Social Sciences

A sweeping novel about a war-torn future explores personhood and identity

Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories

Your vote matters. But so does your involvement in civic actions

How we’ll learn more about dark matter, quantum gravity and substitutes for lab animals

In Night Magic, darkness is revered, and its secrets are revealed

Mysterious Mercury; spiders predict the weather

A dishonest creationist debating tactic shouldn’t go unchallenged in American life. Or in national politics

A new analysis of Stonehenge’s “Altar Stone” suggests Neolithic people walked or sailed some 500 miles to transport the six-ton boulder

Teens’ use of smartphones has been blamed for all manner of societal ills. So when should parents take the plunge and equip their kids with these devices?

A mountaintop burial site offers a glimpse into Inka life—but raises ethical questions about unearthing ancient human remains.

A tiny human relative called the hobbit, or Homo floresiensis, may have evolved from a larger ancestor that shrunk upon arriving on the Indonesian island of Flores, a new fossil suggests

The U.S. sorely needs a coordinated national research strategy, says Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences