Is criticism a moral good? In 1968, the question was unavoidable. Now we've forgotten to ask.

A.S. Hamrah's film criticism elides the distinction between comic prose-poetry and reflexive contrarianism

Data Centers Use Less Water Than Almond Farms—and Do More Good

The American Question

MIT students study plasma physics beneath Alaska’s aurora

Nationalizing the Ten Commandments?

MIT affiliates elected to National Academy of Sciences for 2026

The Young Oikophobes

The rules neurons follow to make sense of what we see

A Mysterious Children’s Search Engine Is Misleading Kids

A Department of Justice for an Age of Conspiracy Theories

When Volatility Is Good Politics

That presidential biography, narrative of a shipwreck, or forgotten war story? “The days when dad books reigned supreme are gone” 

Coffee Is Good for Your Brain

More Than Half of L.A.’s Homeless Are Not from L.A.

The canine gaze. Dogs in Western art are surrogate viewers and compositional anchors

Open Thread

The “Pipeline” Problem That Medical Schools Don’t Want to Discuss

The Haystack 37m Telescope: A new era of astrophysical research

Why Does Donald Trump Refuse to Defend America?

The Impossible Strength of the Testosterone Myth