Mind Matters | Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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News
Date
August 3, 2026

Categorized
Media, Medicine and Health, Politics

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, Covid, Furin cleavage site, Lab leak theory, Matt Ridley}

Why Many Top Scientists Suspected Covid Had Leaked From a Lab

_{A top science writer explains — and offers a theory as to why Anthony Fauci worked so hard to discredit the idea} _{News
August 3, 2026

5

Media, Medicine and Health, Politics}

Two school aged girls are standing in front of their closed school with facemasks on during the outbreak of covid-19.

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
August 3, 2026}

Monday Micro Softy 90: Mow Power to You

_{Why would Charlie's well-maintained lawnmower apparently be losing energy efficiency over the years?} _{Robert J. Marks
August 3, 2026

7}

Expert Technician Fixing Lawnmower: Spark Plug Service and Maintenance in Garden Workshop

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Kenneth Francis
Date
August 2, 2026

Categorized
Religion

Tagged
Ireland, mental health, Priests, suicide, theology}

What Goes on in the Mind of a Suicidal Priest?

_{Suicidal ideation amongst priests could possibly be linked, amongst other things, to theological illiteracy} _{Kenneth Francis
August 2, 2026

8

Religion}

Stained glass church windows illuminate floor

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post

Andrew McDiarmid
Date
August 2, 2026

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Ben Mann, ISBNdb, Project Panama, Rare books destruction}

It’s Time to Buy Old Books Before AI Destroys Them

_{This book destruction scheme is the brain child of technicians, people who lead tech companies and tech labs who are wholly committed to a technological view of the world} _{Andrew McDiarmid
August 2, 2026

5

Arts & Culture, Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

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post

Gary Varner
Date
August 1, 2026

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Abrams, Audience, Rey, Star Wars trilogy, Trope}

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 6

_{Star Wars isn’t science fiction, it's science fantasy} _{Gary Varner
August 1, 2026

6

Science Fiction}

Nebula and galaxies in space. Abstract cosmos background

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Gary Smith
Date
July 31, 2026

Categorized
Business and Finance, Education

Tagged
Featured, University bureaucracy, University finance issues}

Colleges and Universities: Still on a Road to Nowhere

_{One cost-saving proposal has been to eliminate courses with ten or fewer students, irrespective of what the course is teaching} _{Gary Smith
July 31, 2026

5

Business and Finance, Education}

Meeting, training and planning with a finance CEO, manager or leader and team in the boardroom. Collaboration, workshop and presentation with a business man and staff talking about vision and mission

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post

News
Date
July 31, 2026

Categorized
Animal mind, Language

Tagged
Bunny (sheepadoodle), Dogs understanding language, Jonathan Jarry}

Your Dog Presses a Button and … Poof! He Can Speak?

_{We’ve always wanted to talk to the animals but perhaps we are fooling ourselves again} _{News
July 31, 2026

5

Animal mind, Language}

A close-up of a curious brown dog with expressive eyes and a soulful expression.

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 30, 2026

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Paleontology, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Cave paintings, Ewen Callaway, Ice Age carvings, J. F. Martel, Venus of Hohen Fels}

Did Art Really Invent Humanity — as Opposed to the Other Way Around?

_{It’s an intriguing concept, and a welcome departure from more pedestrian claims} _{Denyse O'Leary
July 30, 2026

6

Arts & Culture, Paleontology, Philosophy of Mind}

5. A primal cave dweller illuminated by firelight, surrounded by ancient cave paintings

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post

Peter Biles
Date
July 29, 2026

Categorized
Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Rare books, Ted Gioia}

More Books for the Bots

_{AI companies are buying (and destroying) rare books} _{Peter Biles
July 29, 2026

2

Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

Cute, retro robot with glowing eyes reads a book

^{Type
post

News
Date
July 29, 2026

Categorized
Law, Medicine and Health, Politics

Tagged
Anthony Fauci, COVID response, Featured, Jennifer Sey, Rand Paul, Robert S. Kennedy}

If It Is About the Covid Crazy, Don’t Tell Your Diary Anything!

