The ongoing feud between President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reached absolutely bizarre, reality-bending levels this week, with Trump responding to reports Tillerson had called him a “moron” by suggesting that they could “compare IQ tests ... I can tell you who is going to win.”
Every so often, you come across a comic that throws you for the sort of loop that makes you pause a few pages in and think, “I wasn’t at all prepared for how damned good this is.” Atari and Dynamite’s new Centipede series, based on the classic 1980s video game, is definitely one of those comics.
Religion has played an important part in countless wars, conflicts, terrorist attacks, murders, and genocides, yet people seem to associate it with morality. In fact, these same people—even other atheists—seem to think atheists are the immoral ones.
You surely remember a time you said a word to yourself and started laughing. Something about the syllables bouncing around your mouth just didn’t make sense. Maybe the word was “booby” or “piss” or “dingus” or “moist.” Maybe it was the name “Brumbpo Tungus” or “Scrimmy Bingus.” Well thankfully, now science is here to…
A lawsuit against two former Air Force psychologists who developed the CIA’s post-September 11, 2001 “enhanced interrogation” torture techniques, James Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen, appears to be all set to go to trial after the defendants ignored repeated exhortations to settle—including from the judge.
Ever notice how Christopher Nolan’s movies (Interstellar, Inception, The Prestige) feel like an anxiety attack? Well, maybe that’s overstating things a bit. But the director does have a knack for creating an unnerving degree of tension. Turns out he’s using a little bit of musical magic to do it.
The Hogwarts Sorting Hat, a core part of the Harry Potter mythos, has become one of Western culture’s best-known psychological tests, bigger than Myers-Briggs or whether you’re a Carrie. It’s inspired real-world personality quizzes at BuzzFeed, Pottermore, the Guardian, and many other sites. Recently TIME Magazine…
Here’s a cool bodyhack to remember next time you’re embroiled in battle against a jar lid that refuses to budge: use your go-to expletive. This trick was recently uncovered by Keele University psychologists whose experiments suggest that swearing might make people stronger—at least for tasks requiring short and…
Put on your tin-foil hat, cover your webcam with a piece of tape, and wait for the imminent arrival of the lizard people because it’s time for some conspiracy theories. Over half of American adults believe in at least one wacky theory, but why are these absurd and complex ideas are so appealing?
Ever wondered if having sex is a good thing, an act that could actually make you a more productive person and help you perform better at work? Wonder no more, dear reader. A new psychology study claims that fucking at home makes people do better at the office.
The result of a new study from the University of Kent may surprise you. Researchers surveyed 100 adults, ages 18 to 54, on their feelings about revenge porn, which the researchers defined as “the act of sharing intimate, sexually graphic images and/or videos of another person onto public online platforms, such as…
Imagine attending a work dinner and having your boss single you out and order your meal for you. Then imagine that meal was meatloaf. Chris Christie may not have cared about it so much, but to many people, that would be considered an obnoxious move at best. Unfortunately, that kind of behavior and worse is par for the…
If you’re struggling with a problem like anxiety or depression, making an appointment with a professional may be the last thing you feel up to doing. Apps and online services promise that help is just a few taps away, and in some cases they may be the right choice for you.
Welcome back to Giz Asks, a series where we ask experts hard questions about science, technology, and humanity’s future. Today, we’re talking to conservationists, naturalists, and authors about whether the bear is ever your buddy.
Welcome back to Giz Asks, a series where we ask experts hard questions about science, technology, and humanity’s future. Today, we’re wondering which emotions are the most communicable, for humans and for other animals.
In episode three of Westworld, Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) describes the theory of the mind that his co-founder, Arnold, used to try to create consciousness in the hosts. It’s called the bicameral mind, and for those of us who don’t want to read a nearly 500-page book from 1976 in order to learn more about a TV show…
If you’re currently single, falling in love with an inanimate object might seem like the obvious solution. Whether its 15 inflatable pool toys or just a potentially explosive cellphone, dating the non-living instantly eliminates some of the trickiest relationships issues. Worried they might not like you back? Not a…
Deception is necessary for placebo pills to work, or at least that’s the conventional wisdom. A surprising new study on patients with chronic back pain shows that we still experience the placebo effect, even when we know we’re being tricked.
To address the burgeoning “loneliness epidemic” and the demands of an aging population, some think that we should deploy robotic caregivers. A new ad titled “B.E.N. (Biologically Engineered Nursing),” however, suggests that this is a dreadful idea.
Brain-training programs like the ones offered by Luminosity and LearningRx claim to boost intelligence and even offset the effects of aging. A re-evaluation of the existing scientific literature on the matter shows these claims are complete bullshit.
