After an accident in 2006, Dennis DeGray became paralyzed from the collarbones down. Eager to participate in experimental research in the area of brain-computer interfaces, DeGray has electrode arrays embedded in his cortex, and is one of a few dozen people in the world who can control various forms of technology with his thoughts. If […]
Ferris Jabr
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Mosi Secret, David Farrier, Ferris Jabr, Blake Butler, and Eoghan Walsh.
Posted inFeatured, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
On Trees as Social Creatures and Fungi as the ‘Fabric of the Forest’
Trees were previously seen as individual and solitary organisms. But the research of Suzanne Simard shows otherwise.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Social Life of Forests
“Trees appear to communicate and cooperate through subterranean networks of fungi. What are they sharing with one another?”
Posted inFeature, Featured, Nonfiction, Quotes
You May Not Have Needed That Root Canal
Dentistry doesn’t adhere to the same research and practice protocols of the medical field. This separation allows for a slew of unnecessary procedures and predatory pricing.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Darwinian View of Our Storytelling Species
What the history of folktales reveals about the role storytelling played in human evolution.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Jay Caspian Kang, Ryan Goldberg, Brendan I. Koerner, Andrew Richdale, and Ferris Jabr.
Posted inFeatured, Nonfiction, Quotes
Corals and Crabs Get Moonstruck, Too
For many marine species, moonlight is both aphrodisiac and metronome. Yet scientists have only recently started to study it seriously.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Lunar Sea
What do humans and corals (and numerous other marine creatures) have in common? We all seem to find the moon irresistibly romantic.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
If You Want to Be Productive, You Have to Rest
In a recent thought-provoking review of research on the default mode network, Mary Helen Immordino-Yang of the University of Southern California and her co-authors argue that when we are resting the brain is anything but idle and that, far from being purposeless or unproductive, downtime is in fact essential to mental processes that affirm our […]