Ask a physicist: Do humans have souls? Do humans have souls, or are we just particles? Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder explains. ▸ 5 min — with Sabine Hossenfelder
The Present Krispy Kreme donuts to be filled, frosted, and packaged by machines Automation could help fix the company’s financial troubles.
Starts With A Bang Starts With A Bang podcast #89 – The active threat of the Sun Here on Earth, the Sun is our primary source of light, heat, and energy. But it also poses a grave threat to human civilization.
High Culture 5 great (and underrated) songs about cities Most popular songs are about love and heartache. But some great songs — albeit underrated and perhaps a bit weird — are about the cities we love.
The Present 39 years ago, a KGB defector chillingly predicted modern America A disturbing interview given by a KGB defector in 1984 describes America of today and outlines four stages of mass brainwashing used by the KGB.
The Past Here’s what being filthy rich in Europe looked like in 1000 BC, 1 AD, and 1000 AD Studying the display of personal wealth across time can help us better understand the history of socioeconomic inequality.
The Past How the ancient Greeks viewed pederasty and homosexuality In many city-states, it was perfectly acceptable for older men to have sexual relationships with young boys.
The Learning Curve Want to live a happy life? Focus on your relationships Harvard psychiatrist Robert Waldinger discusses how 80 years of ongoing research show relationships to be vital for health and happiness.
Hard Science There could be life on hot, volcanic Io, Jupiter’s “pizza moon” On Earth, microbial growth is common in lava tubes no matter the location and climate, whether it’s ice-volcano interactions in Iceland or hot, sand-floored lava tubes in Saudi Arabia.
Starts With A Bang Ask Ethan: How can we comprehend the size of the Universe? Human beings are tiny creatures compared to the 92 billion light-year wide observable Universe. How can we comprehend such large scales?
Hard Science A disturbing 1995 prediction by Carl Sagan accurately describes America today A quote from a 1995 book by astronomer Carl Sagan describes a world many find disturbingly similar to ours.
Sponsored Not like Amazon: Why China’s Alibaba has stalled after a meteoric rise Although it’s often described as the Amazon of China, Alibaba has a radically different business model that does not rely on inventory management.
Health Would following the USDA Dietary Guidelines actually make us healthy? A food fight may finally be put to rest.
Health 5 biotech trends to watch in 2023 From synthetic biology to xenotransplantation, biotech will continue to march forward in 2023, in part powered by data and AI.
Starts With A Bang No atmosphere found on JWST’s first Earth-sized exoplanet JWST just found its first transiting exoplanet, and it’s 99% the size of Earth. But with no atmosphere seen, perhaps air is truly rare.
Thinking Trimurti: Meet the “Holy Trinity” of Hinduism Hinduism emphasizes the journey, whichever path that takes. And it holds us responsible for our own self-improvement.
13.8 Quantum superposition begs us to ask, “What is real?” Quantum superposition challenges our notions of what is real.
The Learning Curve No pain, no gain? Science debunks yet another exercise myth You don’t have to “feel the burn” to see improvements to your health and well-being.
Starts With A Bang Meet TOI-700’s exoplanets: Our best bet for alien life Red dwarf stars were supposed to be inhospitable. But TOI-700, now with at least two potentially habitable worlds, is quite the exception.
High Culture Machu Picchu has changed Peru — for better and for worse If tourism is the lifeblood of the Peruvian economy, then Machu Picchu is the heart pumping that blood — in sickness and in health.
Sponsored If we live in a capitalist world, why is it taboo to talk about money? The “money taboo” is not a single taboo, but rather an amalgamation of several smaller taboos tied to gender and socioeconomic class.
Strange Maps What’s better than maps or stamps? Maps on stamps! When maps meet stamps, you get a love child called “cartophilately.”
Neuropsych Need to find your focus? Take some time to lose it. When you can’t enter flow, you can still lean on your internal rhythm.
Hard Science New physics? Ultra-precise measurement in particle physics confounds scientists The difference between predictions and observations of the magnetic properties of muons suggests a mystery for the Standard Model.
Starts With A Bang JWST’s “most distant galaxies” might be fooling us all JWST has seen more distant galaxies than any other observatory, ever. But many candidates for “most distant of all” are likely impostors.
High Culture Comedy movies rarely make it to theaters today. Here’s why. If comedies do get made today, they usually bypass the big screen and go straight to streaming platforms.
Neuropsych How the brain transfers fear memories to long-term storage Over time, different structures in the brain come to play unique roles in the storage and retrieval of long-term memories.
Neuropsych Meet the neuroscientist who uses puzzles to help the brain heal after injury Solving difficult visual puzzles seems to help the brain “rewire” itself by forming new neural pathways.