A micro-essay on chaos, and what it means for the future — In the beginning, there was… Well, I don’t know. No one does. But the prevalent theory of cosmic evolution states that the Universe — and everything in it — was once condensed into a single point of infinite temperature and density. Then that point exploded rather violently in what we…

The complicated physics (and philosophy) behind nukes — The world changed when we split the atom. On July 16, 1945, the United States Army detonated the first ever nuclear bomb. …

Conflict is basically a perspective thing, and understanding that can help you forge stronger connections — There’s an oft-told story about six blind men who happened across an elephant for the first time in their lives. The creature was enormous and eye-catching (as elephants often are), and this prompted the men to inspect the animal, using what senses they had at their disposal. Of course, no…

First discovered in the 70s, yet still mostly a mystery, archaeans are a crucial missing piece of the puzzle of life — There are miracles hiding under our noses, reader. The first microscope was invented in 1590 by Hans and Zacharias Janssen, and since then, humans have gazed with wonder at the tiny complex world we didn’t know existed. Four centuries later, you’d think we would have figured everything out, yet we…

A new eye in the sky, greater funding, and public interest are pushing space exploration to new heights — What a time to be alive, reader. We are living on the cusp of a breakthrough in our understanding of the Universe, and we have never been more ready as a species to take advantage of that. Welcome to 2022 — the year mankind will finally conquer space. …

It’s a simple mind-over-matter problem that everyone can learn to solve — Millions of years ago, your simian ancestors evolved to feel a sudden and uncontrollable urge to throw something when another ape stole their banana. Now you do the same thing when someone drinks your coffee without permission. You’d think we’d be past that by now. Your emotions are a form…

Setting yourself up for a happy and productive 2022 — Happy New Year, everyone! I’m rarely excited at the start of a year — you could say I’m always bracing up for the disappointment and challenges ahead. But 2022 is different because I’m bringing in something I’ve never had before — lucid dreaming expertise. And I intend to use it…

Rediscovering humanity’s most underrated ability — Learning to lucid dream is by far the most important thing I did this year. And that’s saying a lot, considering that I practiced my French for over three hundred days, grew my chess rating by 400 ELO points, studied my way to becoming a high school salutatorian, and got…

Turns out much of what we know and love about modern life is an illusion — Yesterday, I happened to come across some old — and I mean extremely old—video footage of Earth, courtesy of my alien friends. It showed a small tribe of ancient humans hunting and gathering in a lush green forest. And it made me think about the past. In the millennia since…