Natalie Wolchover

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

We now know who is responsible for them, but why they’re doing it is still up for debate

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

Several space missions are searching for extraterrestrial life, which could come in the form of microbes

Assisted by AI, companies have more options than ever to track employees, minute by minute, keystroke by keystroke. Does this have the desired effect?

Change you can believe in