Where We Live and How We Die What a year of death looks like around the world.

    Scientists Like Me Are Studying Your Tweets–Are You OK With That? As researchers, we have a responsibility to acknowledge that factors like the type of data, the creator of that data, and our intended use for the data are important when it comes to using public information.

    The Roots of an Epidemic From apartheid labor policies to everyday sexism, socio-political issues influence the spread of TB disease and the effectiveness of health responses. To tackle the epidemic, we need systemic changes.

    Was Gamification a Terrible Lie? Turning work into play was sold as a miracle for increasing productivity–but was that ever really plausible?

    Red Planet: How We’ll Govern Mars Technical and engineering obstacles are solvable when it comes to interplanetary colonization–the real challenge is governance.

    The Way We Work: A Reading List A crash course in new developments in employment and labor.

    Breaking the Cycle

    The future of reproductive health in India, from early ideas about population control to on-the-ground interventions happening now, to a world where men and women share contraceptive responsibility.
    Hannah Harris Green
    Sep 26, 2018

    Fowl Plague

    Pandemics have threatened humanity in the past–and avian influenza may well be the next one due.
    Duncan Geere
    Aug 4, 2017

    The Roots of an Epidemic

    From apartheid labor policies to everyday sexism, socio-political issues influence the spread of TB disease and the effectiveness of health responses. To tackle the epidemic, we need systemic changes.
    Paula Akugizibwe
    Apr 11, 2019

    Beats: Space

    Space is where we project our dreams–and our nightmares–of the future.

    Beats: Food

    Food structures our day, and food systems shape our world

    Beats: Disability

    “Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

    Beats: Health

    Access to health care is as much a matter of public policy as it is the size of a person’s pocketbook; within a doctor’s office, many factors affect the quality of treatment.

    The La Brea tar pits bubble away.

    Can the Science of Alien Hunting Offer a Solution to Oil Spills?

    The first aliens we find might look like oil-eating bacteria found in tar pits.
    Alice Bell
    Aug 28, 2014 2 min read

    Making the “Clean” Episode of How We Got To Now

    Steven Johnson explains how the show was put together
    Matt Locke
    Oct 15, 2014 2 min read

    Transmitting Languages into the Distant Future

    From Ancient Egypt to Comet 67P, communicating with people far in the future is a challenge.
    Mark Harris
    Nov 26, 2014 5 min read