Denyse O'Leary
The Multiverse: Better in Fiction Than in Real Life?
The multiverse may be “unscientific nonsense” or a “religious” belief, as some physicists assert but the rules of storytelling are not the laws of nature
Once a Supporter, Science Writer Airs Doubts About Free Will
ChatGPT has set John Horgan thinking about whether he is just "ChatGPT-Me" himself
Pew: Post-COVID, Trust in Science Dropped Significantly
Most other institutions have taken a hit in trust as well. But what would it take for science in particular to pull out?
The Free Will Debate Really Heated Up This Year
Many commentators are weighing in; surprisingly, perhaps, well-known materialists are disputing the claim that there is no free will
Will Neuroscience Ever Accommodate Immaterial Consciousness?
Joseph Green offers an informative account in Minding the Brain of the current state of neuroscience. What we now know is remarkable — but so is what we don’t
Organ Transplants: How the Internet Enables the Dark Side
Euthanasia activists offer to "ease" the donor organ shortage, and so do cartels that exploit the world’s most vulnerable poor
Only an Immaterial Mind Can Ask “How Does Life Work?”
Science writer Philip Ball, facing cancer surgery, struggles to find meaning and purpose in a wholly material world. He is looking in the wrong place
Exopsychology: The Psychology of No One We Ever Knew
The academic attempt to establish a psychology of alien intelligences — for whose existence we have no evidence — tells us something about ourselves
Yes, the Film on Near-Death Experiences Is Another “Hated Hit”
As with Sound of Freedom, critics trashed After Death but audiences loved it. And the critics just aren’t keeping up with the science
Footwear From Over 75,000 Years Ago? Some Fascinating Hints
Some researchers focus on changes in human foot bones, others on evidence of foot protection on ancient trackways
Will the Octopus Ever Find Its Way Into a Tidy Evolutionary Tree?
New finds in genetics and neuroscience both shed light and deepen the puzzle of the almost "alien" species
Can Evolution Create Free Will? A Neurologist Says Yes
Could the impersonal natural force of evolution shape hierarchies in the human cerebral cortex so that we have the free will that it does not itself have?
Model Collapse: AI Chatbots Are Eating Their Own Tails
The problem is fundamental to how they operate. Without new human input, their output starts to decay
When Did Humans First Start Burying the Dead?
One of the things paleontologists look for is special care taken in the placement of the deceased's body
Why are eccentric theories of consciousness tolerated?
Even prominent theorists have held eccentric theories of consciousness. It stems from the apparent impossibility of deriving human consciousness from the material substances of the brain
Can Roger Penrose Explain Consciousness Through Physics?
The Nobel Laureate physicist makes clear that he only wants a theory of human consciousness if the explanation comes down to physics
Neuroscience Has Never Provided Much Evidence for Materialism
In a chapter of the new book, Minding the Brain, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor points out that many great neuroscientists were non-materialists
Social Media Dissolve Borders for Orphans
Sometimes it can create awareness of seemingly insurmountable problems, old and new — child sacrifice and organ harvesting