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Clean Diesel: Too Good To Be True?

Last month, Alva Noë's family bought their first new car — a VW Golf Sportwagen TDI — paying premium for what they thought was a fuel efficient, clean diesel; he tries to understand what went wrong.

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Why The Matt Harvey Uncertainty Broke Some Baseball Fans' Hearts

In not committing to when, or how much, he would play for the Mets after returning from surgery, the team's star pitcher reminded fans that a game is just a game.

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Research Methods And Bias In Science

Amid recent scandals, Alva Noë considers an essay on the role of cognitive bias in science — and how methods of research in one field, like physics's data blind study, could be replicated in others.

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Soup Is An Anagram Of Opus: Thoughts On Warhol's Campbell's Paintings

With the total collection of his paintings of Campbell's soup cans, Andy Warhol puts the human mind on exhibition, says philosopher Alva Noë.

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There's A Unity Among Baseball Fans

As you watch the World Series tonight, you may see that the shared interest of fans in the action, and their understanding of it, brings them into a type of coordination, says Alva Noë.

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In Impossible Times Come Impossible Decisions

During WWII, the father of commentator Alva Noë was a young boy, driven out of his home in Romania along with other Jews. There's one question that haunts him — and may plague Syria's refugees today.

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You Are Not Just Your Brain

Consciousness science isn't — and can't be — just neuroscience, says philosopher Alva Noë, who applauds the interdisciplinary approach of a new Oxford journal titled Neuroscience of Consciousness.

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Is Immediate Access To Information Always Good?

Philosopher Alva Noë reflects on learning of two shocking events, the Paris terrorist attacks and the hospitalization of his son, through social media on the tarmac at an airport.

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Physical Disability And Engineering Of Environments

The idea that physical disability isn't a property of a person, it is a property of a person together with an environmental situation, goes back to Aristotle. Philosopher Alva Noë examines the notion.

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Is It Bad If Art Is Boring?

Works of art, in all their variety, afford us the opportunity for boredom — and they do so when everything in our lives mitigates against boredom, says Alva Noë. Maybe this is one of art's gifts.

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Since When Is An Emoji A 'Word'?

Oxford Dictionaries chose an emoji as its 2015 Word of the Year. Even by Oxford's own definition, it is just not a word: It's an emoticon or a pictograph, argues philosopher Alva Noë.

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Is 'The Nutcracker' Part Of The Fabric Of Christmas?

You can hardly overstate the extent to which The Nutcracker belongs to the ritual of Christmas, but it came rather late to the game, says commentator Alva Noë.

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So Far, There's No Magic Bullet For The Mind

Lumosity has agreed to settle a deceptive advertising suit. It may be good to play the sorts of games they offer, but it doesn't mean they are a quick fix for mental strength, says blogger Alva Noë.

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We May Never Shed Light On Ancient Artists' Motives

Discoveries like the paintings deep inside dark European caves and 8,000-year-old patterns seen only from the air in Kazakhstan leave us to wonder about our ancestors' intentions, says Alva Noë.

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Soaking Up Wisdom From Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Some intellectuals bring out the immense complexity behind simple phenomena and others, like the estimable Dr. Tyson, excel at bringing complicated ideas down to earth, says Alva Noë.

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DNA, Genealogy And The Search For Who We Are

Family history is one thing and DNA-based ancestry is another: You just can't map beautiful, defining, important family stories onto a DNA tree, says blogger Alva Noë.

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Putting The Body Back In Biology

An active engagement on the part of scientists with biological stuff and substance, rather than with mere algorithms and codes, is needed for progress in biological study, says Alva Noë.

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Can You Tell Your Ethnic Identity From Your DNA?

It ought to be possible to compare the DNA of a random individual with DNA from around the world to make a call on ethnicity, but there are problems with tests of this kind, says commentator Alva Noë.

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Can Neuroscience Help Us Understand Art?

Neuroaesthetics — as the application of the concepts and methods of neuroscience to the study of art is sometimes known — is a booming enterprise, says commentator Alva Noë.

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Life And Art Unite In 'Architecture Of Life'

The Berkeley Art Museum exhibit, whose title suggests the multiple ways structure, design and biology are joined in life and in art, offers a lot more, says blogger Alva Noë.

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