Asking a biologist to define 'life' is a bit like looking-up the word 'definition' in a dictionary — it's as if you're questioning their very existence. Biologists like myself don't agree on what life ...

Viewed this way, a definition is a decision mechanism. It distinguishes some elements of the universe from the others. Hence ...

Last week, I sat for an exam that induced more perspiration than was necessary. My previous exam had been more than a year ago and although the one last week was more of an informal affair (there were ...

DOE has rescinded the federal zero-emissions building definition, ending its support and leaving states, cities, and owners ...

Activists, university officials and political leaders are deeply divided over what, precisely, constitutes antisemitism. By Vimal Patel Many donors, politicians and Jewish students have pressured ...

People often feel that they can intuitively recognize whether something is alive, but nature is filled with entities that flout easy categorization as life or non-life — and the challenge may ...

How many people must die in a shooting before it’s termed a ‘mass shooting’? Four people? Two? None at all? One strict definition used in the past by the federal government says at least four victims ...