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The Shrinking Gland That Helps You Live Longer

When’s the last time you thought about your thymus?

How Cacti Defy Darwin

They’re an evolutionary feat all of their own

Heat Probably Doesn’t Make You More Aggressive

An interview with a behavioral economist about cake, climate change, and cooperation

Did Music Give Rise to Language?

An interview with a music cognition researcher about the evolutionary roots of music

What Doomsday Prophecies Say About Us

An interview with medieval studies scholar and apocalypse expert Matthew Gabriele

How Flowers Transformed Planet Earth

An interview with biologist David George Haskell about his new book

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How Three Students Designed an Atomic Bomb

A top-secret 1960s project tasked physics postdocs with building The Bomb

The Thrill of Science in 2042

A science historian explains how science got its groove back. A fictional dispatch from the future.

How Energy Politics Played Out on the White House Roof

The quick removal of Jimmy Carter’s futuristic solar panels echoes more recent feuds over renewables

Welcome to the Block Universe

Where time is an illusion, reality just is, and you can see yourself as eternal

The Science Behind the Perfect 3-Point Shot

The difference between a satisfying swish and an embarrassing air ball

Can We Protect Science?

It was a burning question at the World Economic Forum last week

What Would Richard Feynman Make of AI Today?

The scientific sage was always suspicious of grand promises delivered before details were understood

The Vibes Have Been Off in the US for Decades

New survey analysis reveals a sense of national deterioration

Does Belief in God, not Political Party, Drive Conservatism?

Religious “nones” may be less socially liberal than they used to be

Parachute Science Continues to Prevail in Global South Biodiversity Studies

The privilege of describing new species is skewed to Global Northerners

How Gum Disease Can Lead to Breast Cancer

A common microbe can wreak havoc once inside cells