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Epic Games Store decides "at the last minute" not to distribute Horses
Epic Games Store is the latest online storefront to withdraw support for the provocative indie game, Horses.
Netflix launches a mobile-friendly version of Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is officially available for Netflix subscribers on iOS and Android Devices.
Wait times drop in King County for people in mental health crisis
Two years ago, the average wait time for patients to get a mental health evaluation from a Designated Crisis Responder was nearly 5 days. Now, it's 11 hours.
Helio Highlight: Comets, the Sun, and You
This article shows educators how comets help us learn about the Sun and Space Weather. Connected to educational resources that help K-12+ teachers explain solar wind and space science concepts in simple, engaging ways for students.
Indiana maps drawn 'purely for political performance' of GOP, bill author says
The author of Indiana's new congressional redistricting bill acknowledged the maps are "politically gerrymandered" but defended them against accusations of illegal racial gerrymandering.
Red Dead Redemption Out Now on Netflix, iOS, Android, PS5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2
Experience John Marston's journey across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico to hunt down the remaining members of the Van der Linde Gang in Red Dead Redemption along with his fight to stop a virulent zombie plague in Undead...
Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid live stream: Where to watch online
It's a huge clash as Barca attempt to remain atop the table in Spain
Tom Brady's niece Maya selected No. 1 overall in AUSL Expansion Draft
Brady, 24, is a shortstop known for her defensive versatility and power at the plate.
Incredible Health Reaches 1.5 Million Nurses as AI Voice Agents Drive Record Growth
SAN FRANCISCO, December 02, 2025--Incredible Health, the largest AI company powering healthcare hiring, today announced it has reached 1.5 million nurses on its career marketplace, representing half of active nurses in the United States. The company now serves more than 1,500 US healthcare employers. Eight weeks ago, Incredible Health introduced Gale and Lyn, two purpose-built AI voice agents designed to revolutionize the hiring experience for both healthcare workers and employers. The agents ar
Amid anti-drug push, Trump pardons leader sentenced on cocaine charges
Trump said Nov. 28 that he planned to pardon the former Honduran leader, and a White House official confirmed Dec. 2 that the pardon had been issued.
How To Scale Your Business With Influencers
Influencer marketing has evolved from experimental tactics to a channel driving impact across the full funnel, with leaders recognizing its bottom-line value.
New entertainment district allows locals to browse and booze in fast-growing Alabama city
Patrons will be able to drink from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Michael and Susan Dell donate $6.25B to fund 'Trump accounts'
Michael Dell and his wife pledged $6.25 billion to support the new "Trump accounts" program giving American children $1,000 at birth plus additional bonuses.
Head Start Is a Model for Supporting Child and Family Mental Health
Amid a pronounced youth mental health crisis in the United States, Head Start stands out as a crucial model for addressing the needs of vulnerable young children.
New Nonprofit Addresses National Health Crisis Empowering People Nationwide to Heal from Trauma and Build Resilience
A new national nonprofit is taking a grassroots approach to one of America's most urgent health challenges: Trauma. Remarkably Resilient, Inc., founded by sisters Kathleen Harnish McKune and Karen Dickson, today announces the official national launch of its Remarkably Resilient Together (RRT) campaign – a neuroscience-informed movement that comprises accessible, easy-to-use tools to help vulnerable individuals, families and professionals heal from trauma, manage stress and build resilience.
After Snowy Small Business Saturday, Chicago Shop Owners Urge Neighbors To Buy Local
With this weekend's snowstorm keeping some customers home on Small Business Saturday, local businesses saw 40-60 percent drops in sales. They hope the rest of the season can make up for it.
Newsom Shares Mock Medical Report After Trump's MRI Results
The fictional medical letter penned by “Dr. Dolittle" imitated some of the statements put forward by Trump’s physician.
Dell family to give $6.25 billion to create 25 million additional 'Trump Accounts'
"This gift is expected to reach nearly 80% of children age 10 and under across 75% of U.S. zip codes," according to Invest America.
