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Drew Gilbert Has Chance To Have Stellar Season For Giants
Gilbert will watch his old Tennessee head coach, Tony Vitello, get a chance at the MLB level with San Francisco.
OPINION: Colleges too often drop the ball on student-athlete mental health
Despite changes at the NCAA, conference and institutional levels to improve access to, education about and training for mental health services, they remain insufficient to meet the growing mental-health needs of student-athletes.
Dell and Lenovo may limit mid-range laptops to 8GB DDR5 RAM in response to rising memory prices
With DDR5 RAM prices skyrocketing, some mid-range laptops could soon ship with budget-level specs. TrendForce expects companies like Dell and Lenovo to stock more notebooks with 8GB of memory. These reasonably priced options may no longer handle intense office and gaming tasks.
Combination pills for high blood pressure may simplify treatment, improve long-term health
Statement Highlights: Single-pill medications that combine two or more blood pressure medications could simplify treatment to help more adults with high blood pressure achieve target blood pressure levels faster and maintain blood pressure goals...
WHO launches call for high-level experts to join the Science Council
The World Health Organization (WHO) is today soliciting the interest of internationally-renowned experts to serve on its Science Council, one of the Organization’s highest-level advisory bodies to the WHO Director-General.
Cleveland Browns vs. Chicago Bears
Discuss the fourth quarter of the Browns vs. Bears game with other fans live, as the action unfolds.
Browns vs. Bears: Offensive line outlook for week 15
Cleveland could be without four offensive line starters against Chicago.
Cleveland Browns vs. Chicago Bears: How to watch today's NFL game, kickoff time, TV channel and more
Pa. adopts science-of-reading reforms after years of reading struggles
A few years ago, educators at the Canon-McMillan School District saw an alarming trend: 14% of fourth graders were not reading at grade level as they headed...
Chicago Bears ‘optimistic’ Rome Odunze will play in Week 15
The Chicago Bears feel optimistic about Rome Odunze's return for their Week 15 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
Teen’s video a ‘Breakthrough’ in science communication
Seventeen-year-old Grace Lee from Chula Vista is gaining national attention as a finalist in the global Breakthrough Junior Challenge, an annual competition that invites students to create original videos explaining complex scientific ideas in creative and engaging ways. Founded in 2015, the contest encourages young people to break down advanced scientific theories using imagination and storytelling— “Steven Spielberg meets Albert Einstein,” as organizers describe it. Lee’s submission centers on the principle of least time in physics, a concept that explains why light always travels the path that takes the least amount of time. To bring the idea to life, she used intricate origami characters and stop-motion animation, along with simple at-home experiments, she said. “The fact that light always travels via the path that takes the least amount of time sounds simple at first, but nature is full of surprises,” she said. “This principle is actually very profound and underlies many different fields in physics that seem completely unrelated, from optics to Newton’s laws to Einstein’s theory of relativity.” Also, origami has long been one of her passions and integrating it into her project felt natural. She often makes origami gifts for friends and teaches origami in her school clubs. “A single 10-second scene would take hours to craft,” she said, noting the mixture of stop-motion and post-production editing required to animate expressions and movement. To ensure the science remained accurate and accessible, she spent time reading books and online resources, writing a script, creating a storyboard, and filming and editing repeatedly until the visuals worked.The experiments were among the biggest challenges. To demonstrate water waves, she used everyday household items — “a spatula and an electric toothbrush to vibrate the waves, glass in a baking pan for different depths, and an iPhone flashlight so the waves would be visible.” She also put careful thought into explaining the principle through analogies, including a gingerbread man and a fox. “Analogies and visuals are incredibly important,” she said. “Visual demonstrations allow viewers to see how the science actually works.” Beyond the competition, Lee is deeply involved in science leadership and advocacy. She serves as International President of miRcore, the world’s largest student computational biology organization, with 136 chapters across five countries. She leads a 20-member executive board, organizes outreach connecting schools worldwide, and has helped run workshops at locations including Scripps Research Institute and the University of Michigan. “I used to be intimidated,” she said, but she gradually grew her skills and confidence. “Now I am no longer afraid to use my voice and enthusiasm to bring out the best in others.” Her research experience includes two peer-reviewed papers on asthma and vaping. Misconceptions around vaping, she said, show why clear science communication matters. “Our research shows that there is long-term harm to your lungs on the cellular level that isn’t obvious unless you come down with an illness like the flu,” she said. Lee also founded Full Hearts at Eastlake High School, transforming the small club into one of the school’s largest, with hands-on service projects in partnership with local nonprofits. She continues mentoring younger students to sustain the mission. If she wins the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, Grace hopes the $100,000 science lab prize for her school will expand opportunities for students who have limited access to equipment and hands-on science outside the classroom.
