A physicist proposes a test: train an AI on physics only up to 1925 and see whether it invents quantum mechanics. If it can, it might find theories we can't guess.
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The first thing humans ever wrote down was a number. Olga Popova explains how pebbles in clay balls, and a flock of sheep, led to the first writing.
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Four thousand years ago a Mesopotamian temple stored the city's grain and lent it out at interest. When debts piled up, the city could not raise an army.
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A man who forgot his nurse within minutes could still learn a hard new skill. Neurobiologist Olga Ivashkina on why skills and life events live in separate networks.
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