Green Science Alliance Proposes New 3D "Jungle Gym like" Structure for Solar Power Generation
Dr. Ryohei Mori of Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd. - a company engaged in the research and development of cutting-edge environmental and energy technologies for decarbonization and building a carbon-neutral society—has proposed a new solar power generation system utilizing a 3D "jungle gym" structure, with proof-of-concept testing planned in the near future.
Police raid mail-order drugs business in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester Police said the mail-order drugs business has opened up significantly.
Drake Maye, 'aggressive' Patriots pummel Giants for 10th straight win
Drake Maye tossed two touchdowns and the New England Patriots out-gained the New York Giants by more than 150 yards to earn their 10th straight win.
Why Does It Feel Like You’re Dropping Around 30 Seconds After A Plane Takes Off?
Our ears and stomachs are very good at picking up on changes in acceleration.
Ask the Developer Vol. 20: Drag x Drive — Part 1 - News
This article has been translated from the original Japanese content. In this 20th volume of Ask the Developer, an interview series in which developers convey in their own words Nintendo's thoughts about creating products and the unusual details they…
Library offers custom ornaments for children’s holiday reading program
The Old Forge Library has begun a holiday reading incentive for children, offering personalized wooden ornaments crafted by Dennis Kenny for completing 10 books.
D-Wave Announces Formation of U.S. Government Business Unit
PALO ALTO, Calif., December 02, 2025--D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) ("D-Wave" or the "Company"), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services and the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, announced today that it has formed a new business unit dedicated to driving the adoption of its quantum computing products and services with the U.S. government. Led by seasoned government and public sector business executive Jack Sears Jr., the newly formed unit will suppo
Dr. Oz on Trump administration's health policy
Attempts are being made in Congress to work out how to advance a vote on health care subsidies and whether to extend them.
5 wallpaper apps you need to download now that MKBHD's Panels app is dead
MKBHD's Panels app is shutting down. Looking for a new wallpaper app to replace it? I found five excellent choices.
The science of storytelling: How narrative accelerates the bioeconomy
In the bioeconomy, breakthroughs alone don’t drive change. Storytelling translates complexity into clarity, turning data into belief through stories
White House distances Hegseth from second strike on alleged drug boat
Defence secretary gave order for strikes but did not say to ‘kill everybody’, according to White House spokesperson
Feds Promised ‘Radical Transparency’ but Are Withholding Rural Health Fund Applications
Proposals from states that have shared their applications to a new $50 billion rural health program include using drones to deliver medication, installing refrigerators to expand access to healthy produce, and bringing telehealth to libraries, day cares, and senior centers.
Lammy to address ‘court emergency’ but expected to safeguard jury system
Justice secretary appears to have pulled back from plans to scrap juries for all but the most serious cases
A Cadre of EPA Scientists Move To the Private Sector
Former EPA scientists who responded to emergencies are now in the private sector. What does that mean for future crises?
Shall future military leaders be mere ideological drones?
As my regular reader will recall (Hi, Jeff!) from my mentioning it here dozens of times, I spent the largest part of my 25-plus years as an active-duty Air Force officer teaching at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Though I taught a wide range of courses during the 15 years I spent there […]
Trump’s health comes under spotlight, as president hails ‘eternity’ of three years left
Trump is finding himself increasingly judged by the same scrutiny of ageism that proved catastrophic for Biden
Google Patches 107 Android Flaws, Including Two Framework Bugs Exploited in the Wild
Google Patches 107 Android Flaws, Including Two Framework Bugs Exploited in the Wild | Read more hacking news on The Hacker News cybersecurity news website and learn how to protect against cyberattacks and software vulnerabilities.
Updated Android Security Bulletin sets stage for a weighty December 2025 security patch
With fixes expected to arrive soon.
U.S. ski resorts are bracing for a steep drop in international travel due to politics
Canadians usually head south for the skiing, shopping and nightlife in American ski towns. But due to cross-border politics, tourism to the U.S. is down, and some resorts are worried.
