Pushing back against both the rose-tinted view of pre-agricultural society as a harmonious, cooperative paradise and the cut-throat notion of humans as purely self-motivated individuals, the social scientist Jonathan R Goodman offers an even-handed vision of humanity in this thought-provoking Essay

We’re often told that speaking up is the path to healing. In this Idea, a philosopher of psychiatry asks us to pause and reconsider that assumption. He explores when talking helps, when it harms, and why making space for quiet can be an act of care in itself

This Guide by psychologist Julie K Norem identifies some of the most common planning pitfalls, and suggests that the strategy of ‘defensive pessimism’ can help you plan more realistically and effectively

Mathematicians finally understand the behavior of an important class of differential equations that describe everything from water pressure to oxygen levels in human tissues. Paulina Rowińska reports: www.quantamagazine.org/long-sought-...

To understand the history of a pair of supermassive black holes, astrophysicist René Hudec goes old school, examining glass plates that date back to 1896. www.quantamagazine.org/how-modern-a...

Even with the largest zoom on a classic compound optical system, scientists struggle to make sense of finer details. Microbiologists are turning to an unexpected source to clear things up: a moisture-absorbing material found in diapers. www.quantamagazine.org/expansion-mi...

In Japanese philosophy, unlike the atomised Western self, we are ‘ningen’ (人間), each enmeshed with other humans and nature @takeshimorisato.bsky.social

Orwell argued that you don’t have to be a scientist to think more scientifically.

🎬REVIEW: Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver turns 50 this month. It is widely regarded as one of the most important American films. It is also one of the most troubling.

For centuries, some Buddhist texts treated menstruation and childbirth as spiritual “pollution.” Today, women in Chinese Buddhism are reinterpreting those beliefs and centering motherhood, health and agency instead of shame.

Finland’s poetic masterpiece, the Kalevala, has roots in two cultures and two countries. First published in 1835, the epic spans nearly 23,000 lines. Now, nearly 200 years later, those “luckless lands of the North” have become an increasingly tense border zone.

Neuroscientists have long relied on the metaphor of ‘brain rewiring’ to communicate their complex findings. In this Essay, the retired neurologist Peter Lukacs argues that while some metaphors can be helpful, it’s time we recognise the true complexity – and incompleteness – of brain change

New research estimates genetic heritability of lifespan at 50% – double previous estimates.

Why do humans follow leaders without being forced? Our hierarchies aren’t just about power. Humans tend to reward expertise, creating systems of prestige where people willingly defer to those with skill or knowledge. It’s part of what sets us apart from our close relatives, chimps

It’s bad for businesses too.

A 13-year-old asked whether the universe might be a simulation. A physicist explains philosopher Nick Bostrom's logic: if future humans can create realistic simulations of countless worlds, probability suggests we're in one now. buff.ly/cUqFKU9

Why genetic influence on lifespan appears to have doubled.

Aristotle was right: virtue appears to be vital for personal happiness

Radio pulses repeating every minute-to-hour have puzzled astronomers, but a new paper in Nature Astronomy might finally shed some light.

Drawing from myriad historical and contemporary examples of social movements driven by anger, this Essay from the Aeon archive argues that it is often unfairly maligned. A clear-eyed exploration of anger that still resonates

For some Swedes, the question isn’t simply whether a wealth tax works, but what kind of society has been lost with its abolition.

What Do We Owe the Insufferable? When mental illness exhausts our emotional capacities www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/what-do-we...