Why does pizza taste so good?
There’s a reason why pizza is so popular. Humans are drawn to foods that are fatty and sweet and rich and complex. Pizza has all of these components.
Category: "The Conversation"
Lithium ion Nobel Prize shows how individual brainstorms add up to world-transforming innovations
The three winners of the Chemistry Nobel this year started an enormous field of research that people like me are very excited about contributing to.
3 questions about vodka, answered
Between 1950 and 1975, vodka went from being a statistical blip to America’s best selling spirit.
Mining powers modern life, but can leave scarred lands and polluted waters behind
Mining operations are major water pollution sources and can cause problems that persist for generations.
A quarter of US parents are unmarried – and that changes how much they invest in their kids
Families with different structures parent differently – and that can perpetuate inequality across generations.
Why methane emissions matter to climate change: 5 questions answered
While methane poses the greatest threat to the climate because of its greenhouse gas potency, the other hydrocarbons present in the natural gas can degrade regional air quality and harm human health.
Amazon fires are destructive, but they aren't depleting Earth's oxygen supply
The oft-repeated claim that the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen is based on a misunderstanding.
Why are so many languages spoken in some places and so few in others?
Many theories have outlined possible ways the world's languages might have diversified, but there is not one silver bullet to explain it all.
The dysfunctional debt ceiling and why we should kill it: 5 questions answered
Like the rest of us, governments must borrow when they spend more money than they receive.
Western states buy time with a 7-year Colorado River drought plan, but face a hotter, drier future
As Midwest states struggled with record spring flooding this year, the Southwest was wrestling with the opposite problem: not enough water.