What a waste are two thumbs on the space bar. There they sit, nearly flaccid, punctuating the end of each word, awaiting the call to crack stone or to use sharp flakes to incise wood.It…

I recently discovered that my 10-times-great-grandfather bought a good chunk of Brooklyn from the Lenape Indians. He was one of the first Dutch landowners on this continent, a man…

Last week, we asked you to pick out human eyes from animal eyes that look similar. It was probably harder than you expected. This week’s eyeball challenge, again courtesy of some…

Any self-respecting pet owner will confidently claim that their dog or cat (or rabbit, or gerbil) seems sentient, exhibiting a distinct temperament and emotional responses. I know…

A preserved coelacanth from the Natural History Museum in Vienna, AustriaAlberto Fernandez Fernandez/WikipediaWhen an enormous four-finned fish surfaced in a South African fisherman’s…

People place incredible importance on their eyes. They’re arguably our default tool for perceiving the world, and one of the primary ways we remember and describe one another. Your…

The next time you mutter under your breath about the big gorilla in the next office, you might want to reconsider. The insult may reflect badly on you. Renowned primatologist Frans…

Hello, It’s MeLike family members announcing themselves on the phone, sperm whales, those giants of the ocean, with the largest brain of any animal, call out their names. Technically…

Since Darwin, we have considered our bodies to be an outcome of natural selection. But recent anthropological theories suggest that our own technology, even the most primitive, may…

The other day I fixed something—a rarity for me. The flotation device in the toilet water tank was rubbing against the side, getting stuck halfway up so that the tank didn’t fill…