Massive Dynamic

Progress and the Science of Destruction

by Jacob Cliftonon Fringe

You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. The world was meant to be wooed and won by youth.

—WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

The Conspiracy of Unhappiness

In the science community you hear a lot about “pure research,” that Grail of exploration in which money is no object and the marketable endpoint–weaponry, biotech, anything that can be bought and sold–is removed from the equation. Of course, scientists and medical researchers are not useful for their daydreaming, and the simple fact of capitalism means pure research is purely fantasy.

Because scientific experimentation requires training, materials, and space to work, funding must come from somewhere: the academic community, the government, big business. All of which come with their strings attached, their red-tape bureaucracy, and all of which frequently cross over into each other a bit more … read more»

Recent Free Essays (Still Available!)

Available Until
Wed 8/22

The Thing About Elves Is...

by Gail Sidonie Sobaton the Inheritance series (Eragon)

Well, they’re a slippery lot. Hard to pin down. The wee folk. The little people. Fairies. Or is that faeries? Or brownies? Or pixies? Pan or Puck? Sylphs or dryads or nymphs? Goblins or hobgoblins or gremlins or gnomes? Leprechauns or imps or sprites?

Enough to set the mind reeling!

So to … read more»

Available Until
Tue 8/21

Not Just a River in Egypt

by Diane Shipleyon Glee

Like most musicals, Glee
portrays a heightened reality. To enjoy the show is to suspend our
disbelief and accept that we cannot take everything we see literally.
When Kurt performed “Rose’s Turn” (“Laryngitis,” 1-18), for example, he
began singing in the school hallway, was … read more»

Available Until
Mon 8/20

Introduction: Batman Unauthorized

by Dennis O'Neilon Batman

In the beginning was the meme, and the meme belonged to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. But not for long.

I’ll be happy to elucidate.

I’ll begin with a bit of history that may already be familiar to you. It
concerns a young man who was living in Cleveland in 1934 and … read more»

Available Until
Fri 8/17

Leading by Example

by Carol Cooperon the X-Men

Although director Bryan Singer opted not to helm the third episode in the hit X-Men film series (launched by 20th Century Fox with the eponymous X-Men in 2000), it was Singer’s youthful intelligence that brought exactly the right tone to the first two installments of Marvel’s top-selling franchise. A … read more»