Science & Tech

Science & Tech

Explore the discoveries that reveal how the world works, alongside the technologies that extend, reshape, and sometimes challenge what’s possible.

If our goal is to effect the greatest possible progress, what would it look like to approach this holistically? What might need to dispositionaly in how we approach solving our most important problems—at an individual level, a community level, or at a civilizational or global one? We asked our experts to think big picture about how what new thinking would be required to create a larger pro-progress framework.
One of the fundamental questions for those studying and advocating progress is around understanding what variables can move the needle for the type of progress that you might want to see in the world. It's a key focus of the "progress studies" discipline and a question that has received increased attention from academics and public intellectuals in recent years.
As with any "big idea" progress means a lot of different things to different people and not everyone comes into the discussion with the same priors. Some experts are primarily focused on material progress while others emphasize the importance of moral progress. So to start the discussion, we asked each expert to define the term as they see it from their specific vantage point.
An interview with filmmaker Jason Sussberg about his new film about Stewart Brand and the importance of culture in achieving progress.
The world isn’t ending! But we are likely at the beginning of a profound transformation.
Recent research suggests that Earth’s magnetic field bounced back just as complex life was starting to emerge on our planet.
A white virtual reality headset on a white background.
The Metaverse could be the most dangerous tool of persuasion humanity has ever created.
Yes, NASA's Perseverance rover found organics on Mars. So did Curiosity. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean anything in the search for life.
ai physics
An average undergraduate student in physics is better than the AI.
insulin pills
These dissolvable pills aren’t meant to be swallowed, though.
conjoined twins
The separation of conjoined twins is fraught with stomach-churning biomedical and ethical challenges.
chess cheating
Elon Musk suggested remote-controlled, vibrating anal beads. Thankfully, there are more mundane explanations.
These salamanders are helping unlock the mysteries of brain evolution and regeneration.
Certain cancers are striking earlier than they used to.
ancient dna
Advances in ancient DNA analysis gave researchers a new way to trace the movements of peoples across Eurasia.
circumcision
"Our risk-benefit analysis showed that benefits exceeded procedural risks… by up to 200 to 1."
central black hole jet
Black holes aren't just the densest masses in the Universe, but they also spin the fastest of all massive objects. Here's why it must be so.
schwinger effect
In our common experience, you can't get something for nothing. In the quantum realm, something really can emerge from nothing.
Roman villa
The “first-of-its-kind” archeological find is being reburied despite the fact that researchers haven’t finished studying it.