Plant of the Month: Peanut
The peanut, a natural hybrid of two species, originated in Bolivia. It now plays a critical role in food cultures around the world.
Archaeological Discoveries Are Happening Faster Than Ever Before
And it's helping refine the human story.
The Rise of Shareholder Activism
Is a large publicly-trade company responsible only for making its shareholders the most money possible? Or is it also responsible for making the world a better place?
What to Do When Social Media Inspires Envy
In the case of envy, social media works in three closely related ways: by increasing proximity, by eliminating encapsulation and by rejecting concealment.
The Origins of Human Speech: More Like a Raven or a Writing Desk?
Language is the cognitive faculty that separates humans from other animals, but interjections have often been equated with the primitive cries of animals.
The Novelist’s Risk: Researching The Last Neanderthal
Best-selling Canadian novelist Claire Cameron on how she researched her new novel The Last Neanderthal, with a little help from JSTOR.
Why Do Pandas Have Thumbs?
Some panda species have strange thumb-like appendages, but their thumbs evolved for strikingly different reasons.
Whatever Happened To Piltdown Man?
Piltdown Man was once considered the missing link between apes and humans. What happened?
The Sticky History of Adhesives
Our Pleistocene ancestors in southern Africa made and used glue-like adhesives as early as the Middle Stone Age.
Could Siri Change the Course of Human Evolution?
Siri is changing the way people speak by homogenizing how things are spoken. Which begs the question: Why do we have accents?