How America lost its mind — and how to get rationality back Washington University professor John Inazu tells us how we can make peace inside a raging culture war. ▸ 4 min — with John Inazu
Strange Maps Happy Valentine’s Day — in 10 maps! How to say “I love you” in Basque, the “most loving” cities around the world, and where most of America’s singles live — and so much more!
Neuropsych Your brain is wired to detect fear, outside of your conscious awareness Your brain may notice fearful faces, even if you don’t consciously realize it.
The Present The highest earning men aren’t especially intelligent. What explains their success? A study out of Sweden shows that the highest earning men are slightly less intelligent than those just below them on the economic ladder.
The Learning Curve Ease productivity overload with “niksen,” the Dutch art of doing nothing To do more, it sometimes pays to do nothing at all.
Neuropsych How reading fiction can make you a better person Instead of walking a mile in someone’s shoes, try reading a chapter in their book.
Starts With A Bang The Universe violates the perfect cosmological principle Generations ago, cosmologists asserted that the Universe might not just be the same in all directions, but at all times. But is that true?
Health “Brain-eating” amoeba beaten by old European drug The pathogen typically kills more than 90% of people it infects.
Hard Science Is there life on our Solar System’s icy moons? Extreme places on Earth may hold clues Some microbes can withstand Earth’s most inhospitable corners, hinting that life may be able to survive similarly extreme conditions on other worlds.
Neuropsych Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a window to understanding the brain “Language is the most distinctively human talent.”
Starts With A Bang Starts With A Bang Podcast #90 – How Galaxies Grow Up A fascinating 90 minute podcast between Dr. Ivanna Escala and Ethan Siegel on Starts With A Bang!
The Present World’s fastest “shoes” increase walking speed by 250% They cost $1,400 and will make you feel like you’re always on a moving sidewalk.
The Past The “deep state” secret police is full of uneducated, incompetent underachievers Whether in Russia or China, the secret police are defined by their unquestioning loyalty — as well as by their poor career prospects.
The Well How meaning emerges from matter The answer to the age-old philosophical question of whether there is meaning in the Universe may ultimately rest upon the power of information.
Strange Maps This map shows why FDR’s New Deal was kind of a big deal Almost 18,000 projects, brought together on one clickable map.
Life Is life on Earth in harmony with the planet — or is it ultimately suicidal? According to Peter Ward’s “Medea hypothesis,” photosynthesizing organisms regularly doom most life on Earth by over-consuming carbon dioxide.
The Past Rather than being peaceful, ancient hunter-gatherers engaged in violent warfare A wide-scale examination of early Neolithic human skeletons reveals the violent history of a supposedly peaceful period.
The physics of time, entropy, and death Why does time move forward but not backward? Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder explains. ▸ 5 min — with Sabine Hossenfelder
Starts With A Bang Ask Ethan: How do we know the timeline of our Universe? From the earliest stages of the hot Big Bang (and even before) to our dark energy-dominated present, how and when did the Universe grow up?
13.8 “The Last of Us” shows how technology has changed humans as storytellers Video games matter. Their continued technological and artistic development is reshaping the way we satisfy our ancient need to tell stories.
Sponsored Smart investor guide: 3 predictable intermarket relationships Smart investors recognize that the stock market doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
Thinking 3 great untruths to stop telling kids — and ourselves Kids are fragile. They should trust their feelings. The world is a battle between good and evil. We should stop repeating these untruths.
Thinking Why Carl Sagan believed that science is a source of spirituality Science will lead us to a universal morality and a cosmic religion.
The Learning Curve Fear of scams drives your behavior in nefarious ways Fear of being scammed can lead us to make decisions that go against our values and goals — both as individuals and as a society.
Starts With A Bang The Universe’s most unbreakable symmetry The combination of charge conjugation, parity, and time-reversal symmetry is known as CPT. And it must never be broken. Ever.
13.8 The weirdness of quantum mechanics forces scientists to confront philosophy Though quantum mechanics is an incredibly successful theory, nobody knows what it means. Scientists now must confront its philosophical implications.
Thinking What if you could rewire your brain to conquer suffering? Buddhism says you can For Buddhists, the “Four Noble Truths” offer a path to lasting happiness.
Hard Science Solved: 500-year-old mystery about bubbles that puzzled Leonardo da Vinci The solution involves the infamous Navier-Stokes equations, which are so difficult, there is a $1-million prize for solving them.
Health When’s the best time to consume caffeine? Hint: Not right after you wake Get the most out of your coffee.
3 game theory tactics, explained How to maximize wins and minimize losses, explained by four experts on game theory. ▸ 7 min — with Kevin Zollman