Stories by Art Hobson

ART HOBSON: Exploring the starry sky The 2019 Nobel Prize in physics honored humankind's fascination with the starry sky and our progress in understanding the nature of the universe. Except for sex, the stars might be our longest-standin... January 7, 2020

ART HOBSON: The fate of the Earth A year ago I wrote a column based on Steven Pinker's book "Enlightenment Now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress." It's an eye-opening analysis of modern times. The book paints an op... December 17, 2019

ART HOBSON: Scientists discover exoplanets Twenty-four years ago, astronomers Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz started something big. They made science's first discovery of a planet orbiting a typical star outside our solar system. Their search... November 5, 2019

ART HOBSON: These Truths recommended to people of all ideologies Award-winning historian Jill Lepore has written a large political and cultural history of our nation, from Columbus through the early months of Donald Trump's presidency. These Truths: A History of th... October 15, 2019

ART HOBSON: Will Iran get the bomb? The tragic paradox of nuclear weapons is that nations obtain them out of fear of other nations' nuclear weapons. Ironically, this was even true of the world's first nuclear power. The U.S. Manhattan P... September 24, 2019

ART HOBSON: The bomb and how it works The consequences of nuclear weapons are horrendous, but the science is fascinating. To prevent the horror, citizens must learn some of the related science. Our familiar world is made of atoms. There a... September 3, 2019

ART HOBSON: Will we use nukes in Iran? War tensions build daily in the Persian Gulf. President Trump's historic and disastrous decision to violate the Obama-era nuclear deal negotiated by Iran, European Union, China, France, Russia, UK, Ge... August 13, 2019

ART HOBSON: Will N. Korea, Iran renounce nukes? Between Iran and North Korea, nuclear weapons have been in the news these past few weeks. Civilization faces at least two existential threats, nuclear war and climate disruption. Climate disruption is... July 23, 2019

ART HOBSON: Another U.S. war? It's hard to believe we're back again at the brink of disaster. Weren't Vietnam, Iraq, Libya and Syria (just to mention a few) sufficient to teach us a lesson? The Trump administration, egged on by su... July 2, 2019

ART HOBSON: No war with Iran America is on the verge of another big military mistake. We should have learned better from our disastrous attacks on Vietnam, Iraq and Libya. Why must American foreign policy be all muscle and no bra... June 11, 2019

ART HOBSON: A return to a darker age? Those who value women's rights had best pay attention to recent state and national developments. The anti-choice movement is engaged in a dangerous campaign to overthrow the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision... May 21, 2019

ART HOBSON: Detecting a black hole On April 11, this newspaper published a photo of an object never before seen by humans: a black hole. The black disk at the center of that photo is the black hole at the center of galaxy M87. A "galax... April 30, 2019

ART HOBSON: In praise of SoNA We're privileged to live amid the magnificent Ozark Mountains while enjoying the best in sophisticated arts and entertainment. I've always loved music, and proudly earned a music degree in 1955. My he... April 9, 2019

ART HOBSON: Climate disruption spells disaster My last two columns argued that ice is melting everywhere, especially at the poles, due to global warming. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet may break up soon, raising sea levels eight feet this century an... March 19, 2019

ART HOBSON: A disrupted climate in the north Three weeks ago I suggested the West Antarctic ice sheet will probably melt soon, as it did during the previous interglacial period 125,000 years ago, raising ocean levels by at least 25 feet. Today, ... February 26, 2019

ART HOBSON: The end of ice For perspective, let's begin with some recent geological history. Due to changes in Earth's orbital behavior around the sun, there have been many glacial periods during the Pleistocene Epoch of the pa... February 5, 2019

ART HOBSON: More harm than good I'm no fan of President Trump, but it's irrational to automatically oppose everything he does. Many will disagree, but he recently did two things right by announcing a U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria... January 15, 2019

ART HOBSON: Surprising optimism in these difficult times Steven Pinker's new book "Enlightenment Now: The case for reason, science, humanism, and progress" paints an optimistic picture of global improvement since the 18th century Age of Enlightenment that r... December 25, 2018

ART HOBSON: Refundable carbon tax needed Why do Canadians seem to resolve difficult issues more rationally and peacefully than Americans? Perhaps it's an outgrowth of our origin in violent revolution versus Canada's history of peaceful coope... November 13, 2018

ART HOBSON: Will we attack Iran? In 2015, the New York Times published an op-ed urging President Obama to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities and provide "vigoroU.S. American support for ... regime change in Tehran." President Trump recen... October 23, 2018

ART HOBSON: Crime against the planet By early August, 85 large fires burned in California and northern California was declared a national disaster. Exacerbated by years of western drought, they caused more than a dozen deaths, thousands ... October 2, 2018

ART HOBSON: Are Kim's missiles a threat to U.S.? How about that? After Chairman Kim Jong Un agreed with President Trump to "work toward denuclearization," and Trump's tweet expressing "confidence that Kim ... will honor the contract we signed ... to... September 11, 2018

ART HOBSON: Getting to know U Whether one considers the Iran nuclear deal, North Korea's H-bomb, Russia's arsenal or America's military establishment, it's clear we all need to know something about nuclear weapons technology. Nort... August 21, 2018

ART HOBSON: Region needs mass transit Northwest Arkansas needs mass transit ORT, Razorback blend is a good idea Every city in this extremely rich nation should be able to offer all its citizens a high quality of life. An essential ingredi... July 31, 2018

ART HOBSON: Resisting religious extremism Humankind received stunning good news on May 28 when Ireland voted to repeal its constitutional ban on abortion. The vote had been expected to be close, but the margin turned out to be an overwhelming... June 19, 2018

