History and Society

History and Society

Mesopotamian beer was not flavored with hops, and it was probably on the thick, porridgey side.
Could anyone still meet the Theoretical Minimum?
Mixed messages and competing interests have left college students feeling lost and stressed.
Many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too.
montenegro tallest
Thanks to genetics and improving nutrition, denizens of the Western Balkans have surpassed the Dutch in height.
Bloodcurdling war cries, shrieking elephants, and whistling arrows all made soldiers flee in terror.
species-level brain
We will become billions of people who share a single vast intellect.
gladiators
More than mindless bloodshed, the gladiatorial games were organized sports. Gladiators were treated as world-class athletes, receiving superior diets and medical care.
crypto black market
Argentina's black market for cash is embracing crypto — but it's not what crypto proponents expected.
"When you see me, weep." When rivers dry up in Central Europe, "hunger stones" with ominous inscribed warnings from centuries past reappear.
Magnetic monopoles began as a mere theoretical curiosity. They might hold the key to understanding so much more.
psychogeography
Break into London Zoo? Illegal, but it would improve the London Circle Walk
multiverse
The false assumption the Multiverse relies on is that something which exists requires an explanation.
An upstart third party is unlikely to dislodge the status quo in the current system.
short-term thinking
Short-termism is both rooted in our most primal instincts and encouraged by runaway technological development. How can we fight it?
We're still using 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid a year, but burials are becoming far less common.
Video cameras on city streets are only the most visible way your movements can be tracked.
When justice isn’t tempered by something such as mercy, forgiveness, or nonviolence, efforts to make society more equitable often backfire.
John Templeton Foundation
dark matter
There's an extra source of massive "stuff" in our Universe beyond what gravitation and normal matter can explain. Could light be the answer?
Some artifacts drown in shipwrecks, others are taken by the tide. Many others will vanish as a result of climate change and rising sea levels.
Blissful ignorance can be a rational choice.
A forensics expert explains what’s involved with documenting human rights violations during conflicts, from Afghanistan to Ukraine.
Rock art in northern Australia depicts marsupial lions, giant kangaroos, and other megafauna that populated the Land Down Under long ago.