Q&A

Photograph of a crowd of mask-wearing protestors in a city street holding banners that read “Black lives matter” and one that reads “Defund the police.”

What legacy lies ahead for Black Lives Matter?

Historically, the road to reform has often begun with protesters taking to the streets. A sociologist and a political scientist take stock of whether today’s activism will lead to actual change.

Conceptual illustration of a brain reacting to many languages being spoken. Speaking more than one language may boost brain function as well as gray and white matter, and possibly preserve the aging brain

The Mind

How a second language can boost the brain

Being bilingual benefits children as they learn to speak — and adults as they age

Photo shows multiple, booth-sized metal cages in a room together, each with a prisoner inside. They are able to talk and see each other but cannot move freely.

Society

The hidden damage of solitary confinement

Meant to punish or protect, social isolation in prison creates a ripple of unintended effects on the psyche

Aerial photograph of a large city square that contains a huge poster with the words “What would you do if your income were taken care of?”

Society

The complexities of a universal basic income

It’s a hot topic under political debate: providing cash grants as a social safety net. Small programs hint at how it might work — or not — on a national scale.

Food & Environment

Marine wildlife is starting to suffocate

Global warming and agricultural runoff have driven the loss of oxygen in oceans around the world, with looming ecological consequences.

Food & Environment

Has humankind driven Earth into a new epoch?

Our mark on Earth is so profound that some argue it’s time to bid goodbye to the current geological time period — the Holocene — in favor of a new one: the Anthropocene.

Photograph at night, with mountainous terrain and desert floor. In the sky one can see thousands of stars and the disk of the Milky Way galaxy.

Physical World

A galactic archaeologist digs into the Milky Way’s history

Astrophysicists now have the data and models to uncover subtle imprints from our galaxy’s past

Photograph of derelict houses in Philadelphia

Society

Fighting urban violence, one empty lot at a time

Could cleaning up neighborhoods make cities safer? Researchers are looking at novel, inexpensive solutions to crime that everyone can agree on.

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