NGC 7253A and NGC 7253B are joining forces

This reading list takes you to the stars

But the BepiColombo twin orbiters aren’t the first spacecraft to visit our system’s smallest planet. Here’s what we’ve seen already

Autocracy wasn’t inevitable in early civilizations—many were more egalitarian. But when riches were there to monopolize, strongmen and inequalities emerged

The maritime disaster of 1912 wasn’t fully understood until the shipwreck was rediscovered

Such delicate textiles typically decompose within a few years

Majority voting may make us less willing to tolerate advantages for others

Part of the challenge of finding a biomarker for mental illness is the environment’s significant influence

Cooperation is a double-edged sword

It’s a rare plant with an “enigmatic and devil-like essence”

And vacuuming might make things worse

Talk about getting to the bottom of things

It’s meant to help lure prey

It’s a remarkable act of impulse control

The most carefully packed embryo of all the vertebrates

People who can’t see images in their minds challenge an old philosophical standby

It takes intelligence to get things spectacularly wrong. An essay on our undoing.

In this age of AI anxiety, listen to your heart