biology
What do trees say to each other?
The more we look, the more intelligence we find in nature. Even trees are capable of communicating, sharing resources, and responding to their environment.
The evolution of cuteness: Why kittens and puppies beat babies, paws down
Reading Time: 5 minutes I’ve long suspected I have a character flaw: I am far more charmed by kittens and puppies—in fact by any non-human baby animals—than baby humans. It’s a kind of intra-species treason, I suppose. For one thing, kits and pups are far more entertainingly interactive far earlier
On Margaret Mead and healed thigh bones: Not all compelling stories are true
Reading Time: 7 minutes I’ve loved Margaret Mead ever since first reading her classic Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilization. I read it more than 50 years ago as a clueless college sophomore. There was something seductive about this diminutive, head
The Svalbard seed vault: A survival bunker for civilization
Reading Time: 5 minutes How could we reengineer civilization to be resilient against catastrophe? A vault of seeds slumbering in Arctic permafrost suggests one way.
The fellowship of the living
As humanists, we should completely reject age as an artificial segregation of humanity. A deep future view can help.
Would raising the minimum age of combat soldiers curb US gun violence?
Reading Time: 7 minutes On a TV news show the other day, I listened to a Republican congressman opine that it was nonsensical and unfair to consider raising the legal age to buy firearms to over 18. In his opinion, 18-year-olds in this country can already legally vote and can also choose to put thei