Field Notes: A Sacrifice for the Afterlife in Indonesia
Tana Toraja, Indonesia: At a funeral in a remote corner of Indonesia, water buffalo are sacrificed in order to help carry the deceased to the afterlife.
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Issue #58: August/September 2017
31 posts
Cat Fight: Inside the Struggle to Save the Latest Migrants Crossing the U.S-Mexico Border
Jaguars are crossing the border into the United States, causing a stir among scientists, mining interests, and those bent on building a wall.
PS Picks: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ and a More Optimistic Vision of the Future
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
Letter From Kathmandu, Nepal: The Omnipresence of Dust
Each time the electricity powers off in Kathmandu, thousands of diesel generators rumble to life, spewing noxious particulate matter, or PM2.5.
Smarter Kids Are More Open to Experimentation With Drugs and Alcohol
A study found that 11-year-olds who demonstrated medium or high academic ability were more likely to smoke cannabis at ages 18 to 20.
Stalled Out: How Social Bias Is Segregating America’s Bathrooms
Public restrooms are sparking moral panic nationwide, and not for the first time. What, exactly, makes shared bathrooms so ripe for controversy? And what can we do about it?
How to Make Friends in Outer Space
When Carl Sagan's team sent two gold-plated records into space in 1977, it wanted to make alien contact. Forty years later, those time capsules are hurtling beyond the reaches of the Solar System, still seeking intelligent life.
Field Notes: Looking Out Over Matthews Range in Kenya
Matthews Range, Kenya: From a perch in the Matthews Range, members of the Samburu, a tribe of semi-nomadic pastoralists, look down at the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, which they're working to protect from elephant poachers.
There’s a Name for That: The Emotional Seesaw
According to a recent research, law enforcement often leverages a powerful psychological susceptibility—the "emotional seesaw effect"—that potentially has widespread application.
A Politics of Compassion: An Interview With Van Jones
The author and vocal CNN commentator on Donald Trump, spirit quests, and the Nelson Mandela factor in political activism.