“When a whale dies, its body creates a new mini ecosystem on the ocean floor—a process full of biological and poetic lessons for those willing to learn them.”
life
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Collapse of Self-Worth in the Digital Age
“Why are we letting algorithms rewrite the rules of art, work, and life?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet
“Earth’s crust teems with subterranean life that we are only now beginning to understand.”
Posted inReading List
Bomb the Multiplex: A ‘Barbenheimer’ Reading List
“With people turning a shared release date into a meme-fueled double feature, we rounded up our favorite reads about 2023’s oddest duo.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Profile of J. Robert Oppenheimer
“‘Operation Joe’ finds our top expert on atomic energy confidently carrying forward his research in the field of pure basic science, where the atomic bomb is only a ‘gadget.'”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books, Essays & Criticism, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘The Sea and Sky Decide What They Will Allow’
“I’m working on a book about Arctic explorers, and that means swimming in a sea of sorrow.”
Posted inCommentary, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Seeding a Dark World with New Life
As she’s done before, Sara B. Franklin greets the specter of death by defiantly planting a life-sustaining vegetable garden.
Posted inNonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘She changed my heart. And that changed my mind.’
“There was so much I could have given her, but it pales in comparison to what she gave me.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Telemetry
After a heart attack (perhaps two heart attacks), Jeff Sharlet searches for meaning in his own mortality, “This brilliant darkness, with which I am coming to terms.”