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Scientists still aren’t sure how they perform without those restorative Z’s.

An effective strategic approach to unlocking and selecting truly innovative solutions.

People discovered prehistoric fossils long before Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species.” The remains of these unknown creatures often puzzled their discoverers.

Do the benefits of plastics outweigh the costs?

Can you travel by rail from Portugal all the way to Singapore? In theory, yes. In practice? Not so much.

De-extinction, if it is ever possible, will not be simple.

Bloodcurdling war cries, shrieking elephants, and whistling arrows all made soldiers flee in terror.

Professor of leadership Michael D. Watkins identifies ways high-performing teams can be sabotaged — and offers simple fixes for each.

There were at least eight other human species, some of whom existed for far longer than we have. Who were they?

Two great philosophies — but do they work better together?

Experimental archaeology is the practice of recreating past events using knowledge and tools available at the time. Sometimes, it involves elephants.

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

The next time you see your dog sniffing the pavement or another dog’s junk, you should let them. Here’s why.

David Novak — the cofounder, and former CEO and chairman, of Yum! Brands — celebrates the benefits of active, lifelong learning.

Humanity is never fully in control of its creations. This lesson from Mary Shelley has remained relevant for over 200 years.

Without even realizing it, we’ve actually become pretty god-like in our powers.

Modern robotics are creating a kind of cultural paradox, where the best religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all.

Cats twist and snakes slide, exploiting and negotiating physical laws. Scientists are figuring out how.

Quibi was so focused on foresight they forgot the basics of hindsight.

Recent controversies bode ill for the effort to detect life on other planets by analyzing the gases in their atmospheres.

There are many things in life that cannot be improved with greater effort. Sometimes, life requires that you step back.

To the ancient Greeks, exotic animals were proof of mythological creatures. To the ancient Romans, they were oddities and adversaries.

Mary Toft staged an elaborate hoax, but the pain was real.

Tusks suddenly became a liability, even though in natural circumstances, tusks are very useful.

Rock art in northern Australia depicts marsupial lions, giant kangaroos, and other megafauna that populated the Land Down Under long ago.  

The Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas are the last surviving fragments of a body of water that stretched from Austria to Turkmenistan.

Why Netflix adopted the “No Brilliant Asshole” rule — and how to make sure bullies don’t destroy teams.

We should not expect aliens to look anything like us. Creatures that resemble octopuses or birds or even robots are legitimate possibilities.

Almost all royal lines try to legitimize their rule with legendary origin stories. Here are five of the strangest examples.

A famous explorer’s doomed ship is finally found 107 years after it was lost to the Antarctic deep.