Can these devices change who you are? (The New Yorker)
by Christine Kenneally
At least 200,000 people use deep-brain implants to address health problems like epileptic seizures. But there’s a lot we don’t know about how the machines affect patients’ emotions and personality.

Life and death in the Golden Age of Piracy (Psyche)
by Rebecca Simon
Sailing was a rough job in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Compared with serving in the British Royal Navy, piracy had its advantages.

Do birds know how pretty they are? (Slate)
by Marion Renault
Humans love to admire birds’ feathers. And it turns out that birds can see their own bodies very well. But what does that mean for their understanding of themselves and the world?

What stalled environmental protection? (The Washington Post)
by Johnathan Williams
Over the course of the 1970s, the US made remarkable progress against pollution that was choking the nation’s air and waterways. Since then, political progress on environmental issues has gotten more difficult—but not because voters don’t want it.

What’s up with the dogs in these paintings? (Artnet News)
by Ben Davis
Old European paintings sure have a lot of dogs carrying flaming sticks. No, they’re not smoking. They’re just announcing the birth of Saint Dominic.

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