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Bacterial infections that are resistant to treatment by our existing antibiotics are a huge threat to human health — and an enormous challenge for medicine. Scientists are exploring one fascinating line of research: compounds modeled after those found in the blood of the fearsome Komodo dragon.

Drones have a lot of people (and entire countries) hot under the collar. Here’s what you need to know about this type of warfare.

“How weird will the future be?” we asked. And how else could writer and performer Ben Burke respond but with a poem penned and recorded especially for the occasion? Behold: THE TRANSHUMANIST’S LAMENT or TOO MANY RIVERS, NOT ENOUGH LAKES or OH, FUTURE- YOU SO CRAZY.

A synthetic biologist has created artificial cells that can “talk” to natural cells — but are they really alive?

Ready to go beyond this week’s headlines? 5 primary sources worth reading next—about Egypt, Al Jazeera, and international reporting.

“Words over time have a way of just oozing around,” says linguist John McWhorter. He traces the evolution of five words that have spent millennia drifting from one meaning into another.

Our electronic devices are often blamed — at times, rightfully so — for alienating us from our inner lives and from each other. But what if we could use them to cultivate self-compassion, not distraction? Technology expert Chris Dancy suggests how.

Artist R. Luke DuBois explains the vision behind his presidential project — and puts citizens’ knowledge to the test.

Heather Barnett makes art from physarum polycephalum, including a beautiful timelapse film of its growth. Check out some truly strange GIFs of the work.