“His superscience this time isn’t a metaverse or a space colony. It’s engineering to address an imminent threat. After a few years of unrelenting wildfires, hurricanes, disease outbreaks, and other natural disasters linked directly or indirectly to climate change, the idea that the world’s preeminent technologists might take up the cause where policymakers seem to […]
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Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition, we recommend stories from Eli Saslow, Mitchell S. Jackson, Adam Ciralsky, Heidi Lasher, and Noah Rawlings.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2020: Science and Nature
Our top picks in science and nature stories for 2020.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
“Featuring reads from Grace Glass and Sasha Tycko, Max Graham, Alex Blasdel, James Somers, and Ben Goldfarb.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Remarkable Brain of a Carpet Cleaner Who Speaks 24 Languages
Vaughn Smith lives in Maryland. He’s 46 years old. He also learns languages with the seeming ease of a run around the block — including endangered indigenous tongues like Salish. In this fascinating profile that’s part ridealong and part science dive, Jessica Contrera takes you inside the life (and brain) of a man with a […]
Posted inQuote Posts
The Complicated Capitalism of Plastics
“It might not seem like the right time to talk about plastics…But it is. And the world doesn’t have a moment to waste.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Welcome to Invasivorism, the Boldest Solution to Ethical Eating Yet
“Turning invasive species into gourmet meals could blunt environmental and economic costs across the US. But can Americans stomach them? Chefs and biologists are taking a gamble.”
Posted inNewsletter
A Dangerous Solo Hike, the Vanishing of Aging Parents, and Our Top 5
“I came to a shack with a small, white-haired man inside. I assumed he had been guarding Devil’s Bridge for centuries. I answered his riddles three and he gestured for me to sign in. At the end of his hand was a damp pile of papers and a pen on a gray string. Like most […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
How the AI Industry Profits from Catastrophe
The demand for data labeling in the artificial intelligence industry — tagging videos, sorting photos, and transcribing audio in order to train AI — has created a massive need for cheap labor, leading data-labeling platforms such as Appen to hire low-pay workers in countries like Venezuela, the Philippines, and Kenya to do these tasks. In […]