_{Especially not if you are Anthony Fauci...} _{News
July 29, 2026

5

Law, Medicine and Health, Politics}

With the global spread of the new coronavirus pneumonia, an automated line of disposable medical masks makes the masks ready for an epidemic 24 hours a day, COVID-19 outbreak

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post

News
Date
July 28, 2026

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Fundacja En Arche, Leszek Kaczmarek, Michael Egnor, Paweł Boguszewski, Stuart Burgess}

Is the Mind Reducible to the Brain? The Debate in Krakow

_{Free will, abstract thought, and all the rest...?} _{News
July 28, 2026

2

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Head of a woman - showing different states of mind and being through tranparency

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post

Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 27, 2026

Categorized
Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Bheki Mahlobo, Featured, Joel Kotkin, Religious revival, Stephen C. Meyer}

More Scientists Are Talking About a Mind Behind the Universe?

_{An urban affairs analyst thinks so and he also suggests some reasons why} _{Denyse O'Leary
July 27, 2026

4

Philosophy, Science}

space of time dimension concept,universe,illusion,time theory

^{Type
post

Robert J. Marks
Date
July 27, 2026

Categorized
Logic, Mathematics

Tagged
Double negatives, Featured, Long words in English, Monday Microsofties}

Monday Micro Softy 89: Double Negatives are a No-No

_{Actually, they do have their uses — for example, if politicians are trying to correctly state views while making them hard to understand} _{Robert J. Marks
July 27, 2026

9

Logic, Mathematics}

Close up of old English dictionary page with word vocabulary

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post

Wesley J. Smith
Date
July 26, 2026

Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health

Tagged
bioethics, Paul Ramsey, Quill R Kukla}

Mainstream Bioethics Does Not Represent Mainstream Beliefs

_{It seems that bioethics is becoming just another social justice political movement} _{Wesley J. Smith
July 26, 2026

3

Ethics, Medicine and Health}

^{Type
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Doug Smith
Date
July 26, 2026

Categorized
Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Betrayal, BibleHub.com, Christian resource, GenAI, LLMs, Sausages}

Open Letter to BibleHub.com: Please Remove LLM-Generated Word Sausage

_{I find your use of GenAI a betrayal of a sacred trust} _{Doug Smith
July 26, 2026

11

Large Language Models (LLMs)}

A man puts wooden blocks with the words Fact and fake. Concept of news and false information. Yellow press.

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Gary Varner
Date
July 25, 2026

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Characters, Morality, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman}

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 5

_{Science fiction often has various characters describing different social or philosophical positions} _{Gary Varner
July 25, 2026

6

Science Fiction}

Cosmic Eye. Macro Photo of a Hazel Eye in Space

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 24, 2026

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Brain stem (and mind), Consciousness, Dorothea Olkowski, Jaak Panksepp (1943-2017), Mark Solms, Michael Egnor}

Is “The brain is a computer!” One of Science’s Biggest Mistakes?

_{If so, the mistake throws a wrench into claims that conscious computers can ever be built} _{Denyse O'Leary
July 24, 2026

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

spread of digital brain connections. Artificial intelligence and the idea of neural networks. Concept for mapping the brain's neuronal connections and connectome. Generative AI

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post

Casey Luskin
Date
July 24, 2026

Categorized
Education, Science

Tagged
Casey Petroff, Gary King, Intelligent design controversy, James Evans, Jonathan Osborne}

Papers: Argumentation and Surprise Are Best Ways to Do Good Science

_{Many studies show that students learn science best when engaging in critical thinking — that is, when they are asked to understand arguments for and against a particular viewpoint.} _{Casey Luskin
July 24, 2026

7

Education, Science}

Science professor giving lecture to class

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 23, 2026

Categorized
Near-Death Experiences, Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Bruce Greyson, Charlotte Martial, Featured, Galileo (1564–1642), Kristin French, Marieta Pehlivanova, Mark Johnson, Materialism vs dualism, Michael Zignarelli}

A Genuine Science-Based Debate About Near-Death Experiences?

_{Such a debate seems to be developing. It would make materialism much hard to just take for granted} _{Denyse O'Leary
July 23, 2026

5

Near-Death Experiences, Philosophy, Science}

Hospital staff operating an automated external defibrillator AED during a code blue, emergency response

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News
Date
July 22, 2026

Categorized
Animal mind, Evolution

Tagged
Asocial brain hypothesis, Cephalopods, Ectotherms, Endotherms, Featured, Jess Cockerill, Lisa Hendry, Octopus (intelligence), Octopus brain, Social brain hypothesis}

Maybe Being a Loner Helps the Octopus Be Smart?

_{With the asocial brain hypothesis, researchers ask us to think beyond traditional explanations for why some animals display unexpected intelligence} _{News
July 22, 2026

4

Animal mind, Evolution}

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