Politics

President Obama Will Announce NSA Reforms on January 17

It’s really happening, folks. On January 17, President Obama will remark on “the outcomes of the work that has been done in the review process” for reforming the country’s intelligence practices, Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday. It’ll be interesting to see exactly how the president will come down on the NSA, in particular, since…

How Conservatives Hijacked a Pro-Obamacare Facebook Meme

We all have those Facebook friends—friends with Very Strong Political Opinions they just can’t keep to themselves. While the political memes popular on Facebook pander shamelessly to people who already agree, sometimes the memes get twisted. And mutated. And even co-opted by the opposite party. Facebook’s data science team has a fascinating post about the…

A Map of the Weirdest Sex Laws in the United States

Is your sex life against the law? Better make sure. We’ve painstakingly compiled a map of all the most biarre and unnecessary laws regulating what you do, with whom, and where. Check out our complete map of all the weirdest laws regulating sex in America below. You’ve probably seen lists of freaky sex laws before…

Ask an expert your questions about China’s past, present, and future

Rana Mitter is a professor of Chinese history and modern politics at the University of Oxford. He’s here to answer your questions today about China’s past, present, and what we might expect for the future. He’s the author of the book Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, looking at China’s history during the second World…

12 Real Life Inventions That Science Fiction is Neglecting at its Peril

Science fiction has always commented on the present, and today’s present is very science-fictional. All around, we see inventions that could transform the world within a decade or two. So why don’t more science fiction writers speculate about them? Here are 12 real-life developments science fiction should be plundering. Update: This post isn’t saying that…

China’s Claiming Territory By Calling Dibs on 800-Year-Old Shipwrecks

As China continues its controversial claim-staking throughout Asia, a corner of the academic world is becoming an unlikely focal point in the dispute: Archaeology. More specifically, the thousands of shipwrecks that litter the South China Sea—which China is aggressively claiming as evidence to back up its right to control the ocean. China has enthusiastically bolstered…

How a silver griffin chalice helped smooth US-Iran relations

The recent thawing in relations between the United States and Iran involved a number of factors, including a show of good faith involving a silver artifact. As a sign of respect for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s new administration, US diplomats returned to Iran its mythical beast. The LA Times reports on the saga of the…

Why Isaac Asimov’s famous dystopia is still relevant today

There’s a must-read piece at Slate on Isaac Asimov’s classic novel The Caves of Steel, part of a trilogy of novels about societies where everybody lives hundreds of years and relies on robots for everything. After a terrific summary, Konstantin Kakaes explains why it’s all still relevant. In a nutshell, Caves of Steel is a…

Saudi government censors science fiction novel. According to Boing Boing, the government of Saudi Arabia is suppressing H W J N by Ibraheem Abbas on the grounds of “blasphemy and devil-worshipping.” The book includes jinni as science-fictional beings, one of whom has a romance with a human.

In 1988, Kim Jong-Il gave a speech exhorting North Koreans to write SF

And that’s just one fascinating fact about North Korean science fiction contained in a brilliant overview, over at SinonK.com. Also: North Korean science fiction never features aliens — or, perhaps not surprisingly, dystopian settings. In fact, North Korean science fiction sounds as though it’s closer to “mundane” science fiction than most of what we produce…

41 Century-Old Predictions for Our 21st Century Socialist Utopia

Mail via pneumatic tube? Weather control? A three-hour workday? These sound like futuristic predictions straight from the 1950s and ’60s. But proving yet again that there’s nothing new under the sun, these predictions are actually over a century old. And unlike the more libertarian-tinged versions of these ideas that would emerge after World War II,…

Most superhero, science fiction and fantasy movies would fail Sweden’s new ratings system, whichcalls for movies to pass the Bechdel Test (two women talking to each other about non-man-related subjects) in order to get an “A” rating.

Anti-Communist propaganda is more awesome than any horror movie poster

Horror movies and Weird Tales magazine have given us some beautiful, spooky and unnerving works of art. But if you really want a dose of scary brilliance? Check out the posters that warned people of the evils of Communism. These are scarier, and more beautiful, than pretty much any horror art you’ve seen. British Conservative…

Brand new RoboCop trailer shows how to play “Bad Cop, RoboCop”

We still have some misgivings about the new RoboCop remake, but at least this brand new trailer looks crazy fun. Largely due to the insane supporting cast, like Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson and Jackie Earle Haley, all of whom are hilarious here. https://gizmodo.com/all-the-things-that-make-us-nervous-and-excited-in-th-1265155617 If the new RoboCop is just a collection of…

Turns out The Originals is about America’s original sin: slavery

The Originals is a weird show. The four characters who came over from The Vampire Diaries to form the bedrock of the show’s cast were among the least sympathetic on the parent show, and all the new characters seemed either forgettable or sort of horrible. But slowly but surely, The Originals is finding a story…

German Chancellor to Obama: Have You Hacked My Phone?

Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, spoke to Barack Obama on Wednesday evening to demand explanations over reports suggesting that the NSA has been monitoring her mobile phone. According to the Guardian, sources claim that Merkel, the head of the German government, was “livid” over the reports. What’s more, leaning on German intelligence and investigations…

The Backfire Effect shows why you can’t use facts to win an argument

“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story” isn’t just a maxim for shady politicians and journalists. It’s also the way people often live their lives. One study indicates that there may even be a “backfire effect,” which happens when you show people facts that contradict their opinions. The study tested…

How a Math Professor Predicted the Government Shutdown

To many of us, the government shutdown is inexplicable: a crazy situation, brought about a minority faction over a bill that’s already been passed into law. But for math professor Peter Turchin, it wasentirely predicable. New Scientist writes that Turchin, who applies math of complex systems to political instability, saw the situation coming in his…

The Government Shutdown Is Killing Your New Favorite Beer

The government shutdown is killing dozens of beloved science programs? Whatever. Now it’s causing a massive outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella? Who cares? Wait, what’s that? It’s standing between you and the delicious beer you would be drinking? ALARM! PROTEST! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE! It’s Friday afternoon, you’ve made it through the long week, and it’s…

Almost All of America’s Nuclear Regulators Are About to Be Furloughed

That pesky government shutdown is still causing all kinds of problems, and this one’s a doozy. Starting Thursday, some 90 percent of the workers who watch over America’s 100 nuclear reactors will be furloughed. Since these guys are sort of the first line of defense in a nuclear disaster, that’s really bad news. Thankfully, a…