High Culture
Tolkien on the importance of fantasy and science fiction
According to Tolkien, fantasy requires a deep imagination known as "sub-creation." And the genre reflects a fundamental truth of being human.
The philosophy and magic of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli movies celebrate the natural world using a very Japanese mixture of Shinto, Buddhist, and Daoist themes.
How your brain bonds with fictional characters
Scans show similar activity to what occurs when you think about yourself.
10 pieces of wisdom from Roman emperors
Even tyrants and despots offer wisdom worth heeding.
Inspirational quotes from famous people on the autism spectrum
Words of wisdom from H.P. Lovecraft, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Dr. Temple Grandin, Hannah Gadsby and more.
What early US presidents looked like, according to AI-generated images
"Deepfakes" and "cheap fakes" are becoming strikingly convincing — even ones generated on freely available apps.
How your social media data can become a ‘mental health X-ray’
In the future, you might voluntarily share your social media data with your psychiatrist to inform a more accurate diagnosis.
Does fact-checking really work? Timing matters.
New research from MIT is unintuitive but could lead to a better system.
How to close the digital gap for the elderly
Older people are in grave danger of being left behind.
A brand-new blue may be the most eye-popping blue yet
Meet a spectacular new blue—the first inorganic new blue in some time.
Twitter turns to the hive mind for moderation via its Birdwatch program
The platform experiments with letting users decide what content needs flagging.
Were there “early warning signs” of COVID-19 on Twitter?
Could we have predicted COVID-19 through social media trends?
World’s oldest work of art found in a hidden Indonesian valley
Archaeologists discover a cave painting of a wild pig that is now the world's oldest dated work of representational art.