Ryan Sayre Patrico

There must be a lesson in here for all of us: Boxing fans will gather in Birmingham on Friday night to witness the final fight of a man who should be remembered for ever as Britain’s most spectacular sporting loser . . . . Buckley has lost more fights than any other boxer in the world. . . . . Continue Reading »

The journal Psychosomatic Medicine has published a study that shows how intellectual work actually makes you hungry. A group of students was asked to complete a series of mental tests, after which they were presented with an all-you-can-eat buffet. On average, the group ate more after thinking than . . . . Continue Reading »

From book twelve of Homer’s Odyssey : Enough: in misery can words avail? And what so tedious as a twice-told tale? Zbigniew Janowski, reviewing Edith Hall’s new book The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey in the November issue of First Things , shows how . . . . Continue Reading »

Atheist Richard Dawkins has announced that he is relinquishing his post at Oxford University in order to write a book aimed at convincing children not to believe in “anti-scientific” fairy-tales. Apparently, conquering Cinderella is a full-time job. Times Columnist Libby Purves is glad . . . . Continue Reading »

By way of Arts & Letters Daily comes this interview with researcher Chen-Bo Zhong who has worked to understand the connection between abstract concepts and physical feelings: When people’s moral self image is threatened, as when they think about their own unethical past behaviors, people . . . . Continue Reading »

We drink a lot of coffee in the office, so imagine my surprise when I read researchers have found that people who held a cup of hot coffee for 10 to 25 seconds warmed to a perfect stranger. Holding a cup of iced coffee had the opposite effect . . . . The study, to be published today in the journal . . . . Continue Reading »

This week we’ve pointed out a couple instances of the confusion surrounding the global-warming debate. If you’re looking for a clear and constructive forum on the topic, you should check out the website Climate Debate Daily , which compiles articles and news stories both for and against . . . . Continue Reading »

Scientists from UCLA have found an unexpected—not to mention cheap—way to produce x-rays: Scotch Tape . Just two weeks after a Nobel Prize highlighted theoretical work on subatomic particles, physicists are announcing a startling discovery about a much more familiar form of matter: Scotch . . . . Continue Reading »

With the election , the economy , and the environment making headlines everyday, it seems we could all spend a bit of time in the ” world’s most relaxing room. ” . . . . Continue Reading »

In the current issue of First Things we are pleased to have an article by Amy Julia Becker entitled “Babies Perfect and Imperfect,” a reflection on how having a child with Down syndrome has deepened Becker’s understanding of what it means to be human: Early on, I had asked my . . . . Continue Reading »