What finally solved my tardiness problem wasn't technology — it was a five-minute warm-up, a single die, and a little backward design. By Lew Ludwig In the opening chapter of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins has his evening thoroughly upended. First, Dwalin rings the bell. Then Balin. Then Fíli and Kíli arrive as a pair. Before...

By Keith Devlin @KeithDevlin@fediscience.org, @profkeithdevlin.bsky.social  In the 1940s, American mathematicians faced that question. (Enough said “yes” to create the atomic bomb. These can be hard questions, with overwhelming consequences.) Post-9/11/2001, I (as a freshly naturalized American) found myself pondering the same question. Now, as a retiree, my younger American colleagues are likely going to face that question...