Metals are crucial to society and enable our modern standard of living. Look around and you can’t help but see products made of metals. For instance, a typical gasoline-powered automobile contains over a ton of iron and steel, 240 pounds of...

After seven years of preparation and several billion dollars spent, Shell has decided to abandon its exploration program in the US Arctic “for the foreseeable future.” This follows barely two months’ drilling in the...

These days, when most of us think of a “book,” we have in mind something around nine inches by six inches, with mass market paperbacks shaving off an inch or two in each dimension.

But digital reading has redefined presuppositions about size and, more importantly, about what format is...

In early September, the government of Pakistan joined an exclusive club.

It became the fourth government in the world – following the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel – to use an armed drone to conduct a targeted killing.

In doing so, it shattered the assumption that armed drones and...

Cheating is not a victimless crime. The recent revelations that Volkswagen rigged in-vehicle software to defeat emissions tests are but the latest example of efforts to evade regulations that protect human health and the environment.

In crimes against the environment, it’s sometimes...

In a TED talk this past spring, watched by over six million viewers, Monica Lewinsky called herself “Patient Zero” of cyber-fueled bullying and shaming.

When this “scandal” unfolded, the concept of internet-enabled public shaming was relatively unprecedented. And...

In a speech before the UN General Assembly on September 28, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani heralded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as a new chapter in Iran’s relations with the rest of the world.

After a heated and largely politicized national...

With Trevor Noah debuting as host of The Daily Show, much of the conversation has centered on the 31-year-old South African’s race and age.

Yet the recent late-night host shake-ups have one thing in common: from Seth Meyers to Stephen Colbert, they’re still all men,...

Almost every product we purchase, use in our homes or give to our children contains tens, if not hundreds, of chemicals. The United States chemical industry alone produced US$769.4 billion worth of chemicals in 2012. The electronics that light up our smartphones...

Demographers frequently remind us that the United States is a rapidly aging country. From 2010 to 2040, we expect that the age-65-and-over population will more than double in size, from about 40 to 82 million. More than one in five residents...