Muhammad Fanatil al-Hajaya’s poetry is full of arguments one would hear on the streets of Amman, Riyadh and Cairo, in coffee shops, barber shops and taxis.

Laden with animals, conspiracy theories and apocalyptic rhetoric, his verses reflect how many Arabs – educated and...

How is a human being like a fish?

Just as a fish never stops to think about the water in which it spends its entire life, so do many human beings rarely pause to consider the body fluids that make our lives possible.

Though not always fit for polite...

Strapped to the execution gurney in Huntsville, Texas, Michael Hall told those assembled to watch him die that he was not the same man who had shot a 19-year-old woman to death...

Recently a New York Times article on Russian submarine activity near undersea communications cables dredged up Cold War politics and generated widespread recognition of the submerged systems we all depend upon.

Not many people realize that undersea cables...

The United States is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, but the country’s fleet of nearly 100 reactors is showing its age.

On November 2, the owner of a nuclear power station in New York said it will shut...

For those of us who regularly read Grantland, ESPN’s announcement that it shuttered the boutique sports and pop culture website didn’t come as a surprise.

The site had steadily been moving away from its...

During the recent No Labels-hosted Problem Solver Convention in New Hampshire, things got a little uncomfortable.

When Joseph Choe, an Asian-American college student, stood up to ask a question about South Korea, Donald Trump cut him off and wondered aloud:...

China’s currency, the yuan, recently (and briefly) became the world’s fourth-most-used form of payment, behind the US dollar, euro and pound sterling, having (marginally) pushed past the Japanese yen.

Last week, China’s central bank discussed whether to make an...

In the run-up to the Paris climate change conference, there is much focus on countries’ voluntary commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (their so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions). These are, of course, a significant aspect of any...

Students are greeted these days with a barrage of marketing and advertising as they enter the school year. And there is no let-up. The ads are all over.

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) found ads in corridors, on scoreboards and vending machines, and inserted in the curricula through...