ART HOBSON: Trump makes a disastrous choice It would be hard to top the recklessness of George W. Bush's 2003 attack on Iraq, but President Trump has managed it by withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear agreement. The consequences will be worse t... May 29, 2018

ART HOBSON: TESS searches for signs of life NASA's latest planet-hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS, rocketed into space on April 18. It will be two months before the refrigerator-sized satellite maneuvers into its unusua... May 8, 2018

ART HOBSON: Bicycling benefits region As readers probably know, I'm an academic type who does a lot of complaining about developments that seem to me to be unhealthy for the planet and its inhabitants. But despite the grumbling, I feel ex... April 17, 2018

ART HOBSON: In God We Trust? A March 4 headline read "'In God We Trust' signs going up in schools." New Arkansas legislation requires public schools to display such posters whenever someone donates them. The American Legion of Be... March 27, 2018

ART HOBSON: The permanent warfare state The Trump administration recently released a National Defense Strategy that tries to justify a new massive military buildup throughout the world. While continuing our campaign against terrorists, the ... March 6, 2018

ART HOBSON: Immigration deal essential Unbending ideology is the enemy of democracy. We see this in nations doomed to terrorism by rigid religious beliefs. We see it in the authoritarian government and failed economies of nations led by ex... February 13, 2018

ART HOBSON: In search of Schrodinger's cat Quantum physics -- the study of matter and energy at the microscopic level -- delights me, and I've gotten more involved with it since retirement provided more time for pondering. The quantum fundamen... January 23, 2018

ART HOBSON: City eyes energy action plan Since coming here in 1964. I've been happy to be a Fayetteville citizen, but I'm happier still since scanning the city's new Energy Action Plan.A search at the city's Web site (http://www.fayetteville... January 2, 2018

ART HOBSON: Is anti-intellectualism at the root of modern problems? "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, ... The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." Irish Poet William Butler Yea... December 12, 2017

ART HOBSON: Governor's road response excellent Arkansas has annual highway "needs" totaling about $900 million, but only about $450 million available in highway allocations. The state Highway Commission hoped to get some of the difference from oth... November 21, 2017

Art Hobson: Shootings as American as apple pie I'm no expert on gun violence, but events have surely shown we'd better pay attention to it. The Las Vegas massacre was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, but it was only one of many ... October 31, 2017

Art Hobson: Make peace with North Korea America and North Korea are entangled in a perilous game. The U.S., which could have prevented this impasse, needs a rational foreign policy based on current realities. Kim Jong Un's aim is to retain ... October 10, 2017

Art Hobson: The lightness of neutrinos Please allow me to introduce you to one of nature's strangest objects: the neutrino. Neutrinos are everywhere. There are many more of these tiny things than there are atoms in the universe. Trillions ... September 19, 2017

Art Hobson: Cooperate with enemies In my previous column, I argued that, given his aim of maintaining absolute power, Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons are actually a rational response to America's aggressive foreign policy. We've got to s... August 29, 2017

Art Hobson: Kim Jong Un's rationale Although global warming poses the planet's greatest long-term danger, nuclear weapons are the major short-term threat. North Korea's recent acquisition of nuclear weapons is perilous and deplorable, b... August 8, 2017

Art Hobson: The USA is in trouble Recently my extended family got together near the beach in Venice, Calif. Like other U.S. cities, it bears the scars of our national dysfunction. By day, the boardwalk, bikeway and adjoining businesse... July 18, 2017

Art Hobson: And all that jazz Today, let's stroll down my own lane of memories of America's greatest invention. It was 1947. I was in eighth grade. I wandered into a record store on the main street of Manhattan, Kan., happened upo... June 27, 2017

Art Hobson: Our overpopulated planet Henderson Island, an uninhabited South Pacific atoll, is so isolated as to be practically untouched, ever, by human presence. Yet according to scientists who studied it in 2015, this island is the fin... June 6, 2017

Art Hobson: Car trouble in Northwest Arkansas How to capture the sorry state of our transportation? There are many good books, with solutions -- James Kunstler's classic "The Geography of Nowhere"; Jane Holtz Kay's "Asphalt Nation"; Katie Alvord'... May 16, 2017

Art Hobson: Syrian attack hazy President Trump jumped prematurely to the conclusion that Bashar Assad's air force attacked the town of Khan Sheikhoun using nerve gas weapons. U.S. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Thomas Massie, R... April 25, 2017

Art Hobson: Nature is an incomparable artist My driving professional passion is general scientific literacy for all people. The American Association for the Advancement of Science justifies this task in stark terms: "Without a scientifically lit... April 4, 2017

Art Hobson: A godless existence "Are you good without God? Millions are." This was the message proclaimed in 2010 by a large interstate highway sign near Fayetteville. The sign was sponsored by the Fayetteville Freethinkers, a group... March 14, 2017

Art Hobson: On course to crash There's already a mountain of evidence for the reality and seriousness of global warming. But a recent article in the journal Science, "Regional and global sea-surface temperatures during the last int... February 21, 2017

Art Hobson: Praying Trump into office Most presidents have chosen just one or two clergy to "pray them into office" -- a strange phrase that's normal usage in many newspapers. Although one preacher seems sufficient, President Trump chose ... January 31, 2017

Art Hobson: The greatest president since FDR Although a case can be made for Ronald Reagan as our most consequential, and therefore greatest, president of recent times, I disagree too strongly with Reagan's economic consequences to be able to go... January 10, 2017