Longevity Research Has a Bullshit Problem
How impossible ages, lost paperwork, and invented biographies become scientific fact
“It Feels Like Something Out of Science Fiction”: Astronomers Find First Green Star
The universe just got a little more colorful
The Wildlife Photo of the Year May Break Your Heart
The circle of life fully on display
How Our Brains Read Emotions in Other People
This multisensory process engages many brain networks at once
Latest Stories
Early Humans in America Endured Climate Chaos
Footprints found at White Sands, New Mexico, were dated to the height of the last ice age
Americans Who Go to Church and Trust Science Are Also More Likely to Believe in Ghosts and Curses
The church of the supernatural
Read Stories from Our Newest Print Issue: The Stupid Issue
See moreThe Elegance of a Stupid Question
Are computers in mathematics rewriting the definitions of stupid and smart?
The Resistance Is Here
They didn’t plan to be activists. But scientists have united to overturn Trump’s drastic cuts to science.
The Return of a Discredited Pseudoscience
Eugenics is rearing its ugly head again in today’s crucible of politics and culture
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Cutting-edge science, unraveled by the brightest living thinkers.
Astronomy
See more Astronomy
A Distant Planet Emitted a Burst of Radio Waves. Why?
Astronomers pinpoint the origin of a 10 billion‑year‑old millisecond signal from space
History
See more HistoryThis Is the Oldest Peace Treaty Ever Discovered
Maybe there are a few things we can still learn from it
Thousands of Fancy Dishes Have Survived a 2,100-Year-Old Shipwreck
You probably wouldn’t want to eat off them though
Psychology
See more Psychology
Why Forgive and Forget is Bad Advice
A conversation with MacArthur fellow Felipe de Brigard about how forgiveness reshapes the memory of atrocity
Envy at the Ballot Box
Majority voting may make us less willing to tolerate advantages for others
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Environment
See more Environment
One Giant Clam Contains a Month‑by‑Month Diary of the Great Barrier Reef’s Climate 200 Years Ago
An under-the-sea autobiography
Zoology
See more ZoologyMeet Loki the Sea Cucumber, One of 57 Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Species
It looks friendly at least
These New Snails Can Slam Shut Their Shells Like Doors
It’s always good to have the option of some peace and quiet
Philosophy
See more PhilosophyCould AI Have Consciousness That Isn’t Human-Like?
Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith on AI consciousness and existential risk
What a Picture of a Dog Has to Do with Reason and Logic
People who can’t see images in their minds challenge an old philosophical standby
What Makes Humans Stupid
It takes intelligence to get things spectacularly wrong. An essay on our undoing.
Can We Ditch BMI for an Obesity Index That Predicts Disease Risk Better?
It’s ridiculously simplistic and nearly two centuries old
Read more
See all postsReplacing Just 10 Percent of Ultra‑processed Foods with Whole Foods Linked to Drop in Bowel Cancer Rate
Examples of ultra processed foods include many supermarket breads, cured meats and some breakfast cereals
Workers Who Fear AI May be More Prone to Slacking Off
“Jobs apocalypse” or not, threats have consequences
How Prehistoric People Survived After One of the Worst Volcanic Eruptions in History
It’s a story of human resilience
Here’s How Freaky the Universe Would Look If Light Slowed to 3 Miles Per Hour
Einstein’s theories in a virtual theme park
Why Story and Playtime Really Matter
Face-to-face interaction trumps screens for social and language learning
