In post-apocalyptic fiction, imagined futures turn today’s political and cultural tensions into geography.

Neanderthals 400,000 years ago were striking flints to make fires, researchers have found.

DM Is a water molecule (H20) generally stable (aka: somewhat "permanent") in its solid, liquid and gaseous states; or does it diminish/return to hydrogen and liquid; or does it change into other more complex or different molecules? I realize there are "lighter" formations of water. Water molecules are remarkably stable across all three phases - solid ice, liquid water, and gaseous steam. The H₂O molecule itself doesn't spontaneously break apart into hydrogen and oxygen under

As worker loneliness increases, workplace friendships may be more important than ever, and a key driver of retaining staff

For half a decade we’ve been worrying that ideas are getting harder to find. In fact, they might just be harder to sell. Excerpt : "However if ideas remain as discoverable as ever, but their economic impact is fading, then we need to look downstream from the laboratory. The decline in allocative efficiency should be more of a main focus — we need to throw more of our intellectual capital at understanding how to increase competitiveness and the market potential for innovative

For all its promise, tech risks instilling in students an unthinking yet false understanding of themselves, writes University of Dallas President Jonathan J. Sanford.

Here’s how effective leaders get it right

The problem with fixating on inequality, oligarchy, and other abstractions Excerpt: "As Stephen Colbert explained long ago , common sense comes from thinking “from the gut, not the brain.” Psychologists have a more sophisticated way of articulating this distinction. As readers of Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow or Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink know, the human mind exhibits two different systems of cognition. The first is rapid and concrete, focusing on primary represent

DM Good morning! After all our multitudes of conversations directly or indirectly which relates to my topic of today, I again want to continue to explore the essential factor(s), core(s) or most fundamental reason(s) for why humans, and by extension, collective units of humanity, so endlessly and tenaciously rely upon, display and spread unfounded confidence, certainties and outright hubris within the knowledge which they hold so dear and constantly project to others. This in

When nations clash, military prowess is important—but don’t forget about endurance, supply and alliances.

History shows that progress often depends on activists at both ends of the spectrum. More from " The Engine of Progress" ... Exploring the people and ideas driving humanity forward.

What happens when spouses accuse each other of gaslighting? Nothing good.

All of us think we know what addiction looks like. It’s the compulsive consumption of drugs, alcohol, or nicotine. But psychiatrist Anna Lembke argues that our conception of addiction is far too narrow — and that a broader understanding of addiction might help us to understand why so many people are anxious and depressed. This week, we revisit a 2023 episode that remains of the most popular in the history of our show. We’ll explore how and why humans are wired to pursue pleas

For those of my generation on the continent, the estrangement from the U.S. feels like the death of a beloved relative—but it may not be as final.

Humans are less monogamous than some mice but rank higher than one breed of sheep, says a new study

Solving the mystery of the guitarist’s longevity may be our best hope of aging gracefully

Machines that show their work could help overcome inherent distrust

And the Germans who didn’t Excerpt: " ... Fallada delivers valuable insight into the varieties of mental resistance to autocracy. The quietest kinds of opposition—what we read, what we think, what we believe—can keep autocrats paranoid, distrustful, ill at ease. Rising above cowardice can inoculate us against complicity, as some German citizens showed. And speaking out, even surreptitiously and unsuccessfully, stands in stark contrast to remaining silent. As a young woman exp

The historians who want to know how our ancestors experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow

Everyone loves tiny dancers. Now some artists are considering why they bring us such joy — and what lessons they might have for grown-ups.