Rappler's latest stories on Science Solitaire
The Extinction Spa
Hello human marauder. The nature you knew, the one who served you and your ancestors, is now down to her endlings.
Civic honesty around the world
In the case of lost wallets, it would seem that most of us are not willing to pay the mental cost of feeling like a thief
Inside extremists' brains
Studies suggest that just as there is no one simple cause to political, religious, or social radicalization, there is also no one strong hand punitive measure to solve radicalization
How crocheting rescued math
Normally, when you think of nature, you do not think of structure. But the work of people like mathematician and science writer Margaret Wertheim will convince you otherwise.
Why we need creative masters to redefine our world
How far-reaching is human imagination?
Why musical performances are not 'escapes'
The science and art of the power of music to help us become better human beings are solid and irrefutable
What do you really think of science?
To be an advocate for science is to be an advocate for the best of what our species can do in terms of understanding the world, others, and ourselves
The cold will inherit the Earth
It is not 'wealthy country warming' that is happening, but global warming. We all live in a planet that has been warming.
If we are natural givers, why don't we give enough?
Why is it that the most urgent and important causes in our community, country, and planet seem to not benefit enough from this basic feature of our humanity?
Time in a battle
The human mind belongs to a very strange league of time-sensing
The science of awakening
Awakenings do not inflame tragedy or sorrow. Awakenings get you to a level that transcends your sorrows, fears, and frustrations.
Death Day
We can delay death, of course, but we cannot run away from it. So we should really learn how to live and talk about death in our normal conversations.
How about it? A no-selfie travel adventure
Imagine if instead of photos, you have the sound of a crowded plaza, a parade, or a school reunion!
The science behind 'taking it out on someone'
What if you were asked to trust someone for the first time? What would make you trust them?
To be under the spell of a gaze
Eye contact is more than just a laser alignment of the irises of two people
By the time you are 20
Learning is more complex than just going to school, getting a job, and playing Sudoku or crossword puzzles to keep your mind together later in life
Wait, plants could talk?
Plants have a planet within our own planet, and that planet is keeping us alive. Losing plants in a massive scale such as when we decimate forests is literally pulling the ground from underneath us.
Can we really scale human learning?
The real proof that you have learned is not what you know but what you do with what you know
The antidote to nagging childhood pain
Our childhood years quickly give way to the teenage years, and it is at this stage that the effects of childhood adversity usually take their toll
Genes and your Valentine prospects
We wonder about many things when we are attracted to someone, and probably the list expands when we consider marriage. But are genes part of those considerations?
Leveling expectations between the sexes on Valentine's Day
'Romance' in female brains generally takes on the form of language, while in male brains, it largely, so to speak, rises and falls as an 'act'
My FB: Forgetbook
Instead of Facebook, I want a Forgetbook – a network of personal accounts with pixels gracefully and artfully degrading at random rates like real life, reminding us that not all matter, matters to all of us, all the time
'Nature-deficit disorder'
Nature experience is essential in the inner life of any child
The science of small talk
This constant roar of the river of chat within us that rises to the surface and comes out as 'small talk' seems to be one of the most striking traits that define us as humans
Sense, sensibility, and vocabulary
Our vocabulary is shaped by what we sense
Joni Mitchell and the Dying Planet Report
There is a deadline before our planet's dying trend becomes irreversible. The reversal has to begin today. What will you do?
Considerata VIII
As you insist on your humanity, let it grow. Start by changing your mind.
The superpower gift to stop
The one thing that smartphones have taken away from us is the Stop Sign. This holiday season is the perfect time to press pause on social media and pay attention to our real lives.
Cross-cutting topics for holiday conversations
Here are 5 conversational themes that could mend or fill in some gaps in your family and friend connections
The dawn of the age of the genetically fashionable
What He Jiankui has done is the genetic version of the 'like' game on social media
When science inspires your gift-giving
Want to give gifts that are science-inspired? Read on!
Art could help medical science save your life
Aside from medical prescriptions, there are 'social prescriptions' that play a significant role in healing
What does the state of your bookshelf say about you?
Books tear down the walls of what society assumed to be fixed, or at least, could largely be demolished only by political or economic policies. Books are revolutionary in themselves.
Why blurting out the first thing that comes to your mind is not a virtue
Your one and only life is worth the brainwork
Science has started mapping our feelings
The human experience is a galaxy of feelings
Thought-shifting spaces
How would you want your work and living spaces to reflect what you love about life?
The best learners: the forager and the Renaissance human
We humans invented the disciplines so we can highlight various aspects of reality for a deeper understanding. It's time to unlearn the borders we made so we can see where the disciplines connect and where they diverge.
The lovely secrets of the 'signing' brain
Sign language is another language, and therefore, another rich world, another empowering culture that, like any other language, expands your mind
The risking brain
We are wired to fear far more than we are to be reasonable. But are we all created to be equally fearful?
The air that dims our brains
Air pollution is making us dumb and it will grow worse because we are urbanizing fast
How bitter becomes sweet: It's all in your head
Food has taken on a flavor that is much more than the tastes it elicits
The 7-point science of why we forget our 'dark' past
Ever heard of 'unethical amnesia'?
Entering the age of human upgrades
It turns out that in medicine, one key to new resurrections can be found in jumpstarting faulty, old lives
The art and science of eating with total strangers
There is probably no wall that food cannot melt and break down
The power of color on perception
Who we are and how we behave relies greatly on what we see
If you think love is (supply image), how will you love?
Humans shake things up – not only when we act. It could start with how we think about something.
If you drew your own geography, what would it look like?
How many places do we really hold constant in our hearts at any time in our lifetime?
We are losing these 'old friends'
There is a deep, biological reason why we gravitate toward rural areas when we need a break from our frenzied city lives
Part 2: What is your education worth?
Life and all its bits are connected. Knowing how those connections could work for your life is key to nailing your purpose.
