Thousands of years ago, our ancestors used symbols to track the sale of textile and agricultural products. New research ...

Uncertainty is a core tenet of science — researchers should be supported so they can communicate it with confidence to the ...

A link exists between 6,000-year-old engravings on cylindrical seals used on clay tablets and cuneiform, the world’s oldest ...

Making the jump from using symbols to writing is considered a major development in human cognitive abilities. Tracing how and ...

Candidates must have less than three years of professional science writing experience. Graduate students interested in science writing are eligible. International applicants are welcome but must write ...

The American Academy of Sciences and Letters has awarded 10 Barry Prizes, given for extraordinary achievements in the arts, ...

In other words, it may pay to be superstitious. To learn more about superstition, check out my new book about the science of ...

The current US Supreme Court has no fundamental understanding of a range of medical, engineering, technological, or ...

Researchers have made another major stride in understanding humanity’s origins of writing. In Mesopotamia, the birthplace of civilization, the earliest known writing system started around 3,000 BCE.

In the dusty city states of ancient Mesopotamia, long before the advent of written language, mysterious symbols etched into ...

In the remote Siberian tundra, the ground itself has begun to explode. Since 2014, more than 20 mysterious craters, each ...

Researchers investigating how the first writing arose identified the motifs on preliterate "cylinder seals" used in the trade of agricultural products and textiles.