A new dating site, SingldOut, is using DNA samples from subscribers to create “genetic matches”: The two markers tested for are the serotonin uptake controller, which is involved in how people handle positive and negative emotions. The second marker tested for relates to the genes influencing the person’s immune system. Within one week, the test […]
Continue reading →From the way most critics are talking about it, the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby was a chauvinist attack on female reproductive rights by five old white Catholic men. I don’t think the Hobby Lobby ruling had much at all to do with women’s rights, however. The main questions of the Hobby […]
Continue reading →In 2010, Anwar al-Awlaki, an apparent member of Al-Qaida, was killed by an authorized drone strike in Yemen. Another man, Samir Khan, also died in that drone strike, though he had not been targeted. This particular drone strike caused quite an uproar in the legal community. Because both of the men killed were actually US […]
Continue reading →One of the most difficult aspects of mental health is determining causation. A body of evidence is apparently growing that taking selfies can lead to narcissism, addiction, and suicide. But it seems to me that narcissism and a tendency toward addiction and suicide would increase the likelihood of excessive selfies. In other words, the correlation […]
Continue reading →Before he was the new CEO (and now the ex-CEO) for Mozilla (the company behind the Firefox web browser), Brendan Eich made a personal donation to support Proposition 8—the legislation in California intended to define marriage as between one man and one woman. And when homosexual activists found out about it, they decided to boycott […]
Continue reading →Apparently some people are upset with the University of Georgia (UGA) basketball team coaches for setting standards of behavior for their players. The intrusive, extensive guidelines for life have been called a breach of first and fourth amendment rights. You may think that UGA must have some crazy rules to be getting those kind of […]
Continue reading →If you ever doubt the empirical fact of total depravity, please, spend a few hours scouring our comment section—or any comment section. Your belief in humanity will faulter. Your belief in total depravity will be reconfirmed. It turns out internet rage is actually bad for everyone, though, both for the commenter and the one reading […]
Continue reading →An article in the National Journal has the headline “How Google is Trying to Protect Your Drug Supply.” That sounds nice doesn’t it? Your drug supply. The article outlines how Google is now partnering with federal agencies (mostly the FDA) to make sure that dangerous drugs don’t get into the hands of poor, unsuspecting citizens […]
Continue reading →A new study indicates that gossip is actually good for society because it increases cooperation and helps reform bullies. The study, conducted by Stanford University, separated participants into two cooperative groups. In one group, participants were allowed to confer about the performance of each member of their group for each stage of cooperative interaction. In […]
Continue reading →G. K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy: Modern masters of science are much impressed with the need of beginning all inquiry with a fact. The ancient masters of religion were quite equally impressed with that necessity. They began with the fact of sin—a fact as practical as potatoes. . . . Certain new theologians dispute original […]
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