Human footprints stir the imagination. They invite you to follow, to guess what someone was doing and where they were going. Fossilized footprints preserved in rock do the same – they record instants in the lives of many different extinct organisms, back to the earliest creatures that walked on four feet[1], 380 million years ago.
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Political chasms[1], wars, oppression … it’s easy to feel hopeless and helpless watching these dark forces play out. Could any of us ever really make a meaningful difference in the face of so much devastation?
Given the scale of the world’s problems, it might feel like the small acts of human connection and solidarity that you do have...
When you think of electric fields, you likely think of electricity – the stuff that makes modern life possible by powering everything from household appliances to cellphones. Researchers have been studying the principles of electricity since the 1600s[1]. Benjamin Franklin[2], famous for his kite experiment, demonstrated that lightning was...
As a professor of child development and family science[1], every year I witness college students heading home for the holidays after a few months of relative independence. Anecdotally, most students express excitement about returning home and say they’re looking forward to relaxing with family and friends.
However, it also can present a...