Just up at The Mindful Hack

Neuroscience: Materialist neuroscience leads to controlling politics?

Neuroscience: Neuroengineering as latest craze

Psychology: Hard times make you gullible about religion?

Nature vs. nurture: Intriguing new research

Psychology: What short attention spans cost us

(Note: If you follow me at Twitter, you will get regular notice of new Mindful Hack posts, usually when I have posted five or so stories.) The Mindful Hack is my blog on issues in neuroscience, psychology, and spirituality.

Human evolution: More on the Ida? I dunno ... files

Here's David Warren on Ida, our supposed fossil ancestor:

The principal hype artist in this case -- Dr. Hurum mentioned above -- has done several similar splashes. The last one he styled "Predator X." It was mounted on the discovery in Svalbard of part of the jaw of a large and carnivorous Pliosaur that swam the oceans of the Jurassic. That, too, was nothing special: just a better-than-usual chunk of fossil evidence for an animal that was hardly new to science. But an integrated multi-media presentation of a science fiction monster, extrapolated loosely from that jaw fragment, was ready-to-air when the discovery was announced.

PS: Look how low the dying Los Angeles Times needs to reach, in order to malign results-driven schools.