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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
Wizbang innovations capture the public’s imagination, but thoughtful, incremental development is often more valuable to those in need.
We don’t know when or how music was originally invented, but we can now track its evolution across space and time thanks to the Global Jukebox.
We thought the Big Bang started it all. Then we realized that something else came before, and it erased everything that existed prior.
St Nick had a history of teleporting long before needing to reach all the world's children in one night.
There is more consensus on what heaven looks like than hell.
A group of prominent scientists shares how research has changed them.
For the first time in nearly 1500 years, fewer than half the people in England and Wales consider themselves Christian.
De-extinction, if it is ever possible, will not be simple.
Inequality should be measured in terms of the time it takes for us to earn the money to buy the things we need. And everyone is getting wealthier.
Climate activists' brand of iconoclasm is far removed from the Beeldenstorm that swept medieval Europe.
5mins
The real risks of psychedelics, explained by a Johns Hopkins expert.
The spikes in their mouths would have helped them catch squid or fish.
A Carrington-magnitude event would kill millions, and cause trillions of dollars in damage. Sadly, it isn't even the worst-case scenario.
Between the instability of the real estate market and cryptocurrency fluctuations, everyone has been talking about bubbles. But what are they, really?
Million Stories
Compared to Earth, Mars is small, cold, dry, and lifeless. But 3.4 billion years ago, a killer asteroid caused a Martian megatsunami.
"Tristram Shandy" trolled its way to fame.
Like Dua Lipa, he had to create new rules.
A conservator from the Rijksmuseum explains how they went about investigating whether the painting is a genuine Rembrandt.