Breaking News: Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French author whose graphic novel series “Persepolis” illuminated the struggles of Iranians during the Islamic Revolution, died at 56.

For more information, details, and FAQ on HOPOS's move to Cambridge, follow this link: hopos.org/move-to-camb...

RIP Edgar Morin (1921-2026)

When experts aren't influencers and influencers aren't experts..

Most people know Henry David Thoreau as the author of “Walden.” But his groundbreaking scientific work — especially his observations of nature and environmental change — is often overlooked.

Thiel: "The future demands more compute than we can imagine. Extraterrestrial solutions are no longer science fiction. Panthalassa has opened the ocean frontier.” The fiction was never the point. It's the infrastructure.

Now available OA online, with no fewer than 45 chapters!

Digital tsundoku is a thing too.

A U.S. soldier has been charged with using inside information to win $400,000 in an online betting market on Venezuelan President Maduro’s capture, federal officials announced Thursday.

Yes, Swiss scientist Fritz Zwicky coined the term “dark matter” which is impressive, but he also coined the term “spherical bastard” to describe people who are bastards no matter which way you look at them, and I think that should be celebrated more.

How are people identifying and handling uncertainty and volatility? 'Schrödinger'-ing everything.

"Society needs specialized humanities research—research that delves deeply into literary, linguistic, or cultural topics," says @paulakrebs.bsky.social. We need to invest in humanities research for the advancement of society. #TalkAboutHumanities

When one of 10 sections in a paper reaches 40 pages....

I should expand a couple of chapters of one of my books in progress (Maxwell) into another book with more cases in chemistry, computing, and then genetics (Astbury), and more, titled The Fabric of the World (and Mind?)

My read on past and proposed science cuts: it's both about the anti-science push from at least some churches and industry interests AND about an anti-public-funding push from differet industry interests, privatized science. Many stand to benefit from both gov cuts & contracts

Working Knowledge: A Simon Schaffer Reader, eds. Charlotte Bigg, John Tresch, and Simon Werrett – @uchicagopress.bsky.social, April 2026 press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

"“This is not a war for security. It’s a war for the political economy of fossil fuels – and the people paying the price are Iranian civilians and working‑class communities around the world.”

Large language mistake Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... #LLM #AI #language #intelligence #philosophy #PhilosophySky #philsky

The Iran war is tightening global tech supply chains by cutting off helium from Qatar, a key source of the gas used in advanced industries like chipmaking.

So the humanities, and philosophy in particular, are back—not on the sidelines, but as another battlefield. In this case, the battle can be won. It may take a few rounds, but Larijani isn't the first to try to enlist Kant in the service of an antihumanist philosophy. A great article. t.ly/QjBgU

Philosophers have turned from timeless to timely questions.

When Spring Break feels neither like spring nor a break.

Heidegger's philosophical concepts are challenging sculptures. Einstein's scientific concepts are challenging technical tools.

When you buy a cheaper used copy of a work by an admired author and it comes with a signed dedication (to the previous owner/reader!).

We make our objects of inquiry pose like we make our photographic subjects, even when we just mean to catch a pose. It's not just selection from their assumed manifoldness, but from our own panoply of possible constructions and interactions.

Philosophers and philosophies are children of their time, which they turn into thought. Habermas' time was long over and his intellectual mourning signals one more type of consoling idealism and one more exercise in futile nostalgia, with hope and no expectation. We're mourning our own predicament.

Prior to Habermas' death, this week I have used four times in writing the word 'Habermasian'.

RIP Jürgen Habermas (1929-2026)

The question of just war or legitimate violence is continuous with the question of legitimate police force. Politically foreign policy extends, and shifts attention from,the exercise of violence in domestic policy. Technologically & historically the distinction has become blurred & one of reliance.

We asked people around the world to rate the morality and ethics of others in their country. The U.S. is the only place we surveyed where more adults describe the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad than good. See our full morality report here: www.pewresearch.org/...

28 scientists say political pressure to remove a chapter on climate science in a manual for judges is a troubling turn for other disciplines, too. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social sciencepolitics.org/2026/03/02/a...

So turns out Cantor stole the proof that \\(\mathbb{R}\\) is uncountable from Dedekind https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-man-who-stole-infinity-20260225/

'Aesthetic breakthrough' www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

AIs can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes in war game simulations Leading AIs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google opted to use nuclear weapons in simulated war games in 95 per cent of cases www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

I have spent the past several months studying the cutting-edge research on modern democracies that have defeated authoritarian leaders. I've learned that the conventional wisdom on the topic is wrong — in ways that have clear implications for the US going forward THREAD www.vox.com/politics/479...