From the 1940s through the early 70s, incoming freshman at Harvard, Yale, Vassar, Wellesley, and several other top schools were photographed nude in the name of science–bogus science, as it turned out. Most of the photos were destroyed, but not all.

“Look, we all know that every city is unique. That’s all we talk about when we talk about cities, those things that make New York different from L.A., or Tokyo different from Albuquerque. But focusing on those differences misses the point. Sure, there are differences, but different from what? We’ve found the what.”

A stylized account of the fall of ant colony.

How the bulk of the cocaine entering the U.S. ends up cut with a cattle dewormer.

A history of entrepreneurship in New York City, starting with shipping magnate Jeremiah Thompson’s big gamble in the 1820s: scheduled departures.

An interview with Douglas Hofstadter, who after winning the Pulitzer for Gödel, Escher, Bach retreated into the lab and published only sparingly in technical journals, on what it would mean if a program could generate humor and/or masterful compositions.

America, China, and the case for coal as a vital weapon in the war against climate change.

“You can treat a lot of people, and India has,’’ says an epidemiologist working on TB. “But if you have tests that cause misdiagnosis on a massive scale you are going to have a serious problem. And they do.”

Anxiety, weight, general well-being—how the first nine months determine the rest of your life.

The brain of Henry Molaison gave science most of what it knows about memory. Dr. Jacopo Annese believes there’s even more to learn.

Many experts believe it’s inevitable that in the coming decades, humans will figure out how to live considerably longer lives. It might not be a good thing.

How two Italian teenagers hacked the Soviet space program and may have heard the dying breaths of a lost cosmonaut.

Why Darwin’s theory of sexual selection is wrong and “gayness is a necessary side effect of getting along.”

How “tissue engineering” will change regenerative medicine.

The godfather of experimental psychedelics and his many occasionally imprisoned followers.

The story of two Canadian artificial intelligence visionaries who became bitter rivals and then both committed suicide in the same month.

What we can learn from procrastination.

The story of how Washington blew its best shot to do something on climate change.

If the fittest survive, why are so many people still depressed? An evolutionary theory on the benefits of painful rumination.

Would you rather have one marshmallow now or two in a few minutes? How a kid’s answer to that question can predict his or her life trajectory.

For most people who participate in clinical trials, being a guinea pig is just a way to make a quick buck. For others, it’s a career.

On the golden anniversary of her first trip to study chimps, an ode to Jane Goodall.

A writer struggles to defend his arbor vitae trees from a pack of hungry deer—“an episode of great vexation and buffoonery.”

A trip to the Russian baths helps author start to see the good in his terrible eyesight.

How misdirected incentives in the bewildering medical supply industry keep innovative, life-saving equipment from reaching hospitals.