Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Social Psychologist Adam Alter on a planet-wide epidemic it's not (yet) too late to bring under control. 

But that’s okay; the most likely world for life may not be like Earth, after all. “You can spend too much time wondering which of identical twins is the more alike.” […]

KGB-era "active measures" are still being used by Russian intelligence agencies today, according to experts.

Dyslexia makes letters float, rotate, and flip on a page. It turns M's into W's, q's into p's, and so on. Changing the font-face might be able to help keep the letters in place on the page.

From olde English dogs, to immoral women, to weak men, to irritating women, to its prideful reclaiming, to ownership over a woman (there's a theme here), the word "b*tch" has a long and fascinating history, and it's all stored in the archives of the Merriam-Webster lexicography department.

Microchipping humans may be common in the future. The prospect of constantly being tracked and online raises some major ethical concerns. Futurist and humanist Gerd Leonhard provides insight into where we're headed.

Science may be one of the most complex human endeavors, but the lessons it teaches can be applied far outside of science. “I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single […]

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery, or a breach of intellectual property? That depends which continent you're on, says Gish Jen.

Do you walk up the escalator, or stand and let yourself be delivered to the top? One of these methods is more efficient than the other. 

In her new book, Eden Collinsworth investigates morals in a growingly diverse world. 

The smartphone is set to become the hub of your life, online and off, until this replaces it. 

Researchers develop a graphene-based membrane that may make large-scale desalinization possible.

If it’s the anti-version of normal matter, could it possibly fall “up”? This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder of Backreaction. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in quantum gravity and […]

Two insults for the price of one

There is one essential ingredient missing, argues historian Yuval Noah Harari.

Isaac Lidsky says losing his sight by the age of 25 has been the true gift of his life. Why? It showed him the most profound of all truths about being a human being.

No one yet knows what challenges will confront humans living in deep space.   

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is one of those cliché questions that adults ask automatically. It turns out that the answer may reveal a lot about an adolescent’s health.  

Do you want your voice heard? Facebook recently unveiled a tool called Town Hall which makes it incredibly easy to contact your elected officials. By removing the friction of contacting politicians, Facebook may be creating a "social infrastructure" that increases civic engagement. 

Recent research suggests what we thought we knew about social trust judgements may be all wrong.