Author: Lance Garrison
There are two ways to experience the town of Bombay Beach, Calif., as a visitor: gawk at the spectacle or fall into the vortex. Thousands of tourists cruise through each year, often without getting out of their cars to see decaying art installations left over from an annual mid-March gathering of artists, photographers and documentarians known jokingly as the Bombay Beach Biennale. When I went to the town for the first time in 2021, I was looking for salvation in this weird desert town on the Salton Sea south of Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park. I dropped in,…
I’ll admit it: I check my smartphone compulsively. And the more I use it, the more often the urge to look at it hits me. In the orthodontist’s office. Walking my kids to school. In meetings. Even while making breakfast. Sometimes it is in my hand before I even know what I’m searching for. Sometimes I tap the screen absent mindedly — looking at my email, a local blogger, my calendar, and Twitter.I’m not the only one struggling with this very modern compulsion. According to a 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center, 46% of all American adults now own…
Increasingly, mounds of synthetic A.I.-generated outputs drift across our feeds and our searches. The stakes go far beyond what’s on our screens. The entire culture is becoming affected by A.I.’s runoff, an insidious creep into our most important institutions.Consider science. Right after the blockbuster release of GPT-4, the latest artificial intelligence model from OpenAI and one of the most advanced in existence, the language of scientific research began to mutate. Especially within the field of A.I. itself.A new study this month examined scientists’ peer reviews — researchers’ official pronouncements on others’ work that form the bedrock of scientific progress —…
Even when you exercise extra hard for “six-pack” abs, you might not get the results you want. That’s because it’s hard to lose abdominal fat, especially if you’re not exercising correctly.Make sure you’re following these 7 training to-dos.There’s a good reason these exercises are a go-to for abdominal training — they work!But your muscles adapt quickly to certain exercises. If this happens, they may stop responding altogether.Changing your workout every 4-6 weeks will ensure the results keep coming.It’s also important to do a variety of movements to fully target all of the ab muscles, not just the “six-pack” — aka…
The “historical tradition” of handgun regulation, Justice Thomas argued, established the limits of the right to keep and bear arms. He noted that the practices of regulation “from before, during and even after the founding” of the United States indicated “no such tradition in the historical materials,” which suggested that a long, unbroken line of tradition, stretching from medieval England to early 20th century America, was at odds with New York’s law. The opinion granted the existence of scattered 19th-century regulations akin to New York’s, but argued that these were dwarfed by the dearth of analogous traditions of gun regulation…
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Produced by ‘The Ezra Klein Show’Donald Trump can seem like a political anomaly. You sometimes hear people describe his connection with his base in quasi-mystical terms. But really, Trump is an example of an archetype — the right-wing populist showman — that recurs across time and place. There’s Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in Britain, Javier Milei in Argentina. And there’s a long lineage of this type in the United States too.So why is there this consistent demand for this kind of political figure? And why does this set of qualities — ethnonationalist politics and an entertaining style —…
Today, people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have more medication choices than ever before, and doctors know more about how to treat the condition.Because IBS symptoms vary from person to person, there isn’t one remedy that’s best for everyone. “It really has to be tailored to the patient,” says Braden Kuo, MD, director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. A person who has IBS with constipation (IBS-C) will likely need a different approach than someone with IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D).Your best course of action may include a special diet, medicines, stress relief, or alternative therapies — or,…
Listen to and follow ‘Matter of Opinion’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe sociologist and New York Times columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom joins the hosts of “Matter of Opinion” this week to discuss the role of celebrity in politics. Could Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, with their tens of millions of fans, sway the presidential election? And beyond brand-name pop stars, what role does celebrity play within the political system?Plus, Tressie goes a little “Dr. Oz” on us.(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)Thoughts? Email us at matterofopinion@nytimes.com.Follow…
As a parent, you’ve probably handled enough ear infections, colds, and stomach bugs to feel like an expert. But here are nine other illnesses you should know about.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an infection of the airways. It usually isn’t serious, but if your child is under 2, or has a heart or lung disease or a weak immune system, it can inflame the lungs and cause pneumonia.”It’s the most common viral respiratory infection that causes hospitalization in young babies,” says Kathryn M. Edwards, MD, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program.Symptoms:Cold-like symptoms such as runny nose, nasal congestion and…