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How Big Is Your Family?
Living with a Papua New Guinea tribe in the ’80s presented this anthropologist with a question for today.
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Why Do Animals Adopt?
Taking responsibility for another’s young reveals the deep evolutionary roots of care.
The Porthole
Short sharp looks at science
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Is Technology Worthy of Our Faith?
Harvard and MIT humanist chaplain Greg M. Epstein on his 3 greatest revelations while writing Tech Agnostic.
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Voyagers Ready to Go Dark
Earth’s most distant space probes prepare for their inevitable long night.
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Medicine Is Going Viral
Once lost in scientific obscurity, bacteriophage therapy is making a comeback.
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Lucy at 50
Donald Johanson reflects on his fossil discovery that shook the human family tree a half century ago.
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An Archaeological Reckoning
Jennifer Raff is on a mission to rewrite the history of human origins in the Americas.
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Bustling Through the Physics of Crowds
A comic uses fluid dynamics to explain how groups of people move—and how that could help make large gatherings safer.
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Feeling Gravity’s Pull
Two theoretical physicists have a lively conversation about how abstract concepts can feel down-to-Earth.
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How We Solved the Hole in the Ozone
A scientist’s first-hand account shows the world can tackle a global environmental crisis.
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The Soviet Rebel of Music
He composed on a computer in a dangerous time. His echo is still heard today.
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How Whales Could Help Us Speak to Aliens
Learning to decode complex communication on Earth may give us a leg up if intelligent life from space makes contact.
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The Kinship Issue
Connection is primal. -
An Artful Seduction
Bowerbirds arrange flowers, dung, and shotgun shells to create elaborate love shacks. -
The New Climate Math on Hurricanes
For the first time, we can calculate how much climate change impacts a single storm’s severity. -
A Stolen Egg
A winning photograph shows a wasp that has parasitized an egg. -
When Work Is Play
Patchen Barss on his 3 greatest revelations while writing The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius. -
You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Light
A new way to deter Jaws. -
Plagues, Taxes, Storms, and the Jet Stream
What 700 years of historical data can tell us about extreme weather. -
Masters of Disguise
A winning photograph of octopus eggs reveals early organs of camouflage. -
The Power of Small Wonderments
Alan Lightman’s three greatest revelations while writing The Miraculous from the Material. -
Color Makes the Universe
How a flashy opal inspired artist Tyler Thrasher’s new book. -
The Rituals of Art, Science, and Superstition
A conversation with Issue 58 cover artist Ellen Weinstein. -
The Power of Small Brain Networks
It only takes four neurons to achieve big things. -
When Pollution Brings Snow
Metals and minerals from industry can trigger snowfall over hundreds of miles. -
Digging Into the First Work of Modern Ecology
What Carl Linneaus can teach us about animal appetites. -
The Art of Time Travel
“It’s not about what’s out there, it’s about your perception of what’s out there.” -
The Sex Problem with Sea Turtles
Fewer male sea turtles are being born. What does that mean for the future? -
The Amazing, Ageless Axolotl!
What we can learn about growing old from a tiny aquatic monster. -
A Mink Tale
On the trail of an extinct mustelid in Maine. -
Don’t We Belong to Nature?
Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard on the inspiration for his latest novel and his turn to sci-fi. -
Sky Gazing on Mars
You sit down on a sandy dune and tilt your head back.
