There is a long-standing assumption in how intelligence gets discussed, and corvids are the clearest available argument against it.
The assumption is that sophisticated cognition requires a particular kind of…
There is an assumption embedded in ordinary language about growing old, and it is worth examining because it turns out to be misleading.
The assumption is that ageing is what…
Most complicated biological structures are alive. They are supplied with blood, monitored by nerves, maintained continuously and repaired when damaged.
A feather is none of those things. Once grown, it…
Most descriptions of the ocean concern its surface, which is understandable, since that is the part anybody sees.
The surface is a thin film on top of something much larger.…
The single variable that explains most of what you see is how thick the lava was. Runny lava spreads out and builds gentle slopes; thick lava traps gas, moves barely…
Everything below comes from one thing: the axis the Earth spins on is not perpendicular to the plane it orbits in. Every seasonal phenomenon anywhere is a consequence of that…