To little notice, an advisory commission charged with figuring out a permanent solution for America's nuclear waste has issued a new approach for siting a waste repository that just might work. It might succeed because it's based on a critical change in attitude. The commission respects that, at its white-hot...

If you want to know what goes on in your brain as you "think", and you can only read one of the flood of recent books on the subject, you can not do better than Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. It is a fascinating, rich, and eminently readable compendium...

The latest round of international negotiations about climate change are underway in South Africa, and will prompt a lot of press coverage, mostly about the likelihood that, once again, the nations of the world will fail to agree on anything of substance. But developments a couple weeks ago that...

Don Berwick, possibly the most widely respected and thoughtful expert on improving health care quality and controlling health care costs, has withdrawn his nomination as head of Medicare in the face of Republican opposition based on claims that Berwick wants to ration the availability of health care. Which is...

For all the benefits modern society provides, not least of which are vast improvements in public health and longevity, our advanced post-industrial technological/information age also produces risks, far too many for you and me to keep track of. We depend in part on watchdogs and advocacy groups to uncover these...

For all their apparent differences, the Occupy Wall Street protestors and the Tea Party are far more alike than either side, or the punditocracy, would like to admit. There is a profound connection the two movements do indeed share, not only with each other but with anyone who has felt...

White-hot conservative and libertarian anger at the size and intrusiveness of government is getting a lot of attention these days. It seems so fierce, so single-minded; Let the federal government default. Let the uninsured die. But two recent events in Texas illustrate how another emotion, fear, has much more...

As the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 nears, many are looking back, tallying the toll of our response in lives lost and money spent, and asking "Are we any safer?" Here is a different question. Are we any wiser? What have we learned that we might apply if (many...

As many people as were harmed by Hurricane and Tropical Storm Irene, many, from the safety of looking back, were also disappointed that the storm didn't put on a more dramatic show. One New Yorker lamented, "Lamest hurricane ever." That disappointment may be a bit naïve, but the charge that...

Four year-old Khafran was near death three days ago when he was brought to the refugee camp hospital. He was emaciated, his ribs showing through his taut dry skin. He panted for breath. His desperate eyes bulged. His mother, Alyan, could only sit at his side and watch, helpless, sad...

What do Rush Limbaugh, John Boehner, James Inhofe, and George Will have in common? Several things. They are influential members of society, 'elites' who have a big effect on policy. They adamantly deny that human-made climate change is happening. And they are all conservative white men. Probably the only...

Fear of vaccines is perhaps the classic example of the "perception gap," the phenomenon I've written about here before, where we are either more afraid of a lesser risk or not afraid enough of a bigger one, based on the best available evidence, and the gap itself creates danger. The...

It is not overstating it to say that the world will be watching Washington these next couple weeks, nervously, since the global economy relies on the full faith and credit of the United States, and America's ability to borrow money, and therefore to repay it's debts, is in jeopardy....

You see it all the time: the rationalist argument about the way people perceive risk. It goes something like this: "Why are you so afraid of X [insert some threat that has a really low probability but which is really scary] when you should be more afraid of Y [insert...

The outbreak of food-borne disease in Europe offers an interesting lesson in the psychology of risk perception, and how that psychology can contribute to the overall risk. To be sure, the danger from this outbreak is real. It has tragically killed nearly two dozen people so far, and sickened more...

The decision by a Toronto couple to keep the gender of their new baby Storm a secret, to protect the child from the constraints of social gender norms, is honorable. Naïve, but honorable.

What's puzzling is that the couple already has two sons. This means they ought...

There is an interesting piece at Book Beast about "The Future of Book Reviews: Critics vs. Amazon Reviewers." It reports on a panel discussion sponsored by the National Book Critics Circle which, unsurprisingly, included four prominent 'professional' reviewers but no one representing the casual reader/reviewer, who...

Fear is a great thing for bringing people together. Witness the nearly unanimous initial response to the death of Osama bin Laden. Witness the remarkable unity and civility among otherwise bitter political enemies. Witness the congratulations from nations around the world, nations that are usually so ready to criticize the...

The first glimmers of hope begin to shine from the nuclear crisis in Japan, but they will do little to brighten the views of some about nuclear power. As the disaster at Fukushima has shown, nuclear certainly has risks, as do all forms of energy. But the disaster has also...

While there is good news from the crippled reactors in Japan, another component of the threat of radiation still looms. The Japanese government, and the company in charge of the damaged nuclear complex, are struggling with their risk and crisis communications, and their missteps are fueling mistrust and anger, which...