Showing 1 - 10 of 10
The case of the disappearing senior generals
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/02/2026
» Armies can be used against both against foreigners abroad and against citizens at home, but the two roles require quite different equipment and tactics. The same applies to their commanders: you need a different kind of general if you think that the primary task of their troops will be controlling dissent at home.
Different kinds of thieves with the same goal
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 18/02/2025
» What's the difference between smash-and-grab raids and protection rackets? Not all that much from the legal point of view, but protection rackets have a lower level of risk and a higher rate of returns.
Life elsewhere will someday be possible
Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/09/2023
» This week's real news is the discovery of life on another planet. As Cambridge University's Nikku Madhusudhan said in the first sentence of his report: "The search for habitable environments and biomarkers in exoplanetary atmospheres is the holy grail of exoplanet science." And he has probably found the Holy Grail.
Ukraine War a risky game of Mother May I?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 17/08/2022
» 'This obviously does not happen because of a thrown butt," said British Defence Minister Ben Wallace. But the Russian Ministry of Defence insisted that the explosions that destroyed at least eight warplanes at Saki Air Base in Russian-occupied Crimea on Aug 9 were due to "a violation of fire safety requirements".
Vikings and Skraelings come full circle
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 27/10/2021
» It was already known that the first and only Norse settlement in North America was at L'Anse aux Meadows, at the northern tip of Newfoundland. The specialists even assumed that it happened in the early 11th century, because the Viking sagas more or less said so. But the traditional carbon-14 dates were all over the place.
Biden speaks some sense on Afghanistan
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 19/04/2021
» 'If they go, we'll all have to go. That's the reality of it," said a British source about President Joe Biden's announcement that the last American troops will be out of Afghanistan by Sept 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. (What can possibly have possessed him to choose that date?)
Playing football won't turn boys into manly men
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 12/02/2021
» It seemed innocent enough at the start: just a surge in the number of boys coming to school with notes from doctors saying they were excused from playing contact sports. But pretty soon high schools all over China were having trouble finding enough willing young men to make up a football team.
The bug-eyed monster search needs discussion
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 31/07/2019
» 'There is absolutely no procedure enshrined in international law to respond to a signal from an alien civilisation," said Martin Dominik, an astronomer at the University of St Andrews. "It makes sense to create a legally binding framework that is properly rooted in international law."
Ukraine has nothing left to lose in latest vote
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 24/04/2019
» Ukraine has a new president, and he's a comedian! Oh, wait a minute, that's not such a big deal. Guatemala was the first country to elect a comedian as president: Jimmy Morales, back in 2015. Although Mr Morales turned sort of serious once he took office: he's a right-wing nationalist who supports the death penalty and opposes abortion. Whereas Volodymyr Zelensky hasn't turned.
Where does our civilisation sit in the survival stakes?
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 28/09/2018
» The Drake Equation is gradually filling out, and it's looking good for the existence of life, the rise of intelligence, and the likely number of civilisations elsewhere in the universe.