All Videos 10,000 years of branding explained in 6 minutes Branding isn’t buzz — we’ve been doing it for thousands of years. ▸ 6 min — with Debbie Millman
Thinking “Just asking questions”: How healthy skepticism morphed into toxic denialism Media provocateurs and conspiracy theorists insist that they’re “just asking questions.” No, they aren’t.
Thinking You are probably a naive realist. Try not to be We tend to assume our view of the world is objective and accurate rather than subjective and biased — which is what it really is.
Life The marbled crayfish has been cloning itself for 30 years. Can it teach us about cancer? All marbled crayfish descended from a single clone discovered in Heidelberg, Germany in 1995.
Health This molecule may be the “secret sauce” of exercise — but it won’t work as a pill “Lac-Phe” grants obese mice the benefits of exercise — without exercising. But don’t expect an “exercise pill.”
Starts With A Bang NASA’s super-Hubble to finally find inhabited planets There are billions of potentially inhabited planets in the Milky Way alone. Here’s how NASA will at last discover and measure them.
Thinking 5 philosophy jokes that will actually teach you something Jokes so cheesy even French philosophers will love them.
Hard Science Why slime is the perfect protection against wildfires Fire-retardant gels and slimes combine the best attributes of water and foam.
Thinking Read this book if you want to understand what drives inventors, engineers, and scientists “The Soul of a New Machine” provides a rare level of insight into the minds and decisions of humanity’s greatest thinkers.
The Past Ancient Maya installed gemstones in their teeth. It wasn’t just fashion. The ancient Maya enjoyed filling their teeth with gemstones. A new study reveals how the procedure was done and how it didn’t kill them.
The Well Why you should want to suffer — just a little bit There are two kinds of suffering. One is pure pain. The other makes life worth living. ▸ 6 min — with Paul Bloom
Starts With A Bang One shocking fact about each and every planet in the Solar System Do you think you know the Solar System? Here’s a fact about each planet that might surprise you when you see it!
The Present Virginia launches world’s biggest 3D-printed housing project One home was printed in 28 hours. Now, Alquist 3D is building 200 more.
Health Wearable tech: eating and playing our way to a longer lifespan Wearable technology can help increase lifespan by changing what we know about our dietary needs and creating new ways to exercise.
Health Why are people sexually attracted to cartoons? Evolution. Nikolaas Tinbergen’s concept of “supernormal stimulus” explains why humans are attracted to a heightened version of reality.
Life Yes, size does matter: Solving the mystery of giraffe neck evolution It’s not about leaves in tall trees.
The Well Why Einstein is a “peerless genius” and Hawking is an “ordinary genius” You’ve heard of Stephen Hawking. Ever heard of Renata Kallosh? Didn’t think so.
The Present Cryptocurrency and the “greater fool” theory of economics An analogy explains the greater fool theory: You don’t have to run faster than the bear to get away; you just have to run faster than the other guy.
The Future Google has not created sentient AI — yet AI systems can carry on convincing conversations, but they have no understanding of what they’re saying. Humans are easily fooled.
Starts With A Bang Ask Ethan: Why do black holes look like rings, not disks? With two different black hole event horizons now directly imaged, we can see that they are, in fact, rings, not disks. But why?
The Present Back to the source: What we gain when we cut out the middleman Our economy is dominated by middlemen, including huge companies such as Walmart and Amazon. There are many benefits to going direct instead.
13.8 Why the UN cares about climate change — and aliens Any alien civilization that grows to span an entire planet would spark the same effects that we have. So, what do we do about it?
Strange Maps What do entrepreneurs dream about in Czechia? A world map of start-up ambitions In New Zealand, ambitious Kiwis want to launch a lawn mowing business; in South Africa, it’s cooking gas refills. Start-up dreams vary widely.
The Future How to be a techno-optimist Technology will not save the world, and it is inherently neither good nor bad. But, when tech is coupled to human virtue, good will prevail.
Starts With A Bang Star-formation is truly unstoppable, even with the strongest feedback When stars form, they emit energetic radiation that boils gas away. But it can’t stop gravitational collapse from making even newer stars.
Life Gene editing gone wrong: Scientists accidentally create angry hamsters For 40 years, scientists thought a specific gene was linked to aggression in hamsters. Removing it, however, had violent consequences.
13.8 Google engineer claims his AI is sentient. It definitely is not The engineer working on Google’s AI, called LaMDA, suffers from what we could call Michelangelo Syndrome. Scientists must beware hubris.
Hard Science The cosmos can kill us in many ways. But the James Webb Space Telescope can help save us The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will study many dangerous cosmic phenomena, knowledge of which may help save humanity.
The Well Should genetics be used to create social policy? Eugenics is bad – but understanding DNA is good. ▸ 4 min — with Kathryn Paige Harden
Starts With A Bang A new nova disappeared faster than ever, and an even bigger cosmic catastrophe is coming If you think you know how an astronomical nova works, buckle up. You’re in for a ride like you never expected.