Cubs' Marquee Sports Network eliminates GM position among cuts
The network significantly reduced its digital-content team, including cutting director of content Tony Andracki and reporter Andy Martinez.
Steam Machine is a Dream Come True But There's Already a Massive Problem
Steam Machine sounds like a great option for those who want to get into PC gaming, but there seems to be a catch
Apple just named a new AI chief with Google and Microsoft expertise, as John Giannandrea steps down
The move is being characterized as a shake-up, but was seemingly inevitable in retrospect.
Lawmakers demand audio and video of boat attack as follow-up strike raises concern on Capitol Hill
The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday said Secretary Pete Hegseth had confirmed to him there was a second US strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September — an attack that has drawn bipartisan scrutiny on Capitol Hill.
As energy plan nears completion, New York lags on climate goals
New York’s progress on its higher level emissions benchmarks has deteriorated even from the release of the draft plan in July.
As energy plan nears completion, New York lags on climate goals
New York’s progress on its higher level emissions benchmarks has deteriorated even from the release of the draft plan in July.
Science teacher bringing lessons to life with a touch of magic
Alexus Ables uses magic and real-life experiences to draw her students in to learning.
Map unveiled as Indiana House gets down to redistricting business
Millions of Hoosiers would have different representation in the U.S. House under a proposed redrawing of Indiana’s congressional maps that aims to produce a 9-0 GOP delegation.
Last Call for 12.1.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida
A digest of the day's politics and policy while the bartender refreshes your drink.
Zac Taylor gives health updates on Tee Higgins, Trey Hendrickson
Zac Taylor provided the latest updates on several key players ahead of the Bengals upcoming game against the Bills
The AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Noise Canceling Earbuds Drops to $149.99 for Cyber Monday
Certified open box (new) from an eBay vendor with 400,000 feedback and a 99.7% rating.
Apple Artificial Intelligence Head to Leave After AI Struggles
Apple Inc. artificial intelligence head John Giannandrea plans to step down from the job, ending a challenging stint at the iPhone maker.
U of U Health Research Achieves Record Funding, Drives Advances to Tackle Health Challenges
University of Utah Health surpassed the half-billion–dollar mark in research funding for fiscal year 2025. These investments fuel research, advance treatments and technologies, boost Utah's econoomy, improve health across the state and worldwide, and support the training of future scientific leaders.
Gen Z And AI In The Business World
Gen Z founders surf AI-driven digital waves, prioritizing collaboration, owned platforms, differentiation, and hyper-personalized engagement.
Boston 25 News
“Super Bowl Sunday is the world’s biggest entertainment stage, and we’re proud to spotlight artists who embody the very best of music and culture."
Children who have smartphones by age 12 are at increased risk of health problems, new study finds
Dr. Rhonda Richards named Dean of John Massey School of Business | Southeastern Oklahoma State University
Southeastern Oklahoma State University has announced the appointment of alumna Dr. Rhonda Richards as Dean of the John Massey School of Business. Richards has served as Interim Dean of the Massey School – which includes AACSB-accredited business programs, AABI-accredited aviation programs, and BC
PAHO Director calls for strengthened health legislation and primary care during visit to the Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, December 1, 2025 (PAHO) – The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, today urged countries in the region to strengthen health legislation and reinforce primary health care, key pillars for more equitable, resilient, and sustainable health systems.
From Barton to Breakthrough Science
Dr. Taylor Medlock-Lanier, Class of 2020, has spent the last five years in her lab at the University of Georgia surrounded by containers of planarians—tiny flatworms with an extraordinary superpower. Cut one in half, and within a week, it will regrow its missing parts, including its entire brain. She’s been asking these tiny creatures a
Schumer says three of his New York offices were targeted with bomb threats
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says three of his New York offices were targeted with emailed bomb threats from an email address alleging the “2020 election was rigged.”
11 surprisingly simple, expert-backed fixes for dramatically better sleep | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Everyone has trouble sleeping from time to time, even sleep scientists. This is what they do to beat insomnia.
