Symbols are often used to help people get an idea of higher, often ineffable, truths.

The ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are remnants of the ice age. They’re also the wild cards of climate science.

Here’s why “glue people” won’t get steamrolled by job automation.

At one point, America needed to be called a Judeo-Christian nation. Now, with growing populations of Muslims, Evangelicals, Sikhs, Atheists, and other faiths, what should America call itself next?

Jonathan Zimmerman explains why teachers should invite, not censor, tough classroom debates.

Don’t underestimate the power of play when it comes to problem-solving.

An astrobiologist joins a like-minded global community in ramping up the search.

Here’s how we stop a health crisis before it wreaks havoc on us.

Gigantic explosions of light are reverberating across the universe.

There are clues to the future and past trapped in Greenland’s ice.

Michael Pollan explains what goes on during the mental fireworks of a psychedelic experience.

Former president of the ACLU Nadine Strossen discusses whether our society should always defend free speech rights, even for groups who would oppose such rights.

How do you do justice to the truth in a headline-driven world?

Not every part of a satellite burns up in reentry. Considering the growing number of satellites in orbital space, that’s a big problem.

Technology may soon grant us immortality, in a sense. Here’s how.

A passenger on a California freeway shot a video of a Tesla driver dozing off at the wheel.

By working together, and learning from one another, we can build better systems.

The periodic table was a lot simpler at the beginning of the universe.

Here’s why generalists triumph over specialists in the new era of innovation.

We may not learn and grow beyond the #MeToo era if we keep thinking in black and white, says comedian Pete Holmes.

Eli Pariser explains why we can’t just think of civility as being polite to one another.

Bernie speaks again about what democratic socialism means, and raises a debate about what freedom is.

Jonathan Rauch explains why the internet is so hostile to the truth, and what we can do to change that.

The lack of it can also be a problem.

Expect emotional warfare where there are high-conflict people.

Why did government officials stop psychedelics from reaching mainstream culture?

300 years of industrialization have boosted our IQ scores in one very specific way.

We are hurtling through space. But where are we going?

Here’s how we can use the concept of “impact impression” for criminal reform.

Templeton Prize winner Marcelo Gleiser on knowledge, the endless frontier.