As mental health diagnoses become more common and expansive, the labels meant to help us understand our suffering may instead oversimplify it.

Memory decline doesn’t suddenly begin in old age, it unfolds gradually over decades. The good news: this common, daily habit can chemically and structurally shift the trajectory. 3 experts explain

TikTok gave an old practice a terrible name. Neuroscience explains why it actually works.

Howard Gardner joins us to reflect on the theory of multiple intelligences and why the question of who owns intelligence is more important than ever.

Your inner voice significantly influences your quality of life, and while it can motivate you, psychologist Ethan Kross warns it can also lead to negative thought cycles, or "chatter," but his research offers tools to regain control and foster a positive mindset.

Jim Al-Khalili explains how the past and future are more fluid than we may think.

Some people are always at war.

Thanks to modern tech, Earth is now considered a ‘detectable’ planet. Astrophysicist Sara Seager explains how this idea can lead us to discovering life elsewhere in our universe.

Sixty years ago, a little-known philosopher challenged how science understands life. His perspective is finding new relevance in the age of artificial intelligence.

Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit taught us how to separate good science from the work of charlatans. In 2026, that matters more than ever.

In this excerpt from Think Like a Mathematician, Junaid Mubeen explains how tiny actions can shape complex systems, revealing the limits of prediction and control in our lives.

"Rationalism is the idea that, in order to truly know something, you have to be able to describe it explicitly."

Elite athletes train their “quiet eye.” What happens if the rest of us do the same?

Researchers built a model that behaves like a brain. Without being trained on neural data, the model produced a peculiar signal — one that was later discovered in actual brain activity.

The case for why AI systems are not merely "stochastic parrots."

We tend to trust our intuitions about consciousness because they feel immediate and personal, but feeling convinced is not the same as being right. Annaka Harris explores what happens when […]

Joel Miller, the author of “The Idea Machine,” joins us to explore why books are history’s most successful information technology.

Revisiting the year’s noteworthy nonfiction.

Earth orbits the Sun while spinning on its tilted axis, with two annual occasions marking that maximal tilt. That's where solstices arise.

“The problem with cognitive scripts is when we use them to make more important decisions in our lives, we let our choices be driven by those stories that we have internalized that tell us how we're supposed to behave in a certain situation.”

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Our brains weren’t built for the amount of info we deal with now. That’s why scientists have made the case for a “second brain” — a place to dump ideas so you can actually see how they connect later.

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Physicist Daniel Whiteson challenges the notion that all intelligent species would eventually uncover the same laws of nature. Do you agree?

It's no wonder great writers swear by messy first drafts.

Natural navigator Tristan Gooley joins us to discuss the philosophy of reading nature’s hidden clues — and how relearning this ancient skill can help us see the world, and ourselves, with greater awareness.

Language is a huge part of human development, even the language we keep to ourselves. Three experts explain how words and beliefs can change our brains and our lives:

Barbara Oakley, instructor of a popular MOOC, offers strategies for enhancing learning skills by leveraging insights from neuroscience and cognitive science, addressing the challenges posed by our brain's hardwiring in changing habits and acquiring new skills.

In this expert class, writer Maria Konnikova explores how Sherlock Holmes's rational sleuthing techniques can be applied to real-world science, enhancing our understanding of memory, creativity, and problem-solving.

Philosopher Daniel Dennett offers time-tested techniques from philosophy and cognitive science to help navigate modern challenges like "fake news" and AI, emphasizing the importance of inquiry and critical thinking in uncovering the truth.