August 8, 2014

How Many of These Cell Phones Have You Used?

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

History Pics shared this image with the description “30 years of cell phones.” Recognize most of these? How many have you used?

Image via History Pics

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Close-up of multi-colored snowflakes on the left and a detailed view of a spiral galaxy on the right against a star-filled background.

13.8

Two essential questions about life in the Universe

How did life on Earth begin? Is there life on other worlds? An answer to either question will reflect heavily on the other.

Aerial map view highlighting the Humongous Fungus in red within Malheur National Forest, with labeled sections "Genet D" and "Genet E." A scale bar indicates 2 kilometers.

Strange Maps

This fungus is so humongous that it can be mapped

A member of a species that kills trees, this mushroom is not the first to be called the Humongous Fungus — and perhaps not the last.

Red ink disperses in water with the words "Menopause Chaos" overlaid in bold white font.

The science of menopause in 13 minutes

What can you do to support your health during menopause? “If exercise were a drug, that would be the one thing that we would be giving to everybody.”

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13 min

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with

Dr. Jen Gunter

Animation of a star being engulfed by another star, emitting bright light and gas in space.

Starts With A Bang

A new origin story for supernovae after 94 years

Since 1930, type Ia supernovae have been thought to arise from white dwarfs exceeding the Chandrasekhar mass limit. Here’s why that’s wrong.

Collage of social media icons and pixelated images in a grid layout, featuring Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook logos on a red background.

The Present

Internet freedom is fading in the new era of social control

“The evolution of digital media makes stricter regulation of online behavior not only feasible but inevitable,” writes media ecologist Andrey Mir.

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6,000 Year Old Lovers

“Lovers in Mantua” are two 6,000 year old skeletons–a young man and a woman from the Neolithic era–who must have cared for each other very deeply. In 2007, their skeletons […]