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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
Monsters have always represented societal fears, but narrative art also casts doubt on whether we fully understand our monsters — and their slayers.
Bees learn and culturally transmit their communication skills.
From grave robbing to giving your own body to science.
Some classic books, like Mark Twain’s "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," remain controversial to this day.
As Abraham Lincoln famously said, “If you want to test a man’s character, give him power and a plate of cookies.” (Something like that.)
7mins
Find food, have sex, not die. That’s pretty much all we need to do — but why do we make it so complicated?
Some would say AI is immortal and all-knowing — Godlike, even.
7mins
Sexual attitudes are more man-like than ever. Here’s what that means for women.
Marburg virus, like its cousin Ebola, causes severe disease, with fatality rates ranging from 22% to 90%.
Instead of giving the 239 suffering families and the public a true story, Netflix exploited a horrifying tragedy to push conspiracy theories.
How can you fit a camel through a needle?
4mins
Everyone commits this rationality error.
How scientists found out that we live in a cosmic aquarium.
Mass sociogenic illnesses can afflict thousands of people.
When supermassive black holes merge, they emit more energy than anything else to occur in our Universe except the Big Bang.
In all mammals, there are two brain pathways for processing information from the eyes: an evolutionarily ancient one and a more modern one.
We bake pies for Pi Day, so why not celebrate other mathematical achievements.
Worldwide, 15% of children are born out of wedlock, but the figure varies from less than 1% in places like China to 69% in Iceland.
Many impact craters on Earth have been erased thanks to wind, water, and plate tectonics. But scientists have clever ways to find them.
The first "running machine" — later known as the bicycle — symbolizes a key design idea.