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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
In ancient Rome, collective bathing was the norm. In the West today, it’s the exception — and that’s too bad.
Every astrobiologist wants to find an alien. But the public should be skeptical when the "aliens" look like tiny humans.
Artificial general intelligence will not arise in systems that only passively receive data. They need to be able to act back on the world.
Was the terror of Biscayne Bay a man who escaped slavery, an African chieftain, or a marketing ploy that went viral?
The philosophy of sex is going through a recalibration period.
If nature were perfectly deterministic, atoms would almost instantly all collapse. Here's how Heisenberg uncertainty saves the atom.
France’s notorious disregard for washing gradually changed as military authorities and public schools promoted a modern regime of cleanliness.
Rooted in Vedic philosophy, "anupalabdhi" — or "non-apprehension" — can help you exploit gaps in the market.
Science and technology were making early modern Europe a better place to live, but at what cost?
There's nothing like the end of the world to make you a philosopher.
When the UK bans the American Bully XL this year, it won't rely on science to identify them.
Australian soldiers fighting the Japanese recruited native New Guineans to their campaign.
Want to write a time-travel story? Do so at your own risk.
Seventy-five years after the anomaly's discovery, scientists have finally figured out why sea levels are so much lower here.
The stench of death is actually fairly pleasant.
In an attempt to prove Christianity inferior to communism, a Soviet scientist hoped to play God.
In a world without clocks, people used common activities in place of time units. How long it took you to go to the toilet mattered.
In work and life, the rules of success are being redefined.
12mins
There are a few theories as to why we’ve never found other intelligent life in our Universe. Physicist Brian Cox walks us through them.