From Sidelines to Center Court
WSF conducted a three-year research initiative funded by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation focused on addressing access, engagement, and retention in sports for girls as well as the lack of women coaches working in the youth sports space. This research focused on the regions of Southeast Michigan and Western New York and has widespread […]
CT LEND Fellows Train to Improve Health Care for People with Developmental Disabilities
Three School of Social Work MSW students are learning to assist children and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities as 2025-26 Connecticut Leadership E ...
Trump MRI results drop as White House confronts mounting questions over president’s health
President Donald Trump's October MRI scan found no cardiovascular abnormalities and confirmed excellent overall health, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced.
SmartTube YouTube app for Android TV breached to push malicious update
The popular open-source SmartTube YouTube client for Android TV was compromised after an attacker gained access to the developer's signing keys, leading to a malicious update being pushed to users.
The Guardian view on men’s health: the needs of different groups can only be addressed in a functioning system
Editorial: The specific health issues faced by boys and men deserve attention. But waiting lists stand in the way of improvement
Full-length Replay: Michigan vs Syracuse
The No. 6 Wolverines draw the Orange as the Hall of Fame Women's Showcase winds down in Connecticut.
Healthcare plan for children, families launch in NC; here's who is covered
Around 32,000 current and former children in foster care, youth, and young adults under age 26, and their minor children, were automatically enrolled, NCDHHS says.
Proposed redistricting map shakes up congressional races as candidates are drawn out
Several challengers, both Republicans and Democrats, face new political battles in their races for Congress.
World Health Organization recommends GLP-1 drugs for obesity
The World Health Organization is now recommending GLP-1 drugs for adults trying to manage obesity. Dr. Natalie Azar explains how this historical shift changes the approach for patients.
Business Buzz: Small businesses continue to drive Colorado’s economy despite headwinds
Commentary: What WA’s elections say about Oregon politics
Oregon political observers hoping to extract lessons of some kind from the votes of Nov. 4 aren’t completely out of luck thanks to their neighbor on the north side of the Columbia River Elections in various states this month drew national attention and pundits read them closely for longer-term implications, but not in Oregon, where […]
FC Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid: Preview, predicted lineup
Atleti head to the Camp Nou for midweek blockbuster.
Oleksandr Usyk expresses desire to fight Deontay Wilder who would be open to world title clash in 2026
Oleksandr Usyk wants to defend his world heavyweight titles against Deontay Wilder, who has welcomed a fight against the unified world champion.
Mikel Merino - could he be Arsenal's number nine?
Arsenal's draw with Chelsea was not their best performance of the season but the sight of Mikel Merino wheeling away after scoring an important goal has become a familiar welcome sight for the Gunners.
SSW Launches New Certificate to Address Children’s Mental Health Crisis
The School of Social Work aims to better prepare future social workers to meet the complex mental health needs of children and youth while strengthening the ...
Netflix quietly drops support for casting to most TVs
Netflix will only support Google Cast on older devices without remotes.
WHO issues guidance on GLP-1 drugs for obesity, calls them a "scientific breakthrough" and "new chapter"
André Carson drawn out of Indy House district in proposed redistricting map
Carson's home near downtown Indianapolis, currently in the 7th District, which he's held since 2008, would now be in the ninth congressional district.
‘Marty Supreme’ Review: Timothée Chalamet and Josh Safdie Reinvent the Sports Comedy in Furiously Energized Character Study of a Born Hustler
Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion and Tyler, The Creator also star in this odyssey of an aspiring table tennis champion angling to ping pong his way out of 1950s Lower East Side Manhattan.
Plain English BEST OF: How to Be Happy and the Science of Cognitive Time Travel
Throughout December and January, we’re going to be re-airing some of our favorite episodes of the past year and beyond. This list includes interviews that really stuck with me and some others that you guys had tons of feedback and thoughts on … including this one!
GUEST COLUMN: What Washington’s elections say about Oregon politics
Elections in various states in November drew national attention and pundits read them closely for longer-term implications, but not in Oregon, where voters who received ballots (this writer did not) had little more than local ballot issues and other mostly low-key contests.
