More from Eleanor Cummins

Yes, you really can work yourself to death
Health

Yes, you really can work yourself to death

By Eleanor Cummins

Squirrel Census Central Park
Animals

Why counting Central Park’s squirrels isn’t nuts

By Eleanor Cummins

Mary toft
Science

The weirdest things we learned this week: birthing rabbits, gruesome taxidermy, and the Parthenon’s best-kept secret

By Eleanor Cummins

Underground living engineering escalator Earth
Engineering

Humans could survive underground, but it would take a lot more than shovels

By Eleanor Cummins

Sans Forgetica font sample
Health

This wacky-looking font can help you remember what you read

By Eleanor Cummins

Is your brain ready for YouTube’s new mini-player?
Health

Is your brain ready for YouTube’s new mini-player?

By Eleanor Cummins

A century ago the Spanish flu killed 50 million—and then we forgot about it
Health

A century ago the Spanish flu killed 50 million—and then we forgot about it

By Eleanor Cummins

Nobel Prize medallion Alfred Nobel gold
Technology

These tools helped scientists win the Nobel Prize

By Eleanor Cummins

spam Google Gmail Smart Compose autofill autocomplete
Internet

Gmail now finishes your sentences, and the results are better than expected

By Eleanor Cummins

Your city and home may not be ready for you to get old
Technology

Your city and home may not be ready for you to get old

By Eleanor Cummins

The reclusive inventor of the Rubik’s Cube wants to do more than amuse you
Technology

The reclusive inventor of the Rubik’s Cube wants to do more than amuse you

By Eleanor Cummins

Polygraph tests don’t work as lie detectors and they never have
Science

Polygraph tests don’t work as lie detectors and they never have

By Eleanor Cummins

How to track product recalls
Health

How to track product recalls

By Eleanor Cummins

Super-recognizers help fight crime, but their powers remain mysterious
AI

Super-recognizers help fight crime, but their powers remain mysterious

By Eleanor Cummins

How designers cope with ever-changing iPhone screens
Gear

How designers cope with ever-changing iPhone screens

By Eleanor Cummins

Pennsylvania’s 9/11 memorial is one of the first in the world to use sound as a tribute
Technology

Pennsylvania’s 9/11 memorial is one of the first in the world to use sound as a tribute

By Eleanor Cummins

The devastating fire at Brazil’s National Museum illuminates a global problem
Science

The devastating fire at Brazil’s National Museum illuminates a global problem

By Eleanor Cummins

Fitness trackers turn health into a game that users rarely win
Fitness & Exercise

Fitness trackers turn health into a game that users rarely win

By Eleanor Cummins

Another AI winter could usher in a dark period for artificial intelligence
AI

Another AI winter could usher in a dark period for artificial intelligence

By Eleanor Cummins

Teens’ screen addiction might be contagious, and parents are patient zero
Health

Teens’ screen addiction might be contagious, and parents are patient zero

By Eleanor Cummins

7 famous psych studies with troubling backstories
Health

7 famous psych studies with troubling backstories

By Eleanor Cummins

Hurricane Gilbert hospital ruins Jamiaca
Climate Change

How hospitals prepare for increasingly dangerous hurricane seasons

By Eleanor Cummins

Humans have a hard time ‘killing’ robots, especially when they beg for their lives
Health

Humans have a hard time ‘killing’ robots, especially when they beg for their lives

By Eleanor Cummins

Climate change extreme rain Northeast
Climate Change

When rain is just as dangerous as drought

By Eleanor Cummins

Bananas: your cousin, maybe?
Science

Bananas: your cousin, maybe?

By Eleanor Cummins

Air traffic control tower plane takeoff
Aviation

Air traffic controller training makes emergencies seem ordinary

By Eleanor Cummins

There’s a lot to learn about how blue light affects our eyes
Health

There’s a lot to learn about how blue light affects our eyes

By Eleanor Cummins

Space Force logo concepts Lisa Frank
Military

Professional designers explain why the Space Force logos are no good

By Eleanor Cummins

hand touching sound board
Technology

Why our devices make the sounds they make

By Eleanor Cummins

Steve Jobs iPad Apple tech children rules
Technology

Industry insiders don’t use their products like we do. That should worry us.

By Eleanor Cummins

Planet Earth overshoot day
Climate Change

Earth Overshoot Day came early this year. That’s a bad thing.

By Eleanor Cummins

Scientists are putting the X factor back in X-rays
AI

Scientists are putting the X factor back in X-rays

By Eleanor Cummins

The stiletto heel is the embodiment of post-war material science
Engineering

The stiletto heel is the embodiment of post-war material science

By Eleanor Cummins

raccoon baby
Animals

What’s killing all the raccoons in Central Park?

