Get the best stories by email – free, once a week
Subscribe freeEverything, in order
Economists predicted that wallets stuffed with cash would be returned less often. The opposite happened. Here is how the lost wallet experiment worked, what it found, and what it tells us about why people are honest.
A good apology can repair trust; a bad one can make things worse. A study of 755 people identified six elements of an effective apology and ranked them. The two that matter most are the two people find hardest to say.
In some countries a tip is a polite extra. In the United States it can be most of a worker's wage. Here is where tipping came from, what research says about it, and how to think clearly about what you owe.
You meant to check one message. Forty minutes later you are still scrolling. That is not a personal failing. It is the result of design choices that borrow from slot machines, and a few simple changes can loosen their grip.
Slow sinks and showers are among the most common household problems, and most can be fixed in minutes with a plunger, a cheap drain snake or by cleaning the trap under the sink. Why baking soda and vinegar disappoints, and when to call a plumber.
A dependable recipe for thick, fluffy pancakes made with ingredients you probably already have, plus the science of why lumpy batter is good, why the first pancake always fails and how to keep a stack warm.
One Reddit comment about "pride and accomplishment" turned loot boxes into a global controversy. Here is how they work, how different countries have responded, what research says about gambling, and what parents and players can do.
The Athenians kept a famous ship by replacing its rotting planks one by one. Philosophers have argued ever since about whether it was still the same ship. Here is why the question matters for objects, bands, institutions and people.
Private bathrooms, unarmed guards and kitchens where inmates cook their own meals. Norway's approach to prison sounds soft. Here is why it was designed that way, what the numbers do and don't prove, and the uncomfortable question it leaves behind.
The Bechdel test began as a punchline in an independent comic. Today critics, studios and even cinemas use it. Here is where it came from, what it measures, what it can't tell you, and the newer tests it inspired.
In a long-running experiment in Seattle, crows learned to scold a single masked face and kept doing it for years, even birds that had never seen the original "crime". What that tells us about corvid intelligence and how to stay on their good side.
Almost everyone over thirty says the years are speeding up. Studies show the feeling is real, but it is not quite what it seems: it is mostly about memory, novelty and how we look back. What the research says and how to make time feel longer.
Battery drain usually comes down to a handful of causes: the screen, apps working in the background, poor reception, heat and an ageing battery. How to find the culprit on iPhone and Android, and the charging habits that help your battery last longer.
One short email with what mattered. Unsubscribe whenever you like.
