How Modernity Made Us Allergic
Our very old immune systems can’t keep up with modern lifestyles and diets, leading to increases in all sorts of chronic health problems like allergies and obesity.
by Theresa MacPhail
What AI Teaches Us About Good Writing
While AI can speed up the writing process, it doesn’t optimize quality — and it endangers our sense of connection to ourselves and others.
by Laura Hartenberger
Finding Awe Amid Everyday Splendor
A new field of psychology has begun to quantify an age-old intuition: Feeling awe is good for us.
by Henry Wismayer
AI Is Life
Technology is not artificially replacing life — it is life.
by Sara Walker
The World China Is Building
China’s diplomats and tech companies pin their hopes on partnerships in the Global South.
by Jacob Dreyer
The Secret History And Strange Future Of Charisma
How our culture, politics and technology became infused with a mysterious social phenomenon that everyone can feel but nobody can explain.
by Joe Zadeh
The Seductive Vision Of Green Aviation
Air travel is profoundly bad for the environment but one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. Can green technologies make a difference before it’s too late?
by Henry Wismayer
The Extraordinary Green Promise Of A Tiny Molecule
Hydrogen produced by renewable energy makes it possible to fully transition to a global green economy. So what’s stopping us from going all in?
by Holly Jean Buck
Degrowth In Japan
Mending the “metabolic rift” of capitalism.
by Nathan Gardels
Artificial General Intelligence Is Already Here
Today’s most advanced AI models have many flaws, but decades from now, they will be recognized as the first true examples of artificial general intelligence.
by Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Peter Norvig
Honorable Mentions
The Sounds Of Invisible Worlds
by Karen Bakker
Like the microscope and the telescope did centuries ago, new technologies to capture and analyze sound are leading to startling discoveries about what the eyes cannot see.
What If Money Expired?
A long-forgotten German economist argued that society and the economy would be better off if money was a perishable good. Was he an anarchist crank or the prophet of a better world?
