Yet another clinical study has confirmed the growing body of evidence linking inadequate sleep to obesity. One of the more surprising factors linked to weight gain is lack of sleep. More and more research studies are finding that poor sleep patterns and insufficient sleep are closely linked to weight gain and obesity. The mechanism linking … learn more→

A ground-breaking report examining the experiences of nearly 50 British women of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and faiths (or no faith) – who have all converted to Islam – was launched in London yesterday by the University of Cambridge. The report (http://bit.ly/12tv0YM), produced by the University’s Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS), in association with the … learn more→

We’ve come a long way, as a species. And we’re better at many things than we ever were before – not just slightly better, but unimaginably, ridiculously better. We’re better at transporting people and objects, we’re better a killing, we’re better at preventing infectious diseases, we’re better at industrial production, agricultural and economic output, we’re … learn more→

Some of the columns that I write arise from a really basic formula. It goes something like this: I make a mistake at work. I realize my error, or am compelled by another party to realize it, and I take corrective action. Then I write a column addressing the mistake in general terms, in hopes … learn more→

On May 10, the New York Times’ daily news highlights included the following lead items: In Hours, Thieves Took $45 Million in A.T.M. Scheme By Marc Santora The authorities said laptops and the Internet were used in more than two dozen countries to steal from A.T.M.’s, including 2,904 machines in New York City, in one … learn more→

Channel 4 was censured by Ofcom last week for cutting to a light-hearted sponsorship advert just after viewers had watched the particularly graphic and disturbing rape scene in the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Phones 4 U sponsorship ad was thought to be especially inappropriate for that moment as it features a … learn more→

Casey Brienza’s recent post discussing sacrifice on the academic job market really resonated with me. I chose family over my career, and ended up in the middle of relatively nowhere, alone, at home with a young child, and adrift both personally and professionally. That was almost four years ago. However, a funny thing has happened … learn more→

Reading even just the headlines to these new stories in The Onion should put a smile on your face: Snooze Button Time Traveler Sets Coordinates for Five Minutes into the Future Nation’s Amateur Skateboarders Haven’t Landed Trick in 12 Years 17-Year Cicadas Horrified to Learn about 9/11 Man Creates Functional Gun on 3-D Printer Seedless … learn more→

Public opinion and governments wrestle with a difficult problem: whether or not to intervene in Syria. The standard arguments are well known – just war theory, humanitarian protection of civilian populations, the westphalian right of states to non-intervention, the risk of quagmires, deterrence against chemical weapons use… But the news that an American group has … learn more→

Huffington Post recently ran a series of photographs of an abandoned farmhouse in which all of the previous occupants’ furniture and other belongings have been left to gather dust. Here are several of those photos: The rest of the photographs in this series can be found at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/28/abandoned-farmhouse_n_3163713.html These photographs reminded me of the haunting … learn more→