The Verdict Is In: Wall Street Is Pretty Much Useless

A writer poses an important question: Does Wall Street do anything useful?; researchers are befuddled by some people’s love of chilies, fruits that were “made to repel”; meanwhile, technology has created a crisis of masculinity similar to that of the industrial era. These discoveries and more below.

The Trapdoor of Trigger Words What the science of trauma can tell us about an endless campus debate.

Are Cities Too Complicated? As the writer Samuel Arbesman argues in his new book, complex systems are capable of quickly growing beyond our comprehension.

Ants Trapped in Nuclear Bunker Are Developing Their Own Society Keep calm and carry on building. That’s the motto of 100,000 or so wood ants stranded without food in a nuclear bunker until they starve.

How Visual Propaganda Helped Build the Statue of Liberty Long before it became one of New York City’s most photographed landmarks — before it was even completely erected, in 1886 — the Statue of Liberty featured in countless pictures. Beginning in 1875, images of the statue’s fragmented head, hands, and torso emerged to form comprehensive documentation of its construction.

What Obama Doesn’t Want You to Know About Uzbekistan The death of Uzbekistani president Islam Karimov is not typical.

Does Wall Street Do Anything Useful? Everyone knows Wall Street is just a racket, soaking up large portions of the surplus and stuffing the pockets of wealthy bankers.

Pepperheads: What’s the Allure of a Fruit Designed to Repel? Why a product with all the bite but none of the power of, say, gun powder, would make it into the daily meals of people living in countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Fiji has long left psychology researchers with blander palates scratching their heads.

How Bikes Helped Invent American Highways Urban elites with a fancy hobby teamed up with rural farmers in a movement that transformed the country.

The Painkillers That Could End the Opioid Crisis Researchers may soon vanquish our pain without causing addiction and other devastating side effects.

Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place The seashore used to be a scary place, then it became a place of respite and vacation. What happened?

How Tuberculosis Shaped Victorian Fashion The deadly disease—and later efforts to control it—influenced trends for decades

Technology Is Taking Jobs Away From Men—and Reviving a Pre-Industrial Version of Masculinity Many men lost their jobs when technology made them obsolete.

That Clinton Foundation Scandal the Press Wants Exists, But they Won’t Report it Because it’s Actually About the Trump Foundation The entire national press and nearly 100% of cable news is ignoring a very real, easily proved, corruption scandal that is massively relevant to the presidential election.

Fancy a New Cell Phone? Not So Much A new report and a lawsuit cast doubt on the supposedly universal love for Apple.

David Hare on Writing Nothing but the Truth About a Holocaust Denier In 2000 historian David Irving sued author Deborah Lipstadt for her description of him as a Holocaust denier. As his screen version comes to the cinema, David Hare explains why the trial was a triumph of free speech.

Native American Council Offers Amnesty to 240 Million Undocumented Whites The Native American National Council will offer amnesty to the estimated 240 million illegal white immigrants living in the United States.

China’s Fight for Same-Sex Marriage Like so many young people today in China, the two men met online. According to Sun Wenlin, a tech consultant and, at age twenty-six, the younger of the pair, it had been “love at first sight.” Hu Mingliang, who is thirty-seven years old and the more reticent of the two, works as a security guard.

Dogs Love to Play, but They Don’t Do So for Pleasure A Jack Russell terrier tears in and out of its doggie door, skidding and sliding on a hardwood floor, only to repeat the performance over and over again.

Inside the Federal Bureau Of Way Too Many Guns There’s no telling how many guns we have in America—and when one gets used in a crime, no way for the cops to connect it to its owner.