Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 7/28/2008 § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

Seed’s Daily Zeitgeist: 7/28/2008

July 28, 2008

Five issues, insights, and observations shaping our perspective, from the editors of Seed.

The Science of Satire
What studies of cognition have to say about the recent New Yorker cover.
Texas to Tel Aviv
Unlikely heroes push a green energy agenda, says Thomas Friedman of The New York Times.
The Innumeracy of Intellectuals
Is there an academic double standard for faculty?
YouTube’s star lecturer dies at 47
You may have seen this before, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t find an hour and watch it again.
What philosophy of science and “postmodernism” have in common
What exactly is the goal of science, again?

Seed

Innovation

Let There Be Light

Astronomers will soon find scores of Earth-sized exoplanets, but imaging them may be decades away. That is, unless NASA decides to build a starshade.
Ideas

Into the Uncanny Valley

New findings shed light on a century’s worth of bizarre explanations for the eerie feeling we get around lifelike robots.
World

Signs from Above

The release of an apocalyptic movie prompts NASA to debunk planetary rumors, fowl play shuts down the LHC, and the Catholic Church discusses alien life.