How Do I Know I'm Not the Only Conscious Being in the Universe?

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September 11, 2020

Dear Reader, How do you know you're not the only conscious being in existence? "You experience your own mind every waking second, but you can only infer the existence of other minds through indirect means," writes columnist John Horgan in our lead story. Horgan says this is a central dilemma of human life and calls it "the solipsism problem," or the problem of other minds. Read his piece below to learn more. In climate news, August was insanely hot for several states in the Western U.S. One of today's featured articles explains how the record high temperatures have intensified wildfires in the region. And, a recent adjustment to the radiocarbon-dating process may prompt scientists to reevaluate the age of sites, artifacts and events around the world.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Cognition How Do I Know I'm Not the Only Conscious Being in the Universe? The solipsism problem, also called the problem of other minds, lurks at the heart of science, philosophy, religion, the arts and the human condition By John Horgan

Climate How Record-Smashing Heat Ushered in Western Infernos Large swaths of the Western U.S. had a record-hot August, which helped prime fuels for devastating wildfires By Thomas Frank,E&E News

Chemistry Long-Awaited Update Arrives for Radiocarbon Dating Scientists who study organic materials from the past 55,000 years may see some changes in their data By Megan I. Gannon

Behavior & Society Why Trump-Favoring Voters Ignored a Deadly Hurricane Warning Rush Limbaugh and other conservative pundits' "hurricane skepticism" in 2017 may have influenced individuals' decision to pack up the car or shelter in place By Rachel Nuwer

Public Health Nine COVID-19 Myths That Just Won't Go Away From a human-made virus to vaccine conspiracy theories, we rounded up the most persistent false claims about the pandemic By Tanya Lewis

Energy Bricks Can Be Turned into Batteries Pumping cheap iron-oxide-rich red bricks with specific vapors that form polymers enables the bricks to become electrical-charge-storage devices. By Shahla Farzan | 02:02

Public Health Coronavirus News Roundup, September 5-September 11 Pandemic highlights for the week By Robin Lloyd

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Climate Change Increases Threat of Fire to U.S. West Warming could scorch the region By Mark Fischetti,Bryan Christie Design | June 2011

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