Cleveland Browns at Chicago Bears: 3 Props to Play
The Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears play in Chicago in frigid temperatures, here are 3 player props to consider.
Roof to rise soon on Mobile Entertainment Arena; hockey rink moves forward
Steel beams now outline the massive structure, and concrete is being poured across multiple levels.
Browns vs. Bears: Week 15 Need to Know
Cleveland is off to chilly Chicago looking for a rare road win over the Bears. Here is everything to know about the game.
Qinshon Judkins Gives Perspective on Browns' Failed 2-Point Play
Rookie running back Quinshon Judkins breaks his silence on the Cleveland Browns' pivotal two-point conversion miscue
Polk County Health Department shares tips for avoiding norovirus
A new report shows that Iowa has "medium" levels of infection.
Health Experts Slam Possible FDA ‘Black Box’ Warning for COVID Vaccines
The FDA is reportedly considering the addition of high-level warning labels to COVID vaccines, a move that some experts say may cause unfounded concerns over safety
A new dawn in global health: UHC as the path toward national health stewardship
The UHC High‑Level Forum in Tokyo marked an unmistakable turning point. It signaled a shift from dialogue to pragmatic action, with health and finance ministries jointly designing country‑owned, fiscally grounded UHC strategies to move beyond fragmented, crisis‑driven responses toward resilient, durable health systems that can make Universal Health Coverage (UHC) a reality. UHC means ensuring...
Long: As NASCAR antitrust lawsuit reaches settlement, a win for fans who get their sport back
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan credited "level heads" in reaching an agreement.
6 takeaways from Cleveland’s coordinators about the Bears
Recapping the most notable quotes from the Browns coordinators ahead of their Week 15 game vs. Chicago.
Cleveland’s Independent Music and Comedy Venues Drive $742.5 Million in Economic Impact, New Study Finds
A kernel from the study: The city’s venues account for nearly 50 percent of the indie live entertainment GDP of the Buckeye State, more than 28 states.
Thirty Years of Onion Politics: Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement
The Dayton Peace Agreement ended the Bosnian War, establishing the constitutional framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It achieved its immediate aim of ending direct violence, yet ended up creating a state apparatus that obstructs social equality and economic sovereignty. This Spotlight argues that the evaluation of its success must take two problems into account: the cementation of ethnic categories as foundational levels of governance and the resulting failure to address or transform war legacies; and the institutionalized international involvement undermining democratic self-determination.
UT Southwestern biochemist to receive O’Donnell Award from TAMEST
Yunsun Nam, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, will receive the 2026 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Biological Sciences from the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology (TAMEST) for her research into how RNAs and proteins interact at the molecular level. Her work has shed light on gene regulation, cancer biology, and RNA-based therapeutics.
2026 iPads revealed: A19 base model, M4 Air with Apple’s N1 chip coming soon
A new leak details Apple’s 2026 iPad strategy, bringing flagship-level chips to more affordable models.
AMD FSR 4 Redstone Review
AMD's FSR Redstone is finally here—and it's more than just another FSR update. With ML-powered frame generation that can match (and sometimes beat) DLSS, smarter ray tracing cleanup, and excellent driver-level support, Redstone turns FSR into a competitive performance solution.
Scientists uncover the hidden survival trick that lets cancer bounce back
Scientists discovered that certain cancer cells use a low-level activation of a DNA-dismantling enzyme—normally seen in cell death—to survive treatment. Instead of dying, these “persister cells” leverage this sublethal signal to regrow. Because the mechanism is non-genetic, it appears much earlier than typical resistance mutations. Targeting this enzyme could help stop tumors from returning.
Women at the top are exhausted and burned out, according to a McKinsey and Lean In report
Burnout among senior-level women is the highest it has been in the past five years, according to a report from McKinsey and LeanIn.org.
Akron RubberDucks sold to emerging sports ownership company
The RubberDucks, the Class AA affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, were acquired by Prospector Baseball Group, LLC. Ken Babby, the previous owner since 2012, recently became CEO of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Serena Williams on how she pursues longevity – and how you can too
Serena Williams has been a health extremist all her life. She's now partnered with Lingo, a continuous glucose monitor that tracks blood sugar levels.
Vote now for the 2025 Sloopys – Capitol Letter’s 8th annual Ohio politics awards
This year, we’re handing out awards in 28 categories to everyone from statewide officeholders and state lawmakers to staffers and lobbyists.
The Imperfect Science of Home Climate Risk Scores
Zillow’s climate risk scores have disappeared from home listings, but the risks themselves are very real. Modeling those threats down to the home level, though, is challenging.
Drew Brees announces new multi-level go-kart track opening at Surge Entertainment in New Orleans
Drew Brees said the attraction is expected to open by Christmas and will offer fun for all ages.
Attorneys call for timeout on Cleveland Browns receiving unclaimed funds
Attorneys are asking for a timeout — arguing in federal court Monday that the public's money shouldn't be given to the Cleveland Browns, especially without telling Ohioans.
Samsung Launches One UI 8.5 Beta for Next-Level Ease of Use
Latest version of One UI brings enhanced productivity, privacy and performance across the Galaxy ecosystem
Health insurance premiums to double for over 500,000 Ohioans if ACA tax credits expire
Over half a million Ohioans face skyrocketing premiums if federal tax credits to help pay for their plans under the Affordable Care Act expire at year's end, with some families paying nothing now potentially owing thousands.
Department of Health closes Budd Inlet after biotoxins found in shellfish
The Thurston County Public Health and Social Services says unsafe levels of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning were found after testing at Budd Inlet.
Column | Anger is a defining character trait for both parties, new study shows
An updated Pew study shows that, with the change in administrations and party power in Congress, Democrats are now at record levels of anger toward government.
Golden State plays Cleveland, aims to end road skid
Golden State comes into a matchup with Cleveland after losing three road games in a row
Long Beach must claim a larger share of sports market, mayor says
Long Beach is home to new professional teams and has a long history of athletic success at the high school and collegiate levels. Soon, it will have worldwide attention as host to nearly a dozen events at the 2028 Olympic Games.
Content Creators Unpack How Social Media Is Reshaping the Way Audiences Consume Media: 'The Only Barrier to Entry Is the Upload Button'
Power Women Summit 2025: Michelle Khare and Hannah Stocking treat their work with a 24/7, studio-level mindset.
Most countries make progress towards universal health coverage, but major challenges remain, WHO–World Bank report finds
A new joint report from WHO and the World Bank Group reveals that most countries – across all income levels and regions – have made concurrent progress in expanding health service coverage and reducing the financial hardship associated with health costs, since 2000.
From wholesale to community impact; food bank and local business thrive together
Thinking outside the box to strengthen both a business and a food bank is happening in Cleveland, where a local wholesaler has become part of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank’s mission and community.
Akron business fights censorship with subscription book service
Banned Books Box is a subscription service that delivers recipients one or two recently banned or challenged books each month. Books and accessories can also be purchased at the Northside Marketplace in Akron.
Cleveland waterfront proposals include mixed-use entertainment, soccer field, housing
North Coast Waterfront Development Corp. has narrowed down the list of 18 applicants wishing to become part of a 50-acre downtown Cleveland development
Sports books 2025: Gridiron battles, a racing phenom, historic swimmer, more
Sports titles that came out in 2025 tell the stories of moments on fields and courts across the world. From famous to lesser-known athletes, books crossed multiple sports and eras.
What to know about Minnesota fraud allegations, as Trump levels attacks on Walz
Through the lens: Four decades of arts & entertainment with photojournalist Roger Mastroianni
For more than 40 years, photojournalist Roger Mastroianni has chronicled Cleveland's arts, healthcare, and corporate landscapes—capturing everything from Cleveland Orchestra performances to hospital operating rooms.
Why are Browns opening Deshaun Watson's practice window? Answering complex question
Though he'll be on the field during the week, the three-time Pro Bowler seems unlikely to play again for Cleveland. Let's break down team's thinking.
A glass of morning orange juice has a surprising role in your health
Studies suggest 100% or plant-sterol-fortified orange juice may reduce LDL cholesterol modestly. Experts urge moderation and medical advice.
Hate, threats force more and more women out of public life
Often labeled as bad mothers, insulted for their looks and threatened with physical violence, female politicians face a particularly high level of hate. Many step down out of fear.
Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame inducts 5 newest members (photos)
The ceremony was held at the hall’s new permanent home on the near west side.
Microsoft warns latest Windows 11 updates might break the Start menu, Taskbar, and other integral UI bits — here's what you need to know
Windows 11 PCs that are targeting enterprise use may experience an issue where system-level UI surfaces and apps such as the Taskbar, Start Menu, and Settings app will fail to load or crash.
We combed our Marketplace to give shoppers looking for affordable sports cars a place to start.
These three late-model used sports cars offer high levels of driving enjoyment at a low price.
Pittsburgh’s People of Year 2025
Whatever may be happening at the national level, progressives in Pittsburgh are undeterred. The local Democratic Party has shored up and built on its base. Prominent left-leaning candidates now hold office everywhere from the county to Congress. Following November’s blue wave election, high off-year turnout propelled even more local progressives into office. Among their number […]
Colts’ Stock Up/Down: Week 13 vs. Texans
Stock Up Alec Pierce No player in the NFL has earned himself more money than Pierce has this season. He has elevated his game to a whole different level and is right now the Colts’ best wide receiver on the roster, not just a deep threat specialist like last year with AR. He gets open […]
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Credits Reveal A Plethora Of Assist Devs, Including Next Level Games
And Samus has a brand new voice
Send us your nominations for the 2025 Sloopys, our annual Ohio politics awards: Capitol Letter
Submit your nominations in 28 categories – some nice, some naughty – through Monday, Dec. 8.
Broadening Science and Bridging Divides in a Complex, Interconnected World
Investment in science is a pillar for any dynamic, equitable modern society, and promoting scientific literacy across all levels of society can help foster innovation, dialogue, and consensus that crosses disciplinary and cultural boundaries.
Mexico Political Risk Hits Peru Level as Sheinbaum Support Sags
Mexico’s political risk has crept up to levels seen in Peru, as Mexicans voice mounting frustration over cartel-fueled crime, corruption and a stagnant economy.
Health risks of taking too much turmeric: Hidden dangers for your liver, heart, digestion and iron levels | - The Times of India
Turmeric, a popular spice and supplement, offers health benefits but excessive intake can cause issues. High doses may lead to digestive upset, liver
Cleveland Clinic eCoaching Program Shows Promise for PsA-Related Mental Health
Immune Strength ecoaching allows users to take charge of their mental wellness through self-guided modules and support from health coaches.
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.
Browns lose suprising record they held vs. the Steelers
Cleveland’s 231 rushing yards in 2016 was the most at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium before the Bills bested them on Sunday.
Once-in-a-century floods set to become annual events in northeastern US in the next 75 years, study finds
Rising sea levels and storm surges from hurricanes will bring more frequent extreme floods to northeastern U.S. states, including Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
Best performances from 49ers' convincing road win vs. Browns
The 49ers stayed hot, winning their third straight. A look at San Francisco's best performers in its win at the Cleveland Browns.
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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When three European cities launch an initiative next year to boost scientific excellence and collaboration, much of the action is likely to take place in public spaces rather than in the laboratory.That is welcome news for Ana Marušić. A medical doctor and professor at the University of Split Medical School in Croatia, Marušić champions close connections between “town and gown” to encourage citizen involvement in research, raise public health awareness and ignite young people’s interest in science. “Responsible research and innovation cannot be done in an ivory tower, answering only the questions that are relevant for scientists,” explains Marušić, who chairs the Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health and leads the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine. “The role of the university is to be a medium for transferring new discoveries in science to society, but also to listen to society about what is important and what is needed.”Three cities united by scienceMarušić’s efforts stand to gain traction through Science Comes to Town (SCTT), a new European project to highlight science’s role in society and strengthen cross-border collaboration in research, innovation and sustainability. With funding from the European Commission, three cities—Split, Brest (in France) and Kiel (in Germany)—plan more than 1,000 public events, workshops and competitions for citizens of all ages, researchers, businesses and policymakers. The year-long project kicks off in Spilt on 20 January with a conference involving partner institutions, community representatives and European policymakers. The three cities may be geographically far apart, but they share much in common. All are located on coasts and are home to top regional research institutions that are part of SCTT. Among the project's partners, the University of Western Brittany in Brest, Kiel University and the University of Split belong to the SEA-EU university alliance, uniting nine European coastal academic institutions to advance research, student exchanges and sustainable development. “These universities have a very strong connection between gown and town,” explains Marušić, who is one of Split’s SCTT ambassadors. “It's very important that these universities are there for the community so that we can learn from each other and grow together.”Tackling Europe’s STEM shortagesSCTT will also reinforce efforts to address Europe’s widening gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Studies show that nearly eight out of ten small- and medium-sized businesses cannot find enough workers with the skills required in advanced computing and artificial intelligence (AI)—hindering initiatives to boost European innovation and competitiveness. In healthcare, the European Commission has estimated a shortfall in medical professionals of 1.2 million, due to fewer young people joining the field and an ageing population that needs more care.Strengthening knowledge and dialogue can also help build trust between scientists and the public at time when disruptive technologies are reshaping research and clinical practice, but are also sparking questions about ethics and accuracy. With experience in the classroom and in clinical epidemiology—a discipline involving monitoring and controlling public health problems—Marušić sees the potential risks of over-reliance on AI and chatbot answers for both research and learning. “AI is a very good tool, but one has to be very critical about it,” she adds. “Delegating brain activities will definitely diminish your neural capacities because you are not developing the circuitry that is important for higher-level cognitive engagement.” She stresses the importance of critical thinking and encourages students to use AI as a researcher’s tool to reinforce rather than supplant human discretion and brainpower.The power of outreachSplit’s experience in bringing scientists and the public together has provided a platform for discussing research ethics and explaining science in simple terms. Local efforts to expand health literacy and awareness have helped reduce cardiovascular disease among women, according to Marušić’s research. The city’s university also hosts events to introduce schoolchildren to science, using hands-on experiments to spark curiosity.Marušić’s own love of science began with an interest in studying molecular biology. “But my parents told me, why don't you study medicine?” she recalls. “I said, OK, why not? And that was the best decision that I made.” Marušić is not a practicing physician, but teaches anatomy and public health. She also co-edits ST-OPEN, an overlay university journal that works on capacity building for research publishing among students and their supervisors. Balancing teaching, research and editorial work, she is a strong advocate for medical studies, urging high school students to consider medicine “because later on it gives you a really wide perspective about human life and about society” as well as many career opportunities.As SCTT prepares to bring science into daily life in 2026, Marušić hopes that it will build permanent bridges between scientists and citizens across Europe. “We can be a showcase for making collaboration with the community stronger to share knowledge, attract young talent and integrate critical and scientific thinking into everyday life,” she explains, adding that "collaborating with businesses to improve cities and communities is also an important aspect of this project."Science|Business, which connects policymakers, academics and industry through its news reporting, analysis and events, is an SCTT partner.
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