I believe that Henri Bergson, one of my favorite philosophers, once said that "Time is what prevents everything from happening at once." I've also heard it remarked that this clearly is not working anymore.
This isn't just a (true) comment on my own schedule, but also to point out that as well as announcing the results of the second round of large FQXi grants, we're also simultaneously very excited to launch FQXi's first essay contest, on "The Nature of Time."
I'm very much looking forward to hearing what some really careful thinkers really think about time (when encouraged by the possibility of some cash and fame) as well as to the opportunity to take part in what I hope will be a really fun and interesting discussion of a foundational question that is at once both intimately familiar and deeply mysterious. Have at it!
Finally, as another piece of current news, we're happy to welcome Zeeya Merali (from whom you've already seen blog entries) as both a new sometimes blogger and editor-in-chief of the FQXi community site.