Can a Drug Reverse Age-Related Muscle Weakness?
New research focuses on the neuromuscular junction
How Social Learning Keeps Orangutans Fed
Orangutans learn by watching, then trying
Two Big Stick Insect Species Emerge from Australia
They were hiding in plain sight among their close relatives
Isaac Asimov Showed Us How to Avoid the AI Apocalypse
But the famed sci-fi author’s 80-year-old rules of robotics may need some updating
What Australia’s Hidden Caves Can Teach Us About Martian Terrain
The Nullarbor terrain isn’t that different than the red planet
Latest Stories
How a Horse Flu Outbreak Spurred an Early Animal Rights Crusade
In 1872, New York’s devastating epizootic gave the ASPCA’s young founder a powerful moral argument for animal protection
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
The Moon has a New Once-in-a-Century Crater
The lunar surface is more dynamic than you might think
The Crescent Nebula: A Gas Bubble Surrounding a Violently Dying Star
A light show that will get even more dramatic in time
History
See more History
How Do You Read Ancient Charred Scrolls? Make Your Own
A new technique could unlock the secrets of the Herculaneum scrolls
Psychology
See more PsychologyEnvy at the Ballot Box
Majority voting may make us less willing to tolerate advantages for others
I’m Part of the Team Writing the Next Bible of Psychiatry—For the First Time, the DSM Will Use Biology to Understand Mental Disorders
Part of the challenge of finding a biomarker for mental illness is the environment’s significant influence
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Environment
See more EnvironmentAstronaut Photos Taken Just 13 Years Apart Show a Major Shift in City Lights
We’ve moved on from the golden glow
This New “Devil Flower” Species Doesn’t Photosynthesize
It’s a rare plant with an “enigmatic and devil-like essence”
Zoology
See more ZoologyPangolins Are Some of the Most Illegally Trafficked Animals on the Planet. A Rediscovered Species Could Help
Manis aurita just got reinstated
Are Our Antidepressants Harming Fish?
It’s hard to say, but we’re definitely exposing them to our monoamine drugs
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.
Loneliness and Social Isolation Can Rob Men of Six Disease-Free Years of Their Lives
Don’t neglect your emotional health, gentlemen
Read more
See all postsWhy Activating Brown Fat to Treat Obesity is So Hard
And why the failures are just as important
Can AI “Feel” Pain?
Simulated pain can make some AI models override instructions and put their own welfare ahead of humans
Peptides Are Spreading on Social Media. Here’s How Platforms Can Better Protect Public Health
For starters, they need to take the same approach they did to vaping
Ancient, Armored Fishes Crushed Jaw Evolution
Placoderms evolved unique approaches to the first-ever vertebrate jaws
The Oldest Evidence of Drug Use is Also a Story About Addiction
A 25,000-year-old cautionary tale
“Ferritin Face” Is Trending—But Can Your Skin Really Reveal Low Iron?
There’s a kernel of truth to it, but it’s not the whole story
This Dolphin Steals from Fish for Its Meals
Putting a dent in dolphins’ reputation as the “good guys of the sea”
