarious it’d make Orwell spin in his grave. A recent television ad for Australia’s Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory contained a coded barb for Labor Party Chief Minister Paul Henderson. Secreted away…

If President Obama could choose a superpower, what would he choose?

Nearly everyone has asked themselves the question at some point: If I could have one superpower, which one would I choose? Flight? Invisibility? Superstrength? Telekinesis? But what about our current Commander-in-Chief? Would he select a superpower that would help him in his current political office, or something that would let him battle his opponents physically…

Forget the “Busy Trap” — you’re trapped way worse than that

There’s been a popular meme going around lately about the “Busy Trap” — the idea that we’re all keeping busy with meaningless junk like checking our email or doing random tasks, and that this is somehow a lifestyle choice. But a new essay by Mark Fisher, “Time Wars,” makes a persuasive case that our chronic…

The Latest Source of “Profanity” in Schools: Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse

Every now and then, a parent complains about their child being exposed to a science fiction book that contains challenging ideas or language — most notoriously, last year there was the whole kerfuffle over Ender’s Game. But the latest outcry is over what might be the most unexpected text of them all: Robopocalypse, the robot…

Annoying Political Ads Are Invading Pandora

A North Carolina woman named Crystal Harris was minding her own business, listening to Garth Brooks on the Pandora iPhone app, when she was hit with a prompt asking her to share her email with the Mitt Romney campaign. If this is the future of political advertising, we all might as well throw our phones…