By Eleanor Cummins

Laminated material environmentally responsive textile design
Engineering

This textile’s twitching tendrils hint at a future of programmable materials

By Eleanor Cummins

underwater swimming pool
Technology

The complicated, century-long relationship between swimming pools and chlorine

By Eleanor Cummins

To combat extreme heat, cover your roof in hungry, sweaty plants
Environment

To combat extreme heat, cover your roof in hungry, sweaty plants

By Eleanor Cummins

How whale corpses feed ocean floors
Animals

How whale corpses feed ocean floors

By Eleanor Cummins

a girl looks at a touch screen
Climate Change

Climate change forced a famously old-school museum to go digital

By Eleanor Cummins

Two-by-fours are not actually 2-by-4—here’s why
DIY

Two-by-fours are not actually 2-by-4—here’s why

By Eleanor Cummins

Meet the designer who wants to make fruit labels out of soap and save the world from swizzle sticks
Environment

Meet the designer who wants to make fruit labels out of soap and save the world from swizzle sticks

By Eleanor Cummins

mom child holding hands
Health

These 1950s experiments showed us the trauma of parent-child separation. Now experts say they’re too unethical to repeat—even on monkeys.

By Eleanor Cummins

Our brains can’t quit our gadgets—that didn’t happen by accident
Engineering

Our brains can’t quit our gadgets—that didn’t happen by accident

By Eleanor Cummins

How to stream way too many FIFA World Cup 2018 matches
Technology

How to stream way too many FIFA World Cup 2018 matches

By Eleanor Cummins

Farmer plowing field
Agriculture

Small farmers are mixing old equipment with new tech

By Eleanor Cummins

Why don’t we put power lines underground?
Energy

Why don’t we put power lines underground?

By Eleanor Cummins

Ernest Hemingway’s Florida home is ready to withstand its 168th hurricane season
Environment

Ernest Hemingway’s Florida home is ready to withstand its 168th hurricane season

By Eleanor Cummins

Burial is becoming the most boring thing to do with your dead body
Technology

Burial is becoming the most boring thing to do with your dead body

By Eleanor Cummins

Bonnie and Clyde’s getaway car has hidden lessons for cops in the self-driving vehicle era
Technology

Bonnie and Clyde’s getaway car has hidden lessons for cops in the self-driving vehicle era

By Eleanor Cummins

dog
Animals

Robotic noses could be the future of disaster rescue—if they can outsniff search dogs

By Eleanor Cummins

The Kilauea volcano is ‘speaking in a code’ we don’t yet understand
Environment

The Kilauea volcano is ‘speaking in a code’ we don’t yet understand

By Eleanor Cummins

Plane travel only feels like it’s dangerous
Aviation

Plane travel only feels like it’s dangerous

By Eleanor Cummins

Why do we still have fax machines?
Technology

Why do we still have fax machines?

By Eleanor Cummins

Researchers think 9/11 gave first responders cancer—but proving it will be nearly impossible
Cancer

Researchers think 9/11 gave first responders cancer—but proving it will be nearly impossible

By Eleanor Cummins

New York should ban plastic bags—and so should the rest of the country
Environment

New York should ban plastic bags—and so should the rest of the country

By Eleanor Cummins

A sting-free guide to becoming a DIY beekeeper
Animals

A sting-free guide to becoming a DIY beekeeper

By Eleanor Cummins

Crowdfunding helps women succeed in tech because venture capital won’t
Technology

Crowdfunding helps women succeed in tech because venture capital won’t

By Eleanor Cummins

Do you make the cut? Four of history’s trickiest entrance exams.
Science

Do you make the cut? Four of history’s trickiest entrance exams.

By Eleanor Cummins

Want to take a Mensa intelligence test? Here are four practice questions
Science

Want to take a Mensa intelligence test? Here are four practice questions

By Eleanor Cummins

Can you pass IBM’s test for entry-level roles?
Technology

Can you pass IBM’s test for entry-level roles?

By Eleanor Cummins

Can you pass the U.S. Army’s World War I-era intelligence test?
Army

Can you pass the U.S. Army’s World War I-era intelligence test?

By Eleanor Cummins

spatial visualization
NASA

Can you pass the test NASA gave potential astronauts in 1958?

By Eleanor Cummins

My ancestor died of a splinter. Wait, what?
Health

My ancestor died of a splinter. Wait, what?

By Eleanor Cummins

This company wants to replace braille with a controversial new font
Technology

This company wants to replace braille with a controversial new font

By Eleanor Cummins