Terrorism. Technological disruption. Globalization. Life in the 1870’s was wild. Harvard historian Maya Jasanoff on Joseph Conrad, his times, and ours.
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A new look at the intertwined lives of two of the 20th century’s greatest minds. In the years prior to World War II, physics was in an odd, post-revolutionary state. Quantum […]
‘Buy land – they aren’t making it any more,’ said Mark Twain.
The idea is to flood the markets and drive prices down. Contrary to what you may think, a rhino horn is not made of bone but of keratin – the material found in nails and hair.
As wonderful as the evidence that supports or invalidates a theory is, it can never truly kill the ones that don’t work out. When it comes to science, we like to […]
A new study shows that oxytocin plays a similar role in dogs’ emotions as it does in humans.
A reappraisal of the Chinese Dali skull suggest a more prominent role for China in early human history.
Once desire becomes suspect, sex is never far behind.
If atmospheric hazes can cool the distant ice dwarf by an extra 30 degrees Celsius, maybe we can geoengineer a solution to our warming problem? When NASA’s New Horizons flew by […]
For the first time, an object from outside our solar system is observed traveling through our neighborhood.
Every organization wants to have the best possible leadership, and will shell out big dollars to find and retain them. A strong leader can inspire others to be more dedicated—which […]
An Irish Catholic priest thinks we should stop using the word “Christmas” and replace it with another word.
Predatory journals are so busy scamming scholars that seven big ones appointed a dog posing as a PhD to review submissions.
One type of dog in particular is linked with the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease in their human pals.
Physicists propose a new kind of space structure that can allow information to escape from black holes.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has announced a proposal to repeal net neutrality regulations set forth by the Obama administration in 2015.
Student loan debt doesn’t make you undateable. How you handle it might.
It’s not only a lack of sleep that’s hurting us. A lack of dreaming might point to health problems.
Geologists find that when the earth’s spin slows as it has recently, major earthquake activity follows.
Why do scientists look down on philosophers? And are they right to do so?
And you don’t even need a Delorean at 88 MPH. It’s one of the greatest tropes in movies, literature, and television shows: the idea that we could travel back in time […]
Here’s the first evidence to challenge the “fastest sperm” narrative.
George Bernard Shaw quipped that a rich man ‘does not really care whether his money does good or not, provided he finds his conscience eased and his social status improved by giving it away’. Was he right?
An Ivy League education without the Ivy League price tag.
Duke University researchers found that stimulating brain regions dealing with abstract reasoning and cognitive flexibility alleviate anxiety and depression.
Here are four great brains from great minds, and how they differ from yours.
Every day, you and your coworkers make countless decisions and tackle numerous problems. We know that many of these decisions or problems are so tacit that we don’t even consider […]
It’s more than the Spore Drive, it’s about the heart of science fiction. If you’ve been following Star Trek: Discovery, you knew what we were headed for going into the mid-season […]
The first in-body gene-editing experiment has just begun.