Monthly Archives: April 2017

I Want to Live: TOS “The Enemy Within”

Posted on Thursday 27 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

A transporter malfunction splits Kirk into two beings, one a savage Kirk, one a docile Kirk, while crew members on a freezing planet below cannot be rescued until the malfunction is fixed. In the enhanced graphics, we see a nice … Continue reading →

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I Can Do Anything: Mark Haddon’s THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

Posted on Monday 24 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Last week I posted a look back at 20 Years of Locus Online and, having asked my lead contributors over the years for their best or exceptional posts, revisited an 11-year-old essay by film reviewer Gary Westfahl, Homo aspergerus: Evolution … Continue reading →

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Wishing Things Away: The Gays, and Abortions

Posted on Monday 24 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Several recent items about two topics recently struck me as similar in the way some conservatives deny their reality or think they can simply wish them away. In Chechnya, there have been reports in recent weeks that authorities are rounding … Continue reading →

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Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science

Posted on Monday 24 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Dear Facebook Universe, I offer this four-minute video on “Science in America” containing what may be the most important words I have ever spoken. As always, but especially these days, keep looking up. — Neil deGrasse Tyson Science In America … Continue reading →

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Harari on THE KNOWLEDGE ILLUSION

Posted on Sunday 23 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

In today’s NYT Book Review, Yuval Noah Harari reviews THE KNOWLEDGE ILLUSION: Why We Never Think Alone, by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach. The review’s opening echoes Harari’s own work, e.g. What gave Homo sapiens an edge over all other … Continue reading →

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March for Science

Posted on Friday 21 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve never marched for any cause — it’s not my style — but I think tomorrow’s “March for Science” is as worthy as anything could be, despite the inevitable casting of science as some sort of partisan issue. It’s the … Continue reading →

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Fine, Evie, Fine: TOS “Mudd’s Women”

Posted on Wednesday 19 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

The Enterprise rescues the crew of a rogue spaceship and deals with Harry Mudd, whose scheme is to sell women to lonely miners on distant planets. As the story begins the Enterprise pursues renegade ship, Harry Mudd’s. In the enhanced … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Molly Worthen on Evangelicals and Fake News

Posted on Monday 17 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

New York Times’ Sunday Review: Molly Worthen on The Evangelical Roots of Our Post-Truth Society. The arrival of the “post-truth” political climate came as a shock to many Americans. But to the Christian writer Rachel Held Evans, charges of “fake … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Thinking about the Future; Doctors and Fake News; Polls about Atheists

Posted on Monday 17 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate: Our Puny Human Brains Are Terrible at Thinking About the Future, to follow up on the Elizabeth Kolbert post a few days ago. Some people regularly connect with their future selves, but a majority does not. And this matters, … Continue reading →

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That Dress, and How to Do Science

Posted on Monday 17 April 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate: Two Years Later, We Finally Know Why People Saw “The Dress” Differently Two points here. First, the controversy over the color of the dress — blue and black or white and gold — is certainly the most widely-known example … Continue reading →

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