Right Now
The $2-Trillion War
War is messy, and putting a price tag on a war that stretches over years, with consequences lasting decades longer, is a staggering task. Yet in...
Of Mice and Hands
"Computer use does not cause carpal tunnel syndrome.” Moreover, “no one has proven that the disease is made worse by work on a...
Sex and the Inner City
The sexual and romantic habits of urban black males have long been a subject of scrutiny. Forty years ago, the Moynihan Report—The Negro...
Downloading Deafness
Most of us by now have had problems communicating with an oblivious headphone user who ignores our impatient repetitions of “Excuse...
Waiting to Inhale
Extreme sports usually mean speed, danger, or spectacular stuntsthings like snowboarding, skateboarding, rock climbing. They may reach...
The Market for News
Imagine that the Labor Department releases new statistics that show the U.S. unemployment rate rising from 6.1 to 6.3 percent. One major...
The Law of Dissimilars
Humans have a natural propensity to distrust the “other.” The classic social-psychology experiment in which individuals are randomly...
Light Blitzes Plaque
Fast forward a decade and imagine what a drugstore shelf might hold. A pill containing an entire day’s nutrients? A gadget that confers...
Rethinking New Orleans
In the immediate wake of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush promised to “do what it takes” to help New Orleans’s residents...
Clues on the Wing
Vladimir A. Lukhtanov saw Agrodiaetus butterflies of several species flying together, and even though they all looked much the same in most...