In rare move, Gov. Jeff Landry intervenes in House GOP leadership race. Here's why.
Governors have often picked speakers of the House and presidents of the Senate, but weighing in on the Republican Caucus leadership is unusual.
Dr. Willie Lockett to Serve as Guest Speaker at Health Sciences Short-
Coahoma Community College is proud to announce that Dr. Willie Lockett, Jr., Director of Respiratory Care at Coahoma Community College, will serve as the guest speaker at the Short-Term Programs Pinni
iPad Mini Drops to New All-Time Low Price of $349 for Cyber Monday
Amazon and Best Buy have introduced new low prices on the iPad mini 7 for Cyber Monday, starting at $349.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi tablet, down from $499.00. You'll also find a few deals on cellular models during this sale. Note. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
‘The tools to imagine solutions’: Science educator inspires Pakistani children
Science Fuse, a social enterprise, primarily teaches children in impoverished areas, including the Machar Colony slum area in Karachi.
Jan Eberth named head of the Department of Population Health Sciences
Eberth comes to the university from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she spent the past three years as professor and chair of health management and policy. Prior to that, her education and career were divided between Texas and her native South Carolina.
Portland Business Journal Selects Relay Resources President and CEO for 2026 Executive of the Year Award
PORTLAND, Ore., December 01, 2025--Dr. Jennifer Camota Luebke, president and CEO of Relay Resources — the Pacific Northwest’s leading social enterprise nonprofit advancing disability inclusion in the workplace — has been named a 2026 Executive of the Year by the Portland Business Journal.
USA's Worst-Case Group: 'No' to Norway but Alexi Lalas, Landon Donovan Want Ghana
U.S. Soccer legends Alexi Lalas, Stu Holden, Landon Donovan and Cobi Jones name the teams they want to avoid at the 2026 World Cup draw.
Monday Morning Politics; NJ's Congressional Race & Jersey City Mayoral Election; Holiday Travel, Then and Now; HIV Prevention Drugs | The Brian Lehrer Show
Monday Morning Politics; New Jersey's Congressional Race & Jersey City Mayoral Election; Holiday Travel, Then and Now; HIV Prevention Drugs
Seen but not forgotten: How citizen science helps document biodiversity in remote Borneo villages
When I, Erik Meijaard, worked as a wildlife consultant for a timber concession in Borneo, I often chatted with the logging truck drivers—and quickly realized that some of them knew far more about local ...
Trump says he "wouldn't have wanted" a reported second strike on alleged drug boat
Funders "should mandate change in science publishing"
Paper argues that funders, governments and universities should intervene more forcefully to prevent "draining of research"
WHO issues global guideline on the use of GLP-1 medicines in treating obesity
To address the growing global health challenge of obesity, which affects more than 1 billion people, WHO has released its first guideline on the use of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies for treating obesity as a chronic, relapsing disease.
It's the Best Time of Year to Buy a New TV: Save Up to $1,000 With Cyber Monday Deals on LG, Samsung, Sony, and More
Cyber Monday TV deals are here with some of the year's lowest prices, with models from Samsung, Sony, and Amazon offering hundreds off!
Accenture and OpenAI are teaming up as AI upends the consulting industry
Accenture said in September that it has been "exiting" staff it cannot reskill for an AI-driven corporate future.
WHO recommends GLP-1 drugs for obesity
The weight loss medications can be part of a long-term treatment strategy for adults, according to new World Health Organization guidelines.
Airbus stock drops as much 10% as it confirms a 'quality issue' in the best-selling A320's supply chain
Airbus shares fell as much as 10% after it emerged there was an issue with some A320s' fuselage panels that could delay deliveries to airlines.
Today's biggest science news: X-class solar flares | Chernobyl fungus | Modern humans interbred with 'hobbits'
Monday, Dec. 1, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
New Editorial Leadership for Twin Cities Business
MSP Communications announces appointment of Platt and Rybak to new roles.
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.
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