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Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. It investigates various types of knowledge, including theoretical and practical knowledge, and related concepts, such as belief, truth, and justification. Epistemologists distinguish different sources of knowledge, ranging from perception and introspection to memory, reason, and testimony. The schools of skepticism and fallibilism question the existence and certainty of knowledge, while empiricism and rationalism debate whether all knowledge stems from sense experience. Theories discussing the nature and role of justification include foundationalism, coherentism, internalism, and externalism. Separate branches of epistemology focus on knowledge in specific fields, such as scientific, mathematical, moral, and religious knowledge. Other branches are characterized by the aspects of knowledge they investigate or the research methodologies they use. Early reflections on the nature, sources, and scope of knowledge are found in ancient Greek, Indian, and Chinese philosophy. (Full article...)

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Sanahin Bridge

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... that the midnight shadow docket order in Tandon v. Newsom was called the most important religious free exercise decision in 30 years?
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... that only Greenland Dogs may race in Avannaata Qimussersua?
... that Bangladeshi singer Abanti Sithi has used plastic cups, foil paper and metal coins as musical instruments?
... that Marguerite McDonald performed the world's first laser correction surgery on the normal eye of a living human patient?
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In the news

Mark Carney

In Canada, the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney (pictured), wins the most seats in the federal election.
A major power outage affects most of the Iberian Peninsula.
An explosion and fire at the Port of Shahid Rajaee, Iran, kills at least 70 people and injures more than 1,200 others.
At least 11 people are killed in a car-ramming attack at a street festival in Vancouver, Canada.

On this day

May 1: Beltane and Samhain in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively; Maharashtra Day in Maharashtra, India (1960); International Workers' Day, Law Day, Loyalty Day and National Day of Prayer (2025) in the United States

Empire State Building

305 – Diocletian and Maximian retired as co-rulers of the Roman Empire, being succeeded by Galerius and Constantius Chlorus.
1794 – War of the Pyrenees: France regained nearly all the land it lost to Spain the previous year with its victory in the Second Battle of Boulou.
1931 – New York City's Empire State Building (pictured), at the time the tallest building in the world, opened.
1974 – Argentine president Juan Perón expelled Montoneros from a demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, forcing the group to become a clandestine organization.

Alexander William Williamson (b. 1824)
Anna Jarvis (b. 1864)
Eldridge Cleaver (d. 1998)

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Today's featured picture

Euthrix potatoria, commonly known as the drinker, is an orange-brown moth in the family Lasiocampidae. The species' common and scientific names derive from the larva's supposed drinking of drops of dew. It is found in Europe, most frequently found in marshy places, fens and riversides but may also be seen in drier, grassy terrain. The larva (caterpillar) of this species grows to about 6 cm (2.3 in) in length and is hairy, striped and spotted, with distinctive tufts fore and aft. Caterpillars hibernate while young and resume feeding in the spring, pupating in a cocoon during the summer. This picture shows the top of an E. potatoria caterpillar in Keila, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

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