The Weirdest People in the World Review – A Theory-of-everything Study

“Weird” stands for “western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic”. But this theory as to why Europe advanced raises difficult questions.

Japanese Town Deploys Growling Robot ‘Wolves’ to Protect Residents From Bears

And who will protect them from the robot wolves?

19 Public Servants are Working Part-time on Morneau’s OECD Bid

Global Affairs Canada doesn't know yet how much Morneau’s campaign will cost taxpayers.

‘Like Being Grilled Alive’: The Fear of Living With a Hackable Heart

A device connected to my heart could save my life. It could also be hacked.

CNN’s South Dakota Nurse’s Story Unravels Even Further,

 And it just gets strange...

This Massive Sector Is The Next Market Amazon Will Disrupt

Coming to a Health Authority near you...

R.I.P. Jan

 Jan Morris: ‘You’re talking to someone at the very end of things.’

Chinese Flower Has Evolved to Be Less Visible to Pickers

Fritillaria delavayi, used in traditional medicine, turning grey to blend into rocks.

Hospitals Know What’s Coming

“We are on an absolutely catastrophic path,” said a COVID-19 doctor at America’s best-prepared hospital.

Do We Send the Goo?

The ability to stir new life into being, all across the Universe, compels us to ask why life matters in the first place.

Robbie Fulks Dives Headfirst into the Strangely Messy World of Gordon Lightfoot

And 236 songs later, our writer nearly drowns.

Suffering, Unfaltering Manet

Even in ill health, the painter continued to shock his audience.

The Silenced Majority

Can America still afford democracy?

Obama Releases New Memoir About Writing His Memoirs

As a memoir.

Canadian Dog Flees to America for a Better Life

Is sadly extradited back to socialist rule.

Atsa Spicy Meatball

Italian police use Lamborghini to transport donor kidney 300 miles in two hours.

How Many Americans Are About to Die?

A new analysis shows that the country is on track to pass spring’s grimmest record.

Keep Science Irrational

Is hard data the only path to scientific truth? That’s an absurd, illogical and profoundly useful fiction.

Want to Feel Better? Stop Reading New Books.

That's right. Except mine.

These Photos Remind Us Why Conservation Matters

Enjoy the 2020 winners of a natural photography competition.

World Could Face ‘Hunger Pandemic’ in 2021, World Food Program Warns

If you thought 2020 was bad, brace yourself for 2021. Experts say things are about to get worse, with an even more deadly pandemic about to hit.

Chinese Province Threatens to Kill Dogs

If owners violate walking ban.

China Used Secret Microwave Pulse Weapon

To ‘cook Indian soldiers alive’ and force them into retreat in Himalayan border battle.

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops

Former bookseller A.S.H. Smyth enjoys a bestselling bookshop owner’s taxonomy of bookshop people.

Why the World is the Way It Is

 Cultural relativism and its descendants.

How Artificial Neural Networks Paved the Way For A Dramatic New Theory of Dreams

Machine learning experts struggle to deal with ‘overfitting’ in neural networks. Evolution solved it with dreams.

Life with Purpose

Biologists balk at any talk of ‘goals’ or ‘intentions’ – but a bold new research agenda has put agency back on the table.

Rising Above a Flood-Tide of Writers

Monetizing old publishing models in the 21st-century fame machine.

How Conflict Shaped Us

 Why human progress is inextricably linked to war.

The Virtues of a Confrontational China Strategy

A Japanese official criticizes aspects of the Trump Administration’s confrontational approach to China, but on balance finds it preferable in almost every way to Obama’s engagement and accommodation.

Toxic but Fascinating

Jellyfish have mesmerized people for millennia, and much remains to be learned about them.