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Why is America getting a new $100 billion nuclear weapon?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2/8/21
It’s unpopular and strategically dubious. Yet the US Air Force is spending big on this new weapon of mass destruction.
The Pandemic Closed Borders–and Stirred a Longing for Home
Wired, 10/1/20
The dispersed modern family depends on easy travel. Now that it’s much harder, the question becomes: How long is too long to not see a parent?
The Risks of Building Too Many Bio Labs
The NewYorker.com, 3/18/20
Alarmed by new pathogens, we’re building more labs to study them. Can we do so without raising the likelihood of a catastrophic breach?
David Sanger on the perfect weapon
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 10/24/18
The Pulitzer-winning author and national security correspondent talks about his new book The Perfect Weapon, one of the most accessible histories of cyberwar to date.
The California lawmaker who wants to call a bot a bot
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 8/23/18
How do you know if you’re dealing with a human? In this interview, California State Senator Robert Hertzberg talks about his legislation to make bots self-identify.
Beatrice Fihn explains why nuclear weapons are a scam
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 7/5/18
The 35-year-old leader of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), who accepted the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize on its behalf, thinks we should ban more than just nukes.
Who is Kim Jong-un?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 5/29/18
Pop quiz: Which of the following statements is true of Pyongyang’s three-Kim dynasty? (A) Kim Il-sung’s cult of personality inspired Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu; (B) Kim Jong-il kidnapped his favorite film director; (C) Kim Jong-un had his half-brother poisoned; or (D) All of the above.
Gene drive pioneer Kevin Esvelt tries to make science less secret
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 3/4/18
Kevin Esvelt pioneered the concept of using Crispr and gene drive technology to alter whole species. Today, he is researching ways to limit the spread of introduced gene drives. In this interview, he discusses how and why to make science more open, and much else.
Bunkers for the 0.003 percent
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 7/5/17
In the TV series Battlestar Galactica, a secretary of education, who is away when the Cylons attack with nuclear weapons, soon becomes president because everyone else in her government is dead. Substitute Russians for Cylons, and US leaders prepared for a similar scenario. My interview with Garrett Graff, author of Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself—While the Rest of Us Die.
NUKEMAP creator Alex Wellerstein puts nuclear risk on the radar
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 7/4/17
In 2012, science historian Alex Wellerstein created NUKEMAP, an online tool that lets users pick a place, pick a type of nuclear weapon, and click a red button that says “detonate” to see the devastating results. He had no idea how popular it would be.
Can women save the world?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 6/15/17
Wonder Woman wants to defeat Ares, the god of war, and thereby restore peace to mankind. But the real-life history of women-led peace movements is also exceptionally rich. Why is that?
IARPA Director Jason Matheny advances tech tools for US espionage
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 3/4/17
Gone are the days of cipher machines and cleverly disguised pistols – today’s spies need more sophisticated tools. For that, American intelligence agencies turn to the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, IARPA. In this interview, Director Jason Matheny explains how the agency does its work.
Crusades of the clueless: Who will win the war on science?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 11/1/16
There once was a civilization that led the world in science, but it abandoned its tradition of scientific inquiry and collapsed into closed-mindedness and despotism. My review of The War on Science: Who’s Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It, a big, bracing battle cry by Shawn Otto.
What does “nuclear terrorism” really mean?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 4/7/16
There are few scarier pairs of words: “nuclear,” evoking the great 20th century fear of atomic annihilation, and “terrorism,” the bogeyman of the 21st. Put them together and you’ve got a frightening specter. But what is nuclear terrorism? An explainer.
“Pandemic” author Sonia Shah
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 3/29/16
Sonia Shah warned in her 2016 book that novel pathogens would cause human pandemics. In this interview, the author of Pandemic: tracking contagions, from cholera to Ebola and beyond, explains how new diseases are born and spread.
A religious nature: Philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr on Islam and the environment
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 9/1/15
Nearly 50 years ago, Islamic philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr published The Encounter of Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man. In this interview, the 82-year old George Washington University professor talks about what the Koran says on the environment and leading a delegation to the Vatican, among other subjects.
Seoul’s hundred faces
The New York Times, 7/23/15
A novelist, a fashion designer, a musician and a film director–Academy Award-winner Bong Joon-ho–show me their favorite parts of Seoul.
Cloud control: an interview with nuclear-winter expert Alan Robock
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 5/1/15
Should we manipulate the climate system to counter the effects of global warming? What could possibly go wrong? In this interview, climatologist and nuclear winter expert Alan Robock talks about geoengineering, his encounters with the CIA and Fidel Castro, and what movie stars he thinks could best get his message across.
In Calgary, Exploring the Cultural Side of “Cowtown”
The New York Times, 10/23/14
Fine food, river paths, galleries: A creative transformation fueled by petrodollars and enterprising locals.
Getting rid of chemical weapons in Syria and beyond
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 10/9/14
An interview with Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
WHO’s Maurizio Barbeschi talks about MERS and mass events
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 6/9/14
When people gather in massive numbers–like during pilgrimages and sporting events or after natural disasters–the risk of disease transmission goes up. An interview with the World Health Organization’s Maurizio Barbeschi.
Beneath Malta’s Beauty, a Tangled History
The New York Times, 12/6/13
A spectacular island where civilizations clashed.
In Mexico, Eco Concerns Where Sea Lions Romp
The New York Times, 4/24/13
Humpack whales, sea lions, and reef fish in my log from the Sea of Cortez.
In Laos, the Lady and the Jars
The New York Times, 7/13/12
If archaeologist Madeleine Colani, a scholar of the Plain of Jars, could traverse this route in 1932, surely I could do it today.
Hangover in a Strange Land
The New York Times, 8/26/10
My review of Rachel Shukert’s Everything is Going to be Great: an underfunded and overexposed European grand tour.
The Extremely Male Brain
Forbes, 6/12/09
What caused the explosion in autism diagnoses, and why are boys more affected by the disorder? I asked Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre.