Ablinger Franz

Blue whales feed mainly on krill but also small fish and squid, that swim inside their enormous mouths. The blue whale has thousands of extremely fine teeth that allow water to filter out of the whales mouth, without the whales catch escaping. Apparently just one breath from a fully grown adult blue whale, will produce … Read more

A postmodern morality play is unfolding online. We are still struggling to figure out what it means to be a human being on the internet. Anonymity makes communication easier, but it also makes it less meaningful. Can 30,000 strangers on the internet convince an anonymous person about which they know very little not to jump … Read more

Feminist epistemologies and philosophies of science have challenged conventional standards for objectivity, rationality, “good method” and “real science.” This paper looks at the stronger standards for maximizing objectivity which feminists have demanded, and the challenges to conventional philosophies and histories of science arising from non-Western science and technology traditions. Sciences and philosophies of science which … Read more

The Ayatollah Khomenei once remarked that there are no jokes in Islam. If that is true, it is not for want of material. My latest favorite, related to me by Ibn Warraq, has to do with the rather unfunny hadith—one of the purported sayings and deeds of the Prophet and his companions—that requires death by … Read more

The time for his autobiography to be published, that is. Twain left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, and the century is finally up; you can read all about it at Guy Adams’s story in The Independent. Of course, most of the juicy stuff has been skimmed by biographers … Read more