The Ecological Prescience of Dune
Frank Herbert’s novel isn't just about space messiahs, giant sandworms, and trippy space drugs. At its core, the sci-fi epic is about ecology.
The Theory of Cuss Word Relativity
Which words are considered taboo varies by place and time, scholars find.
The Life Changing Linguistics of… Nigerian Scam Emails
How do scammers use language to trick their victims?
With Social Media, Everyone’s A Celebrity
Social media has made constant exposure a common experience. To learn how to deal with the attention, maybe we should look to the first celebrities.
Why Luddites Are Fashionable Again
Today we call anyone with a flip phone a Luddite. But the term has radical origins.
To Cope with Digital Distraction, Embrace Digital Neurodiversity
The internet is changing our brains. Our columnist suggests that maybe this isn't such a bad thing.
The Tangled Language of Jargon
What our emotional reaction to jargon reveals about the evolution of the English language, and how the use of specialized terms can manipulate meaning.
The Unbearable Sadness of Toast
One scholar sees the toaster as a symbol of a modernized, industrialized society—the culprit of bread’s mechanization and a perpetrator of assimilation.
The Internet Needs a “Handle With Care” Protocol
Emotion can be difficult to parse online. Why not adopt a common protocol that lets our fellow internet citizens know our emotional state?
How Virtual Reality Could Change the Art World
Acute Art is a kind virtual reality marketed directly to artists. Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson, and Jeff Koons have been